Ayone with some up-to-date info re: bikes airline baggage

[RetroPilot]

Likewise Im planning to bike in Israel, soon, am beginning planning ....but not quite as adventurous as riding to there,just riding around there on arrival.

Has anyone up to date info re bike luggage on the following four airlines which may be part of legs of the journey..

Qantas, British, Cathay, and then final leg into Israel is likely Royal Jordanian.

Anyone put bikes on these airlines or have any other comments about bikes onto planes luggage which is pretty up to date ?

What did you need to do, bok, bag,? fees etc?

[sogood]

The latest info are always on their airline web site. You may get lucky but make sure you bring a print out of their bike policy to show the check-in staff in case they over-charge you. In any case, the trend is to charge bike carriage. You can typically buy bike boxes at the airport but you better get there early to get everything sorted before check-in.

[RetroPilot]

Ive been to two airline websites so far, and found zero specific references specific to bikes, that was qantas and Cathay.if you have links even to qantas, Id appreciate it.Ive looked through Qantas luggage links, are some article dimensions for suitcases etc, but very vague infom, and none naming bikes that I can see.

How much do they charge for the bike boxes?

Yes, I suppose maybe trend is to charge, when theyre cuting general prices to the bone they may not be in any mood for any further favors.

[RetroPilot]

ok, i have just found one article on qantas.

[sogood]

http://www.qantas.com.au/info/flying/be ... ment#jump1

http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_INT ... eallowance

If all else fails, try calling their reservation number.

[RetroPilot]

Yes, Id found the Qantas notes meanwhile..so how does it work, you get 2 checked baggage items. they will accept one of their own bike boxes as one, what is it, weight of that item not to exceed 20kg for economy-or weight of two items are counted combined?

I dont even know what a bike weighs, i must start planning to weigh my bikes Im considering taking...what would a typical Shogun 26" 21 speed MTB with no telescopic forks weight?

a 700 X35 shogun Hybrid?

would such go close to 20kgs?

the Cathay luggage site doesnt seem to mention bikes as such .

[sogood]

I don't fly QF (my wife's job to earn points on OneWorld). But, it's clear to me that the way the bike box is counted is dependent on the particular route traveled. On UA, one pays a fixed fee for bike carriage, very common for US based airlines but must be careful to not get charged by the sector eg. SYD-JFK can easily hit you with 2-3 carriage fees if the ground agent feels nasty. When I took my bike to Beijing during the Olympics on NZ, they gave a 10kg weight credit for the bike. So with my StarA status, I had a total of 40kg to play with. And my sub-8kg road bike with sundrys in a hard bike box easily hit 23kg. But I did pack all my biking accessories (inc tools) in the same box.

The final weight very much depends on the weight of the case you choose. Cardboard boxes will be lighter but will likely add around 5-6kg I suspect. And your hybrid will be around 10kg I'd think. Weigh it and check.

[RetroPilot]

Yes, im trying to work out this One World alliance deal, and what it might mean for this.BA specify bags and rigid bike cases, they dont mention using cboard boxes.

Qantas mention only Boxes, which they supply one to their own max dimensions ( which are smaller dimensions than BAs.) Ive emailed BA to make sure the Qantas box would be acceptable, but got a silly flying bicycles answer sheila with Indian name simply regurgitated the form info on the site...entire point about the box v bag was ignored.

Cathay I havent even started on yet..I was told theyre the three most likely airlines to do the first leg.

then the Arabs for the home stretch.

I havent even explored the possibility of a round World ticket yet...then WT??

( coz then it would take in across US for run home)

[RetroPilot]

looks like this bloke went alright with the Chinese and a bike in box.

http://www.bikeaccess.net/bikeaccess/Ar ... 20Airlines

[sogood]

You'd be fine to use a cardboard bike box across all airlines. It's the preferred option if you don't have a place to store the box at destination. Otherwise just go to your LBS and ask them for an old box and prepack your bike before getting to the airport.

Based on recollection of past travel reports read on the net, BA and QF are both good for bike carriage. Middle Eastern airlines can be dodgy (expense/refusal etc). No recollection of any comments relating to CX.