bringing a bike on a plane
 

I have a conference at home (Las Vegas) in a couple of weeks. I'll be
there an extra couple of days.

I've had the odd idea to bring the bicycle with me as transportation.

It's nothign spectalar; just for commuting a couple of miles each day.
A Trek 4300 or some such that was the back to school sale a couple of
years ago; fairly generic mountain bike with quick release front & back.

If I simply wrap it in a cardboard box, is it likely to survive? I've
seen the case, but they all cost more than the bicycle, which is close
to disposable . . .

A luggage would also have to be transported, which would be an issue.
If I could pack the bike this way, I could just pack in my old seabag
and wear it aas a backpack . . .

hawk
--
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On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 15:19:24 +0000, Dr. Richard E. Hawkins wrote:

I have a conference at home (Las Vegas) in a couple of weeks. I'll be
there an extra couple of days.

I've had the odd idea to bring the bicycle with me as transportation.

If I simply wrap it in a cardboard box, is it likely to survive? I've
seen the case, but they all cost more than the bicycle, which is close
to disposable . . .

There are more problems. It is very likely you will be charged $50-$75 --
each way -- to ship the bike. The box may attract attention because of
the metal bits, so you may have security problems.

Better ideas:

1) Rent. Not real easy to find in Las Vegas, but possible.
2) Buy a junker there. More likely findable, less reliable and no on to
complain to if it falls apart half-way to your convention.
3) Buy a folding bike before you go. Those usually go as luggage, and
some are sold with a box. Do this if you want to travel with a bike
often. Money is obviously the limitation with this option.


--

David L. Johnson

__o | As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not
_`\(,_ | certain, and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to
(_)/ (_) | reality. -- Albert Einstein

I know some airlines will let you take a bike for free without counting
towards your two bag limit. I'm not sure, but I think they might even
give you a bike box to pack it in.
Your bike should be fine in one of those special boxes. I've had my new
bike shipped across Canada in one and it was perfectly fine. You'll
have to disassemble it a little though.

(clip)Your bike should be fine in one of those special boxes. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Won't an LBS give you a shipping carton? They must throw away lots of 'em.
I like the suggestion of buying a folder. I use my Dahon a lot, because it
fits in my car. I drop my wife near the entrance of whatever (fair,
festival, concert, etc.) She gets in line while I drive a mile or two to
park the car free. In some cases, the decision to go or not go has been
influenced by the ease and cost of parking.

Dr. Richard E. Hawkins wrote:
I have a conference at home (Las Vegas) in a couple of weeks. I'll
be
there an extra couple of days.

I've had the odd idea to bring the bicycle with me as transportation.

It's nothign spectalar; just for commuting a couple of miles each
day.
A Trek 4300 or some such that was the back to school sale a couple of
years ago; fairly generic mountain bike with quick release front &
back.

If I simply wrap it in a cardboard box, is it likely to survive?
I've
seen the case, but they all cost more than the bicycle, which is
close
to disposable . . .

A luggage would also have to be transported, which would be an issue.
If I could pack the bike this way, I could just pack in my old seabag
and wear it aas a backpack . . .

hawk

If you bring a bicycle on a plane, don't expect to get it back in good
condition unless you put it in cast iron and then put the cast iron in
cement. Do you see how things are handled and stored on a plane? My
son is a snowboarder. I bought him the best, absolute best storage
case for his snowboard. Well, it was a great case but the snowboard
ended up "LOST." He finally got the snowboard back but the next time
he traveled he rented equipment when he arrived. Saves alot of
headache. When we travel to Tahoe, we have to take a connecting
flight. No direct flights from Jersey to the Reno airport. We have
learned to travel light. One carry on and a big purse. I can't tell you
how many times our luggage was lost during the change in planes. I am
going out there again in May, and it will be one carry on and a large
purse. I have 20 minutes to make my connection. There is no way my
luggage will NOT be lost. I think bringing a bike on a plane trip is
just not worth it. But that's just my opinion. Plus storage for those
items like golf clubs, skis, snowboards etc. is ridiculous. And it
takes longer to get the items when you DEPLANE. I love that word
DE-PLANE. It's so stupid.
All Good Things,
Maggie
--
Richard E. Hawkins, Asst. Prof. of Economics /"\ ASCII ribbon
campaign
111 Hiller (814) 375-4846 \ / against HTML
mail
Find commentary on law, economics, and X and postings.
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Maggie wrote:
Dr. Richard E. Hawkins wrote:
I have a conference at home (Las Vegas) in a couple of weeks. I'll
be
there an extra couple of days.

I've had the odd idea to bring the bicycle with me as
transportation.

It's nothign spectalar; just for commuting a couple of miles each
day.
A Trek 4300 or some such that was the back to school sale a couple
of
years ago; fairly generic mountain bike with quick release front &
back.

If I simply wrap it in a cardboard box, is it likely to survive?
I've
seen the case, but they all cost more than the bicycle, which is
close
to disposable . . .

A luggage would also have to be transported, which would be an
issue.
If I could pack the bike this way, I could just pack in my old
seabag
and wear it aas a backpack . . .

hawk

If you bring a bicycle on a plane, don't expect to get it back in
good
condition unless you put it in cast iron and then put the cast iron
in
cement. Do you see how things are handled and stored on a plane? My
son is a snowboarder. I bought him the best, absolute best storage
case for his snowboard. Well, it was a great case but the snowboard
ended up "LOST." He finally got the snowboard back but the next time
he traveled he rented equipment when he arrived. Saves alot of
headache. When we travel to Tahoe, we have to take a connecting
flight. No direct flights from Jersey to the Reno airport. We have
learned to travel light. One carry on and a big purse. I can't tell
you
how many times our luggage was lost during the change in planes. I am
going out there again in May, and it will be one carry on and a large
purse. I have 20 minutes to make my connection. There is no way my
luggage will NOT be lost. I think bringing a bike on a plane trip is
just not worth it. But that's just my opinion. Plus storage for
those
items like golf clubs, skis, snowboards etc. is ridiculous. And it
takes longer to get the items when you DEPLANE. I love that word
DE-PLANE. It's so stupid.
All Good Things,
Maggie
--
Richard E. Hawkins, Asst. Prof. of Economics /"\ ASCII ribbon
campaign
111 Hiller (814) 375-4846 \ / against HTML
mail
Find commentary on law, economics, and X and postings.
other issues of the day at dochawk.org! / \


Well I've heard this a lot but have had very difernt experiences. I
traveled for business for 25 years. My flight miles were well over 1
million. I always checked bags. I never lost a bag- ever. I never had
the contents of a bag damaged in any way. I did have bags miss
connecting flights but they were always delivered to my hotel or home
within 24 hours. The late arriving bag thng happened only 4 times out
of some 2000 flights. That means that 99.8% of the time everything
worked the way it should.

Specifically about shipping bikes. I've done it with both bike boxes
and the special transport cases. Both worked fine.

My only caveat is that with the new rules about not being able to lock
your luggage I think there is a much greater risk of stuff going
missing.

Dr. Richard E. Hawkins wrote:

I've had the odd idea to bring the bicycle with me as transportation.

Great website with the information you need:

http://www.bikeaccess.net/BikeAccess/default.cfm

--
Bob Kastigar;
Home: http://www.neiu.edu/~rkastiga Work: http://www.wgntv.com
School: http://www.neiu.edu Play: http://www.neiu.edu/~stagectr
Union: http://www.ibew1220.org (Chicago, IL USA)

"Sweet Old Bob" (or just the initials)

And it takes longer to get the items when you DEPLANE.
I love that word DE-PLANE. It's so stupid.
All Good Things,
Maggie

You're absolutely right, DE-PLANE is just about the stupidest word there
is.

Jim wrote:
And it takes longer to get the items when you DEPLANE.
I love that word DE-PLANE. It's so stupid.
All Good Things,
Maggie

You're absolutely right, DE-PLANE is just about the stupidest word
there is.

Not to Tattoo.

: Won't an LBS give you a shipping carton? They must throw away lots of
'em.
: I like the suggestion of buying a folder. I use my Dahon a lot, because
it
: fits in my car. I drop my wife near the entrance of whatever (fair,
: festival, concert, etc.) She gets in line while I drive a mile or two to
: park the car free. In some cases, the decision to go or not go has been
: influenced by the ease and cost of parking.

Excellent idea, Smithers! Do you mind if I use this excuse, too? What do
you do with the Dahon after you ride back to the festival?

Pat in TX
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