Author Topic: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?  (Read 5585 times)

Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« on: 03 September, 2016, 08:53:53 pm »
I`m just investigating various airlines for bike carriage costs, and nowhere on BA site can I find 1. if they`ll charge for a bike 2 if they do how much ?

It seems quite ambivalent to me, checked bags up to 23 kg are free but  bikes in boxes ?? but from what I can see I`d have to book my flight and then use `manage bookings` to add / check cost of bike. By which time I`ve paid for and booked my flight  ::-)

So can anyone who has used BA with a bike in a box (flight I`m looking at is LHR to France Lyon / Toulouse) shed info on all of this for me

many thanks
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Oaky

  • ACME Fire Safety Officer
  • Audax Club Mid-Essex
    • MEMWNS Map
Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #1 on: 03 September, 2016, 09:13:53 pm »
Never used it, but bikes basically count as luggage.  So if your luggage including (bagged) bike falls under the 23kg, then you wouldn't pay extra.  If it does I think you pay the normal excess baggage rates.

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/baggage-essentials/sporting-goods-and-musical-instruments
You are in a maze of twisty flat droves, all alike.

85.4 miles from Marsh Gibbon

Audax Club Mid-Essex Fire Safety Officer
http://acme.bike

Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #2 on: 03 September, 2016, 09:23:38 pm »
I`d looked at that link but still unclear if my boxed bike (around 23-25 kg ) would get a surcharge and whether it`s within bag size.....and how to find out what I`d pay extra if at all as higher up in that link there`s a bit of a statement that larger items MAY be carried as part of checked luggage
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

tiermat

  • According to Jane, I'm a Unisex SpaceAdmin
Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #3 on: 03 September, 2016, 09:26:09 pm »
Ask Ham, he has flown LHR to BCN twice, with bicycle.
I feel like Captain Kirk, on a brand new planet every day, a little like King Kong on top of the Empire State


LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #5 on: 04 September, 2016, 12:08:27 am »
Flown bikes with BA quite a few times. Bikes are part of BA luggage allowance with no charge, in most instances. Codeshare flights actually operated by other airlines can be more difficult, more so in some parts of the world. You'll need to look into the specifics of that airline's baggage policy (not BA's) in that particular part of the world. You'll find that some parts of the world are particularly luggage-friendly and some airlines are definitely bike-negative.

Your particular flight should be no additional cost, provided you stay inside the checked weight limit.

Beware of what you are putting in hand luggage. Security tend to confiscate tools and suchlike. Avoid having loose things rattling round in bike boxes, they escape out holes and scratch bikes.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #6 on: 04 September, 2016, 05:56:48 am »
The airline with very few issues. Casper was taken split in half in a laundry bag in June this year without question. Provided it is bagged within the weight limit they are Ok. All weapons of mass distruction in the bike bag otherwise security will confiscate. BAs niceness doesn't carry over to code share - you fly by their rules.

Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #7 on: 04 September, 2016, 06:45:35 am »
Flown bikes with BA quite a few times. Bikes are part of BA luggage allowance with no charge, in most instances. Codeshare flights actually operated by other airlines can be more difficult, more so in some parts of the world. You'll need to look into the specifics of that airline's baggage policy (not BA's) in that particular part of the world. You'll find that some parts of the world are particularly luggage-friendly and some airlines are definitely bike-negative.

Your particular flight should be no additional cost, provided you stay inside the checked weight limit.

Beware of what you are putting in hand luggage. Security tend to confiscate tools and suchlike. Avoid having loose things rattling round in bike boxes, they escape out holes and scratch bikes.

Thanks LWAB for direct first hand experience---maybe I`m being slow but the links that BA provide hadn`t clarified my queries so what you say very useful as `what really happens` ! I`d be taking a  bike in a bike box and then just hand luggage with cycle clothing for a week , cycle shoes, Garmin, camera etc  and a very few tools would be in the bike box . So hopefully that`ll all be fine  :thumbsup:

Certainly my initial investigations indicate BA has far less hidden costs than `budget` airlines with their debit card costs, extra baggage costs all cranking up their seeming cheap prices---eg IME an initial £90 ish simple return to Toulouse has ended up being nearer £200 once debit card fees, bike box costs all added on
....after the `tarte de pommes`, and  fortified by a couple of shots of limoncellos,  I flew up the Col de Bavella whilst thunderstorms rolled around the peaks above

Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #8 on: 04 September, 2016, 07:55:59 am »
Bikes are classed as sports equipment/outsize luggage, so you will have to pay. I've taken my bike twice with BA
(last occasion was 2014) and to pay. From memory, the cost was about £23 per flight.

Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #9 on: 04 September, 2016, 08:13:49 am »
I paid £25 on BA. Had to ring them.

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #10 on: 04 September, 2016, 08:42:24 am »
As long as your packed bike bag/box does not exceed 75 inches long and is under 23kg, it is within your BA checked baggage allowance. Exceed either limit and costs apply. Print off the relevant BA webpage so that you can show that when you check in. There are some BA tickets that have no checked baggage allowance, so be careful.
http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/baggage-essentials/sporting-goods-and-musical-instruments
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #11 on: 04 September, 2016, 08:46:00 am »
As Tiermat says, I've taken bikes on BA several times (3 trips) as part of the luggage allowance, different check in have different processes. They will ask you if you have deflated your tyres (Ans: "yes" ;) ). I've used the clear CTC bag with success each time, the only problem I had was on EDI->LCY when the loading bay door on the smaller than normal airplane first appeared too small (but it fitted in the end).

I leave wheels in place, drop the bars/zip tie to top tube, drop seat, pedals orf and job's a good'n

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #12 on: 12 August, 2018, 05:43:01 pm »
Yesterday I got my tally of clear-bag-flights-on-BA to three (or 2.5*). return trip LHR-HAMburg

Staff have been initially confused each time, but cooperated eventually. I haven't used any bubble-wrap etc.

Nice-LHR*: had to turn bars 90'. They somehow lost one water bottle.
LHR-HAM: the most helpful staff. No mods to bike. I taped rear der' to stay. rear light and mudguard both got a bit squished, neither terminal.
HAM-LHR: massive twat at check-in. He did eventually give in. required (and checked!) TOTAL deflation of tyres, no other mods. Same mudguard damage, one brifter slightly bent in.

Overall I found this all very stressful, but then I find all flying stressful (I average about 1 flight per 3 years of adult life).

Final irritation at LHR yesterday - the wombles stole my plastic bag!?! I moved a few metres to complete re-assembly, and at some point the bag got tidied-up, presumably as suspect trash  :facepalm: Flying is much easier with a "buddy" to stop this sort of thing, spot signage, etc etc ...

Summary: TOUCHES WOOD I see no reason to use boxes or hard cases (on trips where you would like to ride to and/or from the airport.)

I found it very difficult to organise the right objects between the bike and my hand-luggage (e..g you need your tools handy, but you need to pack them inside the bike-bag before you check it in! And you don't want to unfold your clear bag to show the staff until the last minute. And I keep forgetting to take a bottle off the bike to use during flight - I hate buying bottled water :(  ) Others who faff less and have more organised brains won't have this trouble :)

Oh and re-attaching a rear-der' is an amazingly fiddly job with the chain still on. I need to rehearse this next time ...
At Hamburg last week, LWAB had two Moultons reassembled only a couple of minutes after I'd got my bike ready to roll. All about an hour after actually leaving the plane!


*Flight never left thte ground due to 2017 BApocalypse
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #13 on: 16 September, 2018, 01:32:49 pm »
So can anyone who has used BA with a bike in a box (flight I`m looking at is LHR to France Lyon / Toulouse) shed info on all of this for me

A bit late replying to this, but I thought I'd throw my tuppence in ...

Flew a bicycle with British Airways from Gatwick to Salzburg & return in 2014, and again just last month.  Both times using the CTC clear plastic bag.  The first time it was a recumbent which did cause a few head scratches at check-in when they asked if I'd rotated the handlebars by 90 degrees!  The recumbent made it to Austria okay, but on the way back the baggage throwers at Salzburg stacked someone's golf clubs onto of it on the baggage cart which didn't do the derailleur hanger any favours.  The more recent time it was a Genesis Croix de Fer, and I decided to invest in a Bopworx derailleur guard in the hope that this might provide a bit of protection - whether it did or not, who can say but the bike came through unscathed in both directions!

The only oddity was that security at Gatwick didn't seem to x-ray my bike, but merely swab the outside of of the plastic bag for explosives.

As for cost, on both occasions the bike was carried as a piece of checked baggage with no extra costs.

Martin

Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #14 on: 24 September, 2018, 01:30:53 pm »
Used BA many times with a bike never paid; either a padded bike bag or a cardboard box;

their website says recognised bike bag or box so not sure how you would get on with a CTC bag; having seen thinly packaged bikes getting stuck on conveyors I wouldn't risk it;

Also; if removing the rear wheel unscrew the rear derailleur hanger and hang the rear mech in the space where the wheel normally goes, very important; this part is designed to break if there's any strain on the mech (DAMHIKT!)

I was thinking of one of these for next trip but a bit bulky to have to carry round on the bike so just going for the ex Halfords bike box option

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/26Folding-Bike-Transportation-Bag-Carrier-Storage-600D-Hardwearing-Waterproof/362236642090?epid=1080749513&hash=item5456fc832a:g:oiwAAOSwB-1Y7eRV


mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: Carrying bikes on British Airways ?
« Reply #15 on: 24 September, 2018, 03:10:27 pm »
Used BA many times with a bike never paid; either a padded bike bag or a cardboard box;

their website says recognised bike bag or box so not sure how you would get on with a CTC bag;
Well, maybe there is an internet page where people have described getting their bikes on BA planes using a CTC clear bag. Perhaps this one  ?
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles