Nigeyy

Renting a bike can be a very good idea. This is something I've considered -though in the end I like the familiarity of my own bike, not least the fact I know it's of reasonable quality. If I did rent a bike, I'd probably be tempted to bring my own saddle though!

tmac100

I have not paid close attention to all the submissions in this thread, but..

If you have Silver status on BAEC (freq flyer club) then you are allowed 2 bags totalling 32kg EACH. This should be of use to you.

Unfortunately Silver won't help me when I fly to Sydney from the Middle East with my GTO Greenspeed and "stuff", because BA does not fly from my location to Singapore... BUT, I found Singapore Air Cargo will cart it to Perth (for the start of my Perth to Sydney tour) for $183 USD one way. It will be a bit less carting it here from Sydney. but those prices are for 45 kg. Funny thing that air cargo drops to 1/3 of the 44kg and lower price at exactly 45 kg. So, I may put in some bricks, etc to get the box up to exactly 45 kg.

Bottom line: try checking with several air cargo sections of airlines. But beware of significant differences. One local airline wanted $483 for the same route that Singapore Air wanted $183 for.

Chop61

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is to fly on off-days when the airport isn't busy. Like Wednesday to Wednesday, and don't even try last minute check-ins. It won't save you money but it will decrease the hassle factor.

imi

I have found that saturdays are good days to fly, often cheaper as well... ymmv

axolotl

Two word solution to airline bike fees: Bike Friday

NoReg

I was wondering how long it would take to get to BF. At the upcharges some airlines are charging, a BF would be an easy pay option. That said, I did wonder whether it worked in all cases, what with weight and two bag restrictions.

imi

ok, I'll admit up front I've always had problems with those goofy looking BF bikes - hell I still think mountain bikes look like kid bikes ... but now I'm beginning to look closer at them, and slowly breaking down my prejudice...

Does a folded BF with rear rack and fenders fit comfortably in a 26"x26"x10" box - and is there room for more stuff whilst keeping under 23 kg?

For my purposes I would need to cram the following into the box:
Two rear panniers
Tent poles and pegs
Mini Trangia stove
Bike tools

The rest of my gear I can wear and carry as hand baggage (7kg), so if the above can be done, a BF would become a very interesting solution. THANKS!

edit: from all I can gather a largish touring 700c S&S bike can be fitted into a 26"x26"x10" box, but may have to have the fork removed, and there may be no room for racks and fenders - and no room for any other gear

Just another side note, flights to and from the USA have been exceptional in that there was a "two bag rule" as compared to "one bag" flying on other routes. I'm not sure why this has been so, but things seem to be changing and "one bag" is on it's way to becoming the global norm

axolotl

My Bike Friday New World Tourist fits into a 61" (total of 3 dimensions) suitcase, so it's under the 62" limit many airlines have. I recommend a lightweight duffel bag to contain everything else. I've not yet flown a "one-bag" airline, but if you have to pay for a 2nd piece of luggage, it will still be far less than a bicycle fee. I leave the suitcase at a hotel, guest house, or friend's home, except for the one time I converted the suitcase into a trailer. BF sells the hardware for that.

aidy

I just flew my bike to San Francisco and back to Brussels, with British Airways. Your bike simply counts as one piece of checked luggage, extra luggage costs something like 30 bucks. All you have to do is turn the handlebars and remove the pedals. I made a cover out of clear plastic, and the lovely girls at the BA check-in in Brussels gave me a bike bag for free too.
Make sure you tape everything fragile to the frame because your bike will get banged up a little bit.

trek2.3bike

I need a small frame bike which simply isn't available for rental in Europe. So I just bought a used bike just like mine on Ebay. It is in England and the seller (a bike shop) is going to keep it for me until June. The price I paid for the bike is a bit more than the excessive fee to get my bike there and back on tthe US airline (I go free with miles). When I'm done, I'll store it with him again or dump it. I figure the "effective cost" of the bike is near zero.

RE dealing with ignorant ticket agents. If thing aren't going in accord with the printed out airline contract in my hand, I always ask, politely for a "Supervisor" and deal with him or her. That has worked well so far (40 years). It got my 2 bags out of LHR and on to Croatia in 2009.

chasm54

British Airways is the answer. The bike, as long as it is properly packed and weighs under 23kg, goes free if it is your only piece of checked baggage. If it's your second bag (and as long as it still weighs under 23kg) it costs $50 flying from the US and £40 flying back.

imi

yeah, but check that you're not on a BA flight codeshared with American Airlines :/

Machka 

Yep!!

On my most recent flight to Australia, I had two choices ...

1) Air Canada (which is an inexpensive choice too) from Calgary to Vancouver, transfer to United Express (an American airline) in Vancouver to LA, and then on to Qantas.

OR

2) Air Canada from Calgary to Denver, transfer to United Express in Denver to LA, and then on to Qantas.

If I chose the Vancouver transfer, it meant that I only had to pay $50 for my bicycle when I checked in in Calgary because the transfer to United Express would happen on Canadian soil. If I had opted to take the Denver transfer, because the transfer to an American airline would happen on American soil, I would be charged $50 when I left Calgary, and then $175 in Denver. Being a frugal sort, I chose the Vancouver transfer.

As mentioned before, there's a lot of research that has to go into the flying decisions.

Carbonfiberboy 

Thanks to all on this thread. I'm planning a tour in Europe next year. I've found that I can fly direct from Seattle to Heathrow and then on to Prague, all on BA. That is so cool and much less expensive than other choices which involve domestic flights to various hubs. Their maximum checked baggage dimensions will just allow us to take our uncoupled tandem. We should be able to manage with one checked bag each. I'll check the tandem and Stoker will have all the gear that won't fit in the tandem box under the 23 kilo weight limit. If one of us has to pay for a second bag, no big deal. I'll build a wheeled UL wooden box for the tandem, which we'll leave in our Prague hotel. That leaves the problem of getting from airport to hotel, but that shouldn't be too difficult. Anyone know of any problems/solutions with this plan?

neil

After researching and picking your airline, make sure you print off the baggage guidelines from the day you booked. That's your ticket contract, so changes made after you book should not affect you.

Machka 

It's a nice theory, but not necessarily true. When you're standing at the check-in with a flight that departs in 2 hours ... they've got something of an advantage.

Machka 

Train?

Carbonfiberboy 

How about ticket purchase timing? On domestic flights I wait until the "right time," by my judgement, usually a couple months ahead. I see that I can book round-trip to Prague on BA for ~$1200 right now. Things are more complicated with international carriers, what with currencies and I don't know what else. We'll be leaving about Sept. 1.

Recommendations?
Thx.

imi

My experience is it's best to buy plane tickets as early as possible. Many (most? all?) airlines release tickets 11 months in advance, so 11 months before your return flight date is the earliest you can book. Apart from hard to predict currency fluctuations I can't see any reason to wait...

and it's great to having a ticket booked

zoltani

On my recent flight to the US from France I had to pay for my second bag. I wasn't taking a bike, but it was an interesting experience. The flights were loaded down with carry on bags and they had to force people to check their bags at the gate. Depending on your connecting flight it would either be picked up at the gate or baggage claim at your destination. The airline employees were really complaining about this. More work for them, a crowded jet-bridge of people waiting to get their bags, it was chaos.

Maybe we are going to see them start charging for carry on bags too?

Philly Tandem

RE: Prague airport public transfers to city center are by bus only. Probably impossible with an non-coupled tandem. You may have to go with a taxi ($$$). See https://www.pragueairport.co.uk/public-transport.htm

We did a tour with our tandem in the Czech Republic back in 2004. We flew into Munich and took the train to Prague with our tandem. Took us an afternoon and then a morning, but was interesting. And the train was very cheap. We spent a few days in Prague, then took the local train just outside of the city and rode south to the Austrian border. From what I saw, I wouldn't be too keen on riding through the Prague near-city areas.

You can read the trip report, with info on how we got to Prague, etc., at https://www.brianwasson.com/trips/czechtrip/index.htm

I've also compiled a web page about taking tandems on trains in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. The detailed info may be a little dated at this point (last updated it about a year ago), but the bulk of it should be useful to you. See https://www.brianwasson.com/trips/trains.htm

Machka 

I tend to book my tickets as close to the date of departure as possible ... the tickets are often quite a bit less expensive if you wait until 6-8 weeks before the flight.

Just checked the Air Canada site, and if I were to book a flight from Calgary to London (Heathrow) in early August, it would cost me about $1300 + tax. If I were to book the same flight in mid-January, it would cost me about $650.

But it is a bit of a gamble. When I think I might want to go somewhere, I start checking and when the price drops to the right range, I buy ... I think only once I waited a bit too long and it went up a little bit.

imi

Machka, this may have to do with the holiday seasons as well. Many airlines up all their prices for december to mid january and for july and august...

I tried this for Quantas LON-SYD-LON and in january it was £1437, 1474 in july and £1047 in october (five weeks saturday-saturday in each case)...

so, flying miles do certainly vary

edit: though I have noticed that some airlines have MUCH cheaper flights on Christmas Day and New Years eve...

deepakvrao

Air France does not charge still. Wife and I flew AF to Bordeaux, and there were 4 legs. No charges at all. Just included in allowed luggage allowance. We carried rest of our clothing etc in carry on bags.

US to Europe, try BA, AF or Jet. Have lown these three in the last year and a ahlaf and not been charged.

Machka 

If you look at the article I linked to in a previous post, you will see that some airlines charge, and some don't.
https://www.ibike.org/encouragement/travel/bagregs.htm

This article is a good place to start in the research process, and as you can see there are indeed still some airlines that do not charge (Thai Airways and Qantas are two such examples).

But that article is just a first step. You've got to check the airlines because their regulations do change, and will sometimes change faster than the organisation that produces that article can keep up with. As mentioned earlier, I tend to wait until 6-8 weeks before departure time to book my flight, and even in that 6-8 weeks things can change.

Rowan and I have both found ourselves in situations where things had changed between the time we booked our flight ... and just a few weeks later when we were standing at the check-in.