Taking Bike to Europe

Has anyone travelled to Europe with a bike in the last few months? I am only
interested in feedback of people who have taken non-folding or non-coupled
bikes. A few years ago, you could take a bike to Europe with no charge in a
box or case. I know that things have tightened up a lot in the past few months
domestically (several friends have gotten hit for the first time ever with
oversized or overweight charges), but I wonder what the situation is when you
fly to Europe.

Please, only very recent experiences, because things have changed a lot this
past year.

Thanks,

Steve Scarcih

Has anyone travelled to Europe with a bike in the last few months? I am
only
interested in feedback of people who have taken non-folding or non-coupled
bikes. A few years ago, you could take a bike to Europe with no charge in
a
box or case. I know that things have tightened up a lot in the past few
months
domestically (several friends have gotten hit for the first time ever with
oversized or overweight charges), but I wonder what the situation is when
you
fly to Europe.

During July, you could still fly United with a bike (in box) at no charge.
I used a *very* large Trial-3 case; they asked if there was more than one
bike in it! But they still didn't charge for it.

One thing you should be aware of- you might have quite a delay leaving
Europe with a bike. They were randomly picking people with bikes in cases
and boxes to have the bikes totally gone over. I mean everything! And if
you had dirty laundry tossed in with your bike, it was all over the floor at
CDG for everyone's amusement. I could see no rhyme or reason for who they
chose; I could have hidden quite a bit in my case!

You should call up the particular airline and ask them, and please make sure
to record the date, time and name of the person you speak with.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Has anyone travelled to Europe with a bike in the last few months?

My wife and I flew two bikes from San Francisco to Milan on Lufthansa in
October.

No charges and no hassles.

Any other questions?


Chris Neary


"Science, freedom, beauty, adventu what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

"FlashSteve" wrote

Has anyone travelled to Europe with a bike in the last few months?
I am only
interested in feedback of people who have taken non-folding or
non-coupled
bikes.

My daughter arrived on my doorstep here in London a few days ago - US
Air from Philadelphia. She had her bike in a box, but had no hassles
or costs so far as I know. She's not around at the moment, but if I
remember I will ask her when she gets back tomorrow.

Jeremy Parker

On 23 Dec 2003 17:42:13 GMT, (FlashSteve) wrote:

Has anyone travelled to Europe with a bike in the last few months? I am only
interested in feedback of people who have taken non-folding or non-coupled
bikes.

On NW/KLM it was no charge last June. I believe it did count as one of my
checked bags. But I never check bags, making this my only one. I did have
to buy a box at Schiphol for 20 Euros. But you could use your own.

Don donwiss at panix.com.

On NW/KLM it was no charge last June. I believe it did count as one of my
checked bags.

Good point, it does count as a checked bag.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

I did it 2 weeks ago. I flew
West Palm - Baltimore (South West), 1 day stopover
Baltimore - Iceland (Icelandair) 3 day stopover
Iceland- Denmark (IcelandAir) 1 day stopover
Denmark - Paris (Air France).

I had my bike in a soft case (
http://www.decathlon.fr/Magasin/prod...&int%5FDeptPer
eId=33060&int%5FPfId=276947&mscssid=9J2N09D26E1K8J VDN77EVS42SC1C83C9 )

I used hot water pipe insulation (Home Depot $1.29) around the frame to add
protection without adding weight. I stuffed the case with clothes as well.
Therefore it was my only piece of checked luggage.

Southwest charged me $40 dollars.

Because it was my only checked luggage, IcelandAir didn't charge extra for
it. Ditto for AirFrance (although because I didn't warn them in advance that
I was travelling with a bike, they had to check first to see if there was
enough space in the plane for it on the flight with me).

Because I made stopovers, I left the bike at BWI for 24 hours in the care of
Southwest. They held it for me free of charge, but because of security
reasons, I couldn't even touch the case once it came into the baggage claim
area.

I had to take the bike with me into Rekyavik on the airport shuttle since
there was no place to store it at the Keflavik airport. The guy there
suggested I just leave it out at the luggage area for 3 days. He said not to
worry about it, I was in Iceland. I almost went for it, but maybe with one
of my other bikes...

I checked the bike at the Copenhagen airport for 40DKK ($5) without
problems.

All in all no problems. I've always found it easier, cheaper and more hassle
free taking a bike on planes in Europe than in the States.

HTH


FlashSteve wrote:
Has anyone travelled to Europe with a bike in the last few months? I
am only interested in feedback of people who have taken non-folding
or non-coupled bikes. A few years ago, you could take a bike to
Europe with no charge in a box or case. I know that things have
tightened up a lot in the past few months domestically (several
friends have gotten hit for the first time ever with oversized or
overweight charges), but I wonder what the situation is when you fly
to Europe.

Please, only very recent experiences, because things have changed a
lot this past year.

Thanks,

Steve Scarcih

For some time I've been collecting information on user experiences taking bikes
on planes, trains, buses, boats, etc. There's lots of stuff on rentals, folding
bikes, boxing, airlines, and railroads around the world and how to ride in/out
of about 120 airports.

See it at http://www.BikeAccess.net


FlashSteve wrote:
Has anyone travelled to Europe with a bike in the last few months? I am only
interested in feedback of people who have taken non-folding or non-coupled
bikes. A few years ago, you could take a bike to Europe with no charge in a
box or case. I know that things have tightened up a lot in the past few months
domestically (several friends have gotten hit for the first time ever with
oversized or overweight charges), but I wonder what the situation is when you
fly to Europe.

Please, only very recent experiences, because things have changed a lot this
past year.

Thanks,

Steve Scarcih

For some time I've been collecting information on user experiences taking
bikes
on planes, trains, buses, boats, etc. There's lots of stuff on rentals,
folding
bikes, boxing, airlines, and railroads around the world and how to ride
in/out
of about 120 airports.

See it at http://www.BikeAccess.net

An excellent resource for anyone traveling by bike! I only wish more people
would add their own (especially recent) experiences. It would be great if
anyone reading this, who had recently traveled with their bike (and using
rail or airlines to get around) would post in the relevant places.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com