Urgent advice needed - Aer Lingus and bike boxes

el tel

Just about to book a flight with Aer Lingus. Their helpdesk is closed in the evenings, naturally.

WIll be taking a bike in a bike box, Box is just like a large hardshell suitcase and will weigh total 18kg.

How will Aer Lingus know that it contains a bike? Will they ask me and will I be stung the €40? TO all intents and purposes it is just a piece of oversize luggage like many people carry so I am hoping that it will be seen as such. What do yous reckon?

All advice welcome thanks!

blorg

You need to book it as a bike, that way it costs I think €30 or €40 each way. This is a discount on the normal oversize fees which AFAIK are often in the hundreds. I was asled for 300 for my bike coming back from Madrid a few years ago (I had it booked!) Even disregarding size 3kg over will cost you on a bag, maybe 20 a kilo. Oversize in general (skiis etc) must be booked. This is my own experience, if you get away with it let us know.

WakeyTyke

Recently took my bike on Aer Lingus flight to Paris and back from Geneva> Pre-booked it in as bike luggage - €30 each way, no problems at all - bike well looked after.

columbus_66

it's best to prebook it as a bike, as you don't want any surprises on the day. You definitely don't want to be paying €6-10 per kg for oversize or extra baggage both ways maybe.

jimmyjacob

I'm flying Aer Lingus to Marseille this Saturday with my bike in a Polaris Bike Pod. It costs €40 each way to carry the bike and I've been told I'll be charged at standard excess baggage rates if I go over the 15kg limit, which works out at €15 per excess kilo. Been told I can't take my seat post as carry on luggage as it could be construed as a weapon. However, I was told I could put parts into separate checked baggage to reduce the weight. That would only cost €15 each way, which might be worth it if you're going to be way over the limit.

Haven't packed my bike yet so still hoping I can get it under the 15kg limit, but not confident. If I get stung I'll let you know.

el tel

Thanks fof all the replies! Seems like I may have to bite the bullet and pay. The 15 kg limit for a bike is ridiculous. Most annoying is the fact that bike can't. Be booked online. Will now have to wait until tomorrow to book and right now is only 1 seat left. British. Airways don't charge for bikes btw.

FISMA

Where are you going?

It used to be that inter-EU travelers were charged the fee by intercontinental, like to the US was not.

Nowadays, they are hitting you even for a second bad, regardless of what's in it.

Don't be too surprised if you get hit for second bag + bike charge.

CramCycle

el tel wrote: »

Just about to book a flight with Aer Lingus. Their helpdesk is closed in the evenings, naturally.

WIll be taking a bike in a bike box, Box is just like a large hardshell suitcase and will weigh total 18kg.

How will Aer Lingus know that it contains a bike? Will they ask me and will I be stung the €40? TO all intents and purposes it is just a piece of oversize luggage like many people carry so I am hoping that it will be seen as such. What do yous reckon?

All advice welcome thanks!

If its in a hard shell case you will get away with oversize luggage, otherwise no.

columbus_66 wrote: »

it's best to prebook it as a bike, as you don't want any surprises on the day. You definitely don't want to be paying €6-10 per kg for oversize or extra baggage both ways maybe.

15 per kg from amsterdam

If its trans atlantic its free though, well the bike is anyway, so they told me at the airport

WakeyTyke

Pretty sure they diidn't weigh my bike at either Dublin or Geneva.

I had packed tools and cycling gear in with the bike as well, which probably doubled the weight of the bike.

n-dawg

My flight with Ryanair recently was fine.... bike box was 28kg but their weight limit for bikes is 30kg. Had allen keys in my carry on bag that were taken off me :mad: had to get a new set in france (They were nicer then my old set). I'd love to see somebody try to hijack a plane with 3 allen keys!!!

CramCycle

WakeyTyke wrote: »

Pretty sure they diidn't weigh my bike at either Dublin or Geneva.

I had packed tools and cycling gear in with the bike as well, which probably doubled the weight of the bike.

Didn't way mine in Dublin either, Aer Lingus didn't anyway,

mtbireland

I always book online and just put it in as a surfboard or golf clubs. Just tell them you couldn't find the bike option if they give you any guff. They say they have a six bike limit per plane. This is six bikes though which are not in bike bags. They can put as many bike bags on as they have room for as they are just big bags afterall. Sometimes staff are not very educated on this and so you have to explain that it's six bikes not in bags. They have never weighed my bike bag in Dublin Airport. That is with Aer Lingus though.. I believe Ryanair have started to though.

columbus_66

I think all the airline companies are getting mor particular about excess baggage so to avoid any nasty surprises book it in as a bike and keep it under the weight. Ryanair used to be 32kg for sports equipment but it's changing all the time. The main thing you want to avoing is paying extra per kg.

blorg

Ryanair went down to 20kg which was certainly tight but not entirely impossible depending on your case. They have been weighing religiously in Dublin for the last year. Just very recently (last month, as I was in France in July with them when it was 20kg) they appear to have raised it to 30kg for bikes which is entirely reasonable. 15kg on Aer Lingus is a joke; that is simply not possible with a hard shell case even if you take out the seatpost etc and put it in another bag. As of right now Ryanair are far the better airline for bike carriage.

el tel

Latest I've found ia that if you can get your gear into a case then you are sorted via the 20lg luggage allowance with aer lingus. However if the case
has total dimension s of over 62 inches then you are hit with an oversize luggage fee.what. that is exactly I don't know.
Their customer service line is an f ing joke too, took me 90 mins of
f waiting over 3 days to get through

AstraMonti

So if you have a bike bag that's up to 20kgs you are safe to assume that you are not going to pay any extras?

CramCycle

AstraMonti wrote: »

So if you have a bike bag that's up to 20kgs you are safe to assume that you are not going to pay any extras?

Only bike fare for Ryanair, Aer lingus would be bike fair plus a fine for every kilo over, usually cheaper to pay for a seperate bag as that is only 20euro and put everything over the 15kg limit in to that

penexpers

AstraMonti wrote: »

So if you have a bike bag that's up to 20kgs you are safe to assume that you are not going to pay any extras?

Nope, not safe. Most (all?) bike boxes will easily exceed the 62 inch limit (I think that refers to the length of all sides i.e. 2xW + 2xL). Although I can't find reference to this 62 inch limit on their website.

The "bike" fee is really just an oversize luggage fee.

Lumen

penexpers wrote: »

Nope, not safe. Most (all?) bike boxes will easily exceed the 62 inch limit (I think that refers to the length of all sides i.e. 2xW + 2xL).

Those limits are based on W+D+L. A normal bike will exceed these limits.

AstraMonti

Argh.. and their phone support is awful, they can't give a concrete answer. I guess the safest way would be to rent a bike when I 'm there!

CramCycle

AstraMonti wrote: »

Argh.. and their phone support is awful, they can't give a concrete answer. I guess the safest way would be to rent a bike when I 'm there!

I remember someone once saying, on here, I think, that the recorded the person on the phone, demanded a definite answer and had it with them, not sure if it was true/help, my memory is blurry on a Monday. Maybe ask them for an e-mail confirming what they tell you so you can print it and bring it with you.