Ask the experts

[XXX-er]

make sure ALL the airlines who will be handling your baggage are bike/ gear friendly , back in the day we found British Airways did free bikes & sports gear but their connecting subsidary flying us to france did not.

my travel agent had warned us as such so GF had printed out BA's policy and atempted to scam the subsidiary airlines agent with the printed copy which was sucessful and saved us a bunch of euro's

[406]

Definitely check the airline charges. Some airlines let you go up to 70 lbs internationally. Some airlines don't even have a specified weight limit on bikes.

^^^this, I was assuming AK/Delta/SW domestic, which all include bike bag as normal bag if under 50lbs.

Looking forward to a trip report ;-)

[zion zig zag]

^^^this, I was assuming AK/Delta/SW domestic, which all include bike bag as normal bag if under 50lbs.

Looking forward to a trip report ;-)

Flying to OAX on Delta metal to MEX and then AM metal to OAX, all booked through Delta though, so not to worried about getting there.

But I had to book a one way OAX-MEX through AM on the way back and I’m not sure what to expect. Their chat room agent said that I ‘should’ get free baggage due to status, but it’s up to the ticket agent at the counter?

[grskier]

Flying to OAX on Delta metal to MEX and then AM metal to OAX, all booked through Delta though, so not to worried about getting there.

But I had to book a one way OAX-MEX through AM on the way back and I’m not sure what to expect. Their chat room agent said that I ‘should’ get free baggage due to status, but it’s up to the ticket agent at the counter?

That is respectively honest...

I have my initials as my name on my license and my full name on my passport.... which gets me in all sorts of trouble when traveling... and remembering to hand the right ID over so I don't have to spend $200... or $20, depending on the mood of the ticket person to change my name on the boarding pass.

[beaterdit]

Those of you who have air traveled with a bike: do you remove rotors? Evoc bag if it matters.

Also, I remember hearing that reverb droppers shouldn't be stored post compressed for long, is 3 days too long?

Looks like I’ll be adding some foam today, thanks for the tips! And my cheapo luggage scale says I’m at 48.5 right now, so foam could put me over the top. Pedals in another bag I guess.

We have Dakine bags with a published weight of 13lbs plus I add a bit of extra padding. 34 and 35 lb "all-mtn/enduro" bikes and it's tough to make weight. I had visions of putting helmets, shoes, knee-pads, etc in there. Nope. I have to take off and pack the shocks, pedals, and chains at a minimum. I also take off and pack my derailleur because it's wireless and easy to do, and makes the difference between a 34 and a 35 lb bike. My roll of parts got an unpack and inspection of my carry-on on one leg but that was it.

I've been taking rotors off just because, and packing them securely in the bike bag. After seeing responses here I'll leave them on next time and see how it goes.

Out of two round trips to Europe in the last two years on Delta/affiliates, we've only been charged for one leg. Swiss Air out of Zurich, [edit: this was actually just Delta, not Swiss Air] $100/bike. Still maintaining a good average.

[Boissal]

Flying to OAX on Delta metal to MEX and then AM metal to OAX, all booked through Delta though, so not to worried about getting there.

But I had to book a one way OAX-MEX through AM on the way back and I’m not sure what to expect. Their chat room agent said that I ‘should’ get free baggage due to status, but it’s up to the ticket agent at the counter?

I nearly got burned by the all booked through Delta thing the first time I flew to Europe. Outbound flights to Geneva via Amsterdam were both operated by Delta, return flights by KLM.
Delta doesn't care about the bike, they treat it as a 2nd piece of luggage, no oversize fee (2nd luggage fee is already $100 so not exactly cheap). KLM very much cares though, they want you to call as soon as you book so they can make a note of your bike flying along. If you don't, they can tell you to fuck off when you show up to the airport. Which is what happened to me at 5am in Geneva. I eventually managed to get them to take the bike by checking in through a Delta kiosk but it was pretty tight. I was already making plans to leave the bike with a buddy who lives in Switzerland and was flying back to the US a couple months later...

TLDR: do whatever you can to 100% confirm that they know you're flying with a bike and they're OK with it.

[zion zig zag]

TLDR: do whatever you can to 100% confirm that they know you're flying with a bike and they're OK with it.

You're giving me all of the anxiety. I was just looking at the Aeromexico app for that return flight from OAX and it showed that "no 20kg luggage would be allowed at the airport." I have no idea what that means but it had an option for me to buy a 55 pound bag fee for $53, so I did that. My best guess is that its a small plane (E90) and they need to know in advance of any heavy luggage.....

[Boissal]

You're giving me all of the anxiety. I was just looking at the Aeromexico app for that return flight from OAX and it showed that "no 20kg luggage would be allowed at the airport." I have no idea what that means but it had an option for me to buy a 55 pound bag fee for $53, so I did that. My best guess is that its a small plane (E90) and they need to know in advance of any heavy luggage.....

Sorry man, don't mean to be a downer, I've just ran into some issues and if my experience can save you from the same problems it's worth sharing.
FWIW, KLM did tell me that giving them a heads up for the bike is mostly so they know how much oversized luggage to expect. Probably only an issue if a whole team of bikers is flying together, most of the time they probably have a shitload of room in the plane.

[singlesline]

There's a lot of reasons to hate on US airlines, but they get a few things right when it comes to things like consistent & predictable baggage policies, seat assignments, post-covid ticket flexibility, etc.

I used to think you were always better off getting flights operated by Euro partners (better cabins, better food, etc.), but now I think I'd mostly rather fly domestic metal for every leg just because I know everything is gonna work out.

[zion zig zag]

Sorry man, don't mean to be a downer

Ha, no apologies needed, I definitely want to know.
My personality is always looking for something to worry about, so this works out great.

[zion zig zag]

^^^this, I was assuming AK/Delta/SW domestic, which all include bike bag as normal bag if under 50lbs.

Looking forward to a trip report ;-)

52 pounds on Delta’s scale. They didn’t say anything about being over.

[mildbill.]

52 pounds on Delta’s scale. They didn’t say anything about being over.

I am quite obsessive about getting bags at 50 lbs (transition sentinel has cranks, seatpost and rotors come off to get it there). We had my bike bag and 2 suitcases for a family of 4 / month in EU this summer and all three were dead nuts 50lbs on the United SFO scale.

My conspiracy theory is that at least at united, the scales go up to 50lbs and then the readout sticks there until you hit 53lbs or something like that to give some wiggle room without implying that 52lbs is an OK target. Basically, at 52 lbs they think someone's gonna start unpacking their shit in the check in area, but at 53lbs people give up and pay the fee - either that or I am just really good at packing stuff to 50 lbs.

Edit to add you mf'ers are crazy leaving your rotors on - those things go in the very center of the other suitcase.

Edit #2 to +1 this:

TLDR: do whatever you can to 100% confirm that they know you're flying with a bike and they're OK with it.

ZZZ sounds like you did the right thing - nothing flummoxes gate agents like an unexpected bicycle.

[detrusor]

,posted in the wrenching under the hood with no response Donell try here as well.

Had the wife’s Subaru forester (2014) at the dealer because the valve body on the car tranny went bad causing all warning lights to come on. I have hopes subaru of America will help w the cost since it’s just slightly out of extended warranty for the issue…otherwise I would have taken it Bob.

Anyway, valve carrier is leaking. From what read they just use liquid gasket maker at the factory i stead of an actual gasket. Necessitates pulling the engine to repair, they say $3300. It’s not even leaving drops on the ground…I’m of the mind to just add oil as necessary since it’s destined to happen again. Is this stoooooopid? Any role for that gasket reconditioner stuff or is that equally stooooopid? Thanks in advance. Don’t think we’ll buy a Subaru again, lots of these little issues our Toyotas never have.

[toast2266]

^^^ maybe try aquaseal?

[beaterdit]

52 pounds on Delta’s scale. They didn’t say anything about being over.

That's sweet they didn't care. We got remarks and dirty looks at 52 on one leg but no extra charges or real issues. Sounds like you should be covered with the 55lb bag for that leg.

We've booked our international bike trips all through Delta and so far so good. We did have a return flight at one point on Air France and they wanted to be explicitly informed of bicycles no less than 48 hours in advance. Also since we booked through Delta, we couldn't even tell Air France ourselves. We asked the Delta rep on the phone to tell Air France which they said they would, and there no surprises.

I am now also obsessive about getting the bikes to 50lbs, even giving myself a pound of leeway on my crappy Amazon luggage scale.

[Johnny Utah]

Most recent domestic flights: Evoc. Pulled pedals, chain, derailleur, rotors. Added the pool noodles. Barely made 50lbs. Delta was cool up to 52lbs on their scale. Alaska basically said DILIGAF, loaderup, so I threw in all my dirty laundry and shoes before sending to oversized baggage area. Forgot my 8mm Wera hex in the carryon, which TSA promptly confiscated bc it’s 7.5” long. My explanations that it’s a shower and not a grower were ineffective, but my even larger shock and tire pumps were somehow completely ignored.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[toast2266]

^^^ last I checked, Alaska doesn't have a stated weight limit for bikes. Which is pretty awesome.

[McShortyShorts]

Whenever I fly with an oversized bag, I just print by bag tag at a kiosk and drop it off at oversized. The airline never weighs it so I've never been charged for overweight bags, muhaha. Heaviest my ski bag has been was 85lbs!

[beaterdit]

^^^ Holy fuck! Good trick.

[rideit]

Whenever I fly with an oversized bag, I just print by bag tag at a kiosk and drop it off at oversized. The airline never weighs it so I've never been charged for overweight bags, muhaha. Heaviest my ski bag has been was 85lbs!

We don't have oversize dropoff at JH, gotta go through the counter.

[XXX-er]

Sweet bag is packed, thanks for the advice all. Now new questions about bike travel: Is it normal to have to deflate tires to get them in the sleeves?

IME they wanted me to deflate the tires cuz they think the tires will explode up there, so I lied and said yes I deflated them except they checked which did not make them happy, so sue me eh?

also they want the bike to be clean so you don't bring in contaminated soil

[McShortyShorts]

We don't have oversize dropoff at JH, gotta go through the counter.

Yeah, my life pro tip is very conditional. At the Yellowknife airport we have to go to the counter to print bag tags. Fortunately every single time I've flown out they've waived my overweight fee. I think it's because they know the government and extraction workers don't pay for their own travel and will charge them through the roof. My partner usually has to check a bunch of crap for work and the overweight fees alone are usually ~$500

[XXX-er]

Yeah, my life pro tip is very conditional. At the Yellowknife airport we have to go to the counter to print bag tags. Fortunately every single time I've flown out they've waived my overweight fee. I think it's because they know the government and extraction workers don't pay for their own travel and will charge them through the roof. My partner usually has to check a bunch of crap for work and the overweight fees alone are usually ~$500

do you have a lot of baggage issues traveling up there ?

I was talking to a geologist who travels up narth a lot, he told me he will carry an extra empty suitcase hoping they will lose it and then he can claim the maximum allowable for it

the govy folks are always flying to Victoria so the prices are high cuz gov will pay them

[summit]

Sweet bag is packed, thanks for the advice all. Now new questions about bike travel: Is it normal to have to deflate tires to get them in the sleeves? 29" 2.5 Assegai and 2.3 DHR2. That was a workout until I deflated and got them in.

Also, I have this sag in the middle of the bag and it seems like it leaves the handlebars a little exposed. Anyone every rig up a foam block to keep that part stiff?

27.5 I put in fully aired up. 29 I have to deflate to get them in. I figured that was cuz my bag was older?

I use my kneepads to pad the bike around the end of rear tri and the headtube/steerer.

[singlesline]

We don't have oversize dropoff at JH, gotta go through the counter.

It was at JH where they made me pull some random clothes out of my ski bag because it was just a hair over the limit.