Current United Airlines bike fee

"JCrowe" wrote in message
...
| Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
| Update- New UA bike fee, announced today, is $125 each direction, at
least
| for domestic. Still nothing to clarify the International situation, but
my
| guess is that it's the same.
|
| That makes a good case to rent at the destination, at least where
| such is available. Seems a bit excessive to me.....


Renting a road bike (and finding one that fits) isn't always so easy.
Depends upon the destination. Also, there's that shared experience thing
with your own bike. But it does seem pretty expensive if riding wasn't the
main point to your trip.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

| Update- New UA bike fee, announced today, is $125 each direction, at
least
| for domestic. Still nothing to clarify the International situation,
but
my
| guess is that it's the same.
|
| That makes a good case to rent at the destination, at least where
| such is available. Seems a bit excessive to me.....


Renting a road bike (and finding one that fits) isn't always so easy.
Depends upon the destination. Also, there's that shared experience thing
with your own bike. But it does seem pretty expensive if riding wasn't the
main point to your trip.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles

I see we've come full circle, back around to Bike Friday again. No extra
"bike fee" charge.

On Jun 14, 11:11 am, "Pat" wrote:
|

I see we've come full circle, back around to Bike Friday again. No extra
"bike fee" charge.

I'm worried, though. First, the suitcase they supplied with mine is a
tad over the 62" limit! (I measure 63.5")

Second, I've heard of people getting dinged when they let slip that
the suitcase contained a bike - even though it was obvious no special
handling was needed. I forget which airline that was though. Not
necessarily United.

- Frank Krygowski

On Jun 14, 8:34 am, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Jun 14, 11:11 am, "Pat" wrote:

|

I see we've come full circle, back around to Bike Friday again. No extra
"bike fee" charge.

I'm worried, though. First, the suitcase they supplied with mine is a
tad over the 62" limit! (I measure 63.5")

Second, I've heard of people getting dinged when they let slip that
the suitcase contained a bike - even though it was obvious no special
handling was needed. I forget which airline that was though. Not
necessarily United.

I don't think you have any reason for concern. The suitcase is just a
standard 'full size' one (I've seen both Samsonite and Carlton ones
offered by Green Gear) and I've never seen any airline counter agent
pull out a tape measure on a regular-looking suitcase. I've also
never been asked to provide an inventory of my luggage at the airline
counter, so I suspect the story was a result of an over-eager airline
employee combined with a passenger who wanted to brag about their new
folder. (The TSA folks will see what the contents are, but they
aren't concerned about bicycle surcharges.)

But the 50 lb. weight limit can be an issue. I used to pack
additional items in with my Bike Friday, but the combined weight of
suitcase, bike, trailer components, and rear rack is getting pretty
close to the limit.

On Jun 14, 4:21 pm, peter wrote:
On Jun 14, 8:34 am, Frank Krygowski wrote:

I'm worried, though. First, the suitcase they supplied with [my Bike Friday] is a
tad over the 62" limit! (I measure 63.5")

...
I don't think you have any reason for concern. The suitcase is just a
standard 'full size' one (I've seen both Samsonite and Carlton ones
offered by Green Gear) and I've never seen any airline counter agent
pull out a tape measure on a regular-looking suitcase. ...

I agree, I've never seen that either. But I was a bit worried about
the airlines' new zeal for dinging luggage, and whether they'd start
actually measuring. Let's hope not.


But the 50 lb. weight limit can be an issue. I used to pack
additional items in with my Bike Friday, but the combined weight of
suitcase, bike, trailer components, and rear rack is getting pretty
close to the limit.

Yes, this is one of the few times when an extra pound on a bike can
make a really significant difference!

On our trip to Europe last year (with two Fridays & trailers) I ended
up with an added small duffle. Seats, pedals, handlebar bags, locks
etc. went in there so as to get the case weights below 50 pounds. In
the airlines wisdom, the extra bag was free, but not packing that
extra bag and hitting 53 pounds in each case would have been
expensive. Go figure.

Hmm. Is it time to start adding "drillium" to our bikes?

- Frank Krygowski