Trains and boats and planes (and bikes), your experience

[Martin]

Following on from Eurostar's announcement to charge £20 each way for reserved space from tomorrow, what sort of charges have people here seen?

so far for me (current rate)

Anywhere on Network Rail - free but reservation often required
Ryanair - £25
Easyjet- £16.50 -£23
SAS - 80€ each way (according to website)
BA- Free
Newhaven-Dieppe - Free

[robgul]

Eurotunnel (Shuttle) - £16 each way for bike + passenger Folkestone-Calais.  It's a minibus and bike-trailer service.   We're booked for Sept, but recommended by others

Rob

[Martin]

Eurotunnel (Shuttle) - £16 each way for bike + passenger Folkestone-Calais.  It's a minibus and bike-trailer service.   We're booked for Sept, but recommended by others

Rob

That's good  lower than a walk-on Dover-Calais foot passenger; the bike effectively travels free, it's the extortionate "luggage fee" charged by some carriers that's unfair.

[andygates]

flyBe, £17 each way.

Everywhere: trailers are a pain in the arse travelling solo. 

[Craig]

DFDS ferries (to Norway / Amsterdam / Denmark) - £5 each way
Northlink ferries (to Orkney and Shetland) - free
CalMac ferries - usually between £1 to £3 each way, depends on the route.

And no problem taking a Bob trailer on any of these.

As for Eurostar, haven't they always charged £20 to take a (non-bagged/folded) bike? The only difference is now you can actually book it on the same train you are travelling on, instead of one within 24 hours. Except it seems you can't book it online, you have to phone them up.
I wonder whether Eurostar take bike trailers? I suspect they will, but probably charge another £20 for them.

[Naggers]

Woolwich Ferry - FREE 

[Polar Bear]

DFDS ferries (to Norway / Amsterdam / Denmark) - £5 each way
Northlink ferries (to Orkney and Shetland) - free
CalMac ferries - usually between £1 to £3 each way, depends on the route.

Have Clamac changed their policy?   When we went to the Outer Hebs Windyland in 2005 the bikes went free.  We got a five ferry ticket for something ridiculous like £36 and went out via Oban and returned to mainland via Skye to Mallaig.   

[Pingu]

I seem to remember that bikes go free on Calmac if you have an Island Hopscotch or Rover or somesuch ticket that allows multiple crossings.

[Polar Bear]

Aha!  Hopscotch sounds familiar.

One helluva bargain it was too.   

[mark]

DFDS ferries (to Norway / Amsterdam / Denmark) - £5 each way
Northlink ferries (to Orkney and Shetland) - free
CalMac ferries - usually between £1 to £3 each way, depends on the route.

Have Clamac changed their policy?   When we went to the Outer Hebs Windyland in 2005 the bikes went free.  We got a five ferry ticket for something ridiculous like £36 and went out via Oban and returned to mainland via Skye to Mallaig.   

When I used CalMac (2004) there was a charge of £1 to £3 for bicycles on a single or round trip ticket. If you bought an "Island Hopscotch" ticket, which was a series of crossings on one ticket, bikes went free which made the Island Hopscotch ticket a really good value instead of just a good value. There are a wide variety of Island Hopscotch itineraries available, with no time constraints.

BA: free of charge, and they've taken good care of my bike in the past. They now require a bag according to their website.

Lufthansa: excess baggage charges apply, but they're pretty vague about how much. When I flew with them (2006) they made me deflate my tires. When I complained by e-mail they dropped that requirement, they have since reinstated that requirement.

Aer Lingus: €35, €30 if you pay online in advance.

Any US airline: fairly massive charges to bring a bicycle.

[hellymedic]

El Al free and you get an extra baggage weight allowance.

[MattH]

SAS - 80€ each way (according to website)

That is long haul; it's only 30€ around Europe. Also you don't pay if you are travelling in Economy Extra (used to be economy flex) or Business, or have a SAS gold card.

[Martin]

Also you don't pay if you are travelling in Economy Extra (used to be economy flex) or Business, or have a SAS gold card.

none of which I was considering for next year;
Ryanair is still a steal by comparison, BA is very competitive though, perhaps they use their own baggage handlers (err hang on...)

[Regulator]

Air Malta:  Bikes go free plus you get an additional 20kg luggage allowance to cover the bike.

[Mr Larrington]

Last time I did DFDS to Denmark, the bikes were "free" but it was only marginally cheaper for two people with bikes than it would have been for four people and a motorcar.

Gits.