Those of you who have flown with bike bags...

Cookie_Monster

can you get away with piling stuff apart from the bike into them?

want to pack away my bag of jerseys, shoes, helmet, tools etc in with the bike into the bag, it'll all still be less than 15kg or so.

Anyone any experience of airline reactions, do they check, do they care?

nomadic

They don't care once your not over the limit.

blorg

You can put anything you like in them as long as you stay under the weight.

Ryanair give you 30kg for a bike box incidentally. Aer Lingus's 15kg is unclear.

el Bastardo

Air France treat it as part of your 23Kg airline luggage allowance. They don't care what you put in your bags; bike, clothing etc.

Lusk Doyle

I got nearly 20kg with aer lingus recently. They never checked a thing including the weight

JacksonHeightsOwn

just a quick warning, do NOT BRING AIR CANISTERS with you

my brother went to spain 2 weeks ago and had a few cansiters in the bike box, anyway, he's sitting on the plane awaiting take off with his missus, when the security came in and asked him to go and retrive the bottles as they where illegal, in this time the plane had taken off, with his girlfriend still aboard

so bring a track pump

elduggo

be careful with Ryanair. I know someone who was charged almost twice the price of their flight for going over the limit (and their flight wasn't one of the cheap ones).

Aer Lingus seem not to care. I've flown several times with a bike bag with them and doubt I was ever under the limit.

WakeyTyke

Flew with Aer Lingus recently. Bike bag weighed 21kg at Dublin Airport, full of all my cycling gear, shoes, helmet, etc., they didn't seem to care too much about the weight.

blorg

Ryanair have recently increased their weight limit to 30kg which is a generous allowance and should be enough for anyone.

Aer Lingus don't weigh in Dublin but many people have been weighed on the way back and asked to pay excess if over the ridiculous 15kg limit.

As the situation stands Ryanair are the better airline for flying with a bike.

A small quantity of small CO2 cannisters are actually allowed by most airlines but there are innumerable reports of people having problems so probably not worth the risk. It depends completly on who is on that day and their personal interpretation of the rules.

serendip

They really should be weighing your bike for the purpose of balancing the weight/load in the plane, but not necessarily counting it towards your weight limit.

Seweryn

blorg wrote: »

A small quantity of small CO2 cannisters are actually allowed by most airlines but there are innumerable reports of people having problems so probably not worth the risk. It depends completly on who is on that day and their personal interpretation of the rules.

Would you risk a single small CO2 cannister in your check-in bag? I am abroad at the moment and just bought one of these and then I found this tread . I am flying with RyanAir.
Thank you for any advise.

blorg

@serendip- I don't think a bike or two is that critical on a large commercial jet. If it was, they would be weighing all the passengers.

@Seweryn- I would take it in hand baggage, that way the worst they can do is take it off you at the security check. It is more down to the airport than airline.

C3PO

Seweryn wrote: »

Would you risk a single small CO2 cannister in your check-in bag? I am abroad at the moment and just bought one of these and then I found this tread . I am flying with RyanAir.
Thank you for any advise.

blorg wrote: »

@Seweryn- I would take it in hand baggage, that way the worst they can do is take it off you at the security check. It is more down to the airport than airline.

I would be very surprised if they would let you bring them in your hand luggage! We were told by the guys at the oversize x-ray in Dublin last year that 2 canisters were permitted per bike bag! But it seems to be a rule that every official interprets differently!

serendip

blorg wrote: »

@serendip- I don't think a bike or two is that critical on a large commercial jet. If it was, they would be weighing all the passengers.

I agree, but twice I've had my bike weighed for this reason, or that was the explanation given.

blorg

All airlines allow CO2 cylinders in your hand baggage... as long as you bring a life jacket. Persuading security may be another matter.

http://ryanair.com/en/questions/can-i-bring-a-self-inflating-lifejacket

My point is, he may have problems either with checked or cabin baggage; with cabin baggage worst case he loses the CO2, with checked baggage worst case he loses the CO2, his bags are removed and he misses his flight.

Cookie_Monster

cheers all

handy to know i can fill it with crap so