Originally Posted by
Ttoc6
Alaska (repping the SEA town) only charges 25$ for any sports gear. I think that is a price worth paying if your gear gets there in one peice and avoiding the hassle of "faking" it.
yeah--really love that they did this.
it makes no sense that golf gear goes for free but a light bike does not -- or that someone can take a ski bag + a boot bag as one piece of normal luggage, and the bike gets dinged.
the alaska policy is consistent and clear -- and probably easier to administer.
still, the TSA thing is real and represents the biggest risk.
i don't lie to gate agents; with the 2 bags I mentioned throughout this thread, i never get asked. (well, OK, i got asked once "is that a bike?"; i said no and things moved on immediately, suggesting the agent was not really sure.)
with the pika, i had gate agents eye me from the moment i walked through the doors. "is that a bike?" was not a question -- it was a statement. the agents aren't dumb.
i thought it would be a great thing if USAC struck a deal with an airline to provide 'bikes fly free' (or for $25) for license holders. non-racers and people who might not otherwise deal with USAC might sign up for licenses, which would generate lots of money for USAC (maybe that's bad?), and since bike fees on some airlines are outrageous, even approaching the cost of a ticket, it could actually influence travel decisions and be profitable for airlines.
would be a bit like people who sign up for the divers' associations in order to get emergency medical extraction, even when they are not divers. win-win.