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Old 07-01-22, 04:05 PM
  #23  
Yan 
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Originally Posted by staehpj1
I have never had any contact with airport employees or TSA personel other than when I passed my closed box through the opening in the counter (or more rarely in an outdoor baggage check). I have never seen or been involved with any checking of the contents with the box.
I'm not talking about flying with the bike in a box. I'm talking about riding the complete bike up to the airport counter and handing it over. They roll the bike away. When you land, you go to the luggage collection area and an employee rolls your bike out. You then jump on the bike and ride out of the airport. They will ask you to turn your handlebar sideways and deflate your tires. I usually take my derailleur off as well.

When I'm flying home at the end of a tour I don't have access to a bike box. I just pay the airline bicycle fee and hand the bike over with no packaging whatsoever. If I use a bike shop to box the bike, I have to pay the bike shop. Then, since I can't bicycle anymore, I have to pay for multiple taxi rides to and from my hotel and airport and home. Most taxis are too small to fit a boxed bike so I have to somehow find a large taxi. I don't speak the local language so everything takes forever. After all these costs, it's cheaper and vastly more convenient to just pay the airline bike fee.

When I do fly with a box, I'm using an S&S box. These are too small to fit the wheels with the tires installed. I have to take the tires completely off the rims to fit the wheels into the box. Not all airlines will take unpackaged bikes, so it's important to check beforehand. Some airlines (i.e. Chinese airlines) will take unpackaged bikes and not even charge you any bike fee.


Departing Singapore



Arriving Shanghai

Last edited by Yan; 07-01-22 at 04:14 PM.
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