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From: mink@cfa.UUCP (Doug Mink)
Newsgroups: net.bicycle
Subject: Re: Bicycles as luggage on airplanes
Message-ID: <125@cfa.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 26-Feb-85 13:03:39 EST
Article-I.D.: cfa.125
Posted: Tue Feb 26 13:03:39 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 1-Mar-85 21:07:03 EST
References: <15597@mgweed.UUCP>
Organization: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Lines: 65

> The question is....Has anyone shipped a bike as luggage?

I've flown with my bike for pleasure and business several times with
various results.  Almost every flight brings a new misadventure.
Here's my airline-by-airline experience as I remember it.

Delta:  They helped me pack my camping gear around my bike in the
        box so it would be ready to make the flight I was on. (It did)

TWA:    Bike boxes.  My baggage arrived one flight later than the bike.

United: Beware of tight connections.  45 minutes between flights in LAX
        caused a 30-hour delay for my mountain bike and the loss of
        a day of off-road riding on Hawaii. They furnish boxes.

American: Their bike bag probably worked as well as a box; my bike
        arrived the morning after I did due to a cancelled flight.

Air Canada: Bike bags.  The bikes got to Halifax with us, and they let
        us leave them on the plane through Customs at the previous stop.

> Is one airline's continer any better than another?

No, but none of them are really adequate.  I always take a roll of fiber
tape to hold the box together since my bike came off the conveyor belt
in St. Louis once sans box.  Last fall, I used a box for a
return flight from a small airport (Kona HI), but it took half an hour to
patch it up.  The box was still on the bike 5000 miles later in Boston
but shredded after being rained on between planes in Chicago.  Bags
don't protect your bike as well as boxes, but they don't get thrown
around as much, either.

> How does one go about making sure the container is at the
> airport when is ready to go?  Does a small airport like
> W Palm Beach have the containers?

Check with the airline you're planning to fly; have them check the
specific airport.  If you can't get a box at the airport, check the
local bike shops which usually have a few around.

> How much disassembly is required?

  Airline boxes and bags usually require removing pedals and turning
(often removing) handlebars.  I've rebuilt boxes with scissors and tape
to cover the top tube of a 25-inch frame.  If you have to get a box
from a bike shop, expect to take off at least the front wheel, in
which case an old axle or a block of wood between the front forks is
advised.

> Extra cost?  How much?

Last fall, it cost 20 dollars each way.  In theory, it should cost
less if it's one of your two checked bags, though don't count on it.
Sometimes, especially if the baggage office is far from the ticket
counter and you don't cause any problems, they'll let you go for free.
A bike bag, which is in theory re-usable, may be charge for separately.

If you want more info, with additional specifics about flying in and
out of Boston, I wrote a pamphlet for the Boston Area Bicycle Coalition
which is available by sending a SASE to them at P.O. Box 1015, Kendall
Square Branch, Cambridge, MA 02142.

			-Doug Mink
			 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astropysics
			 mink@cfa.UUCP