[*BCM*] Moving bikes internationally

[Susanne Sauerbroim]

I brought my bike from Munich via Philadelphia to Boston last year. It just counted as a piece of luggage on the Lufthansa flight. Since I already had 2 suitcases I had to pay 80 Euros for the bike (the same price that I would have payed for an extra suitcase, and if I had had only 1 suitcase the bike would have been free..).
After some research in the internet and asking some people I decided not to pack it at all and only take of the pedals off, turn the handle bar parallel to the bike and take some air out of the tires. Not packing has the advantage that it is much easier to handle that huge piece of luggage, so that it's likely to be treated with much more care.
And it worked, my bike arrived safe ! 
Stephanie

----- Ursprüngliche Mail ----
Von: Jim Leonard <jim_bcm at xuth.net>
An: Boston Critical Mass <list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
Gesendet: Mittwoch, den 20. Juni 2007, 10:14:38 Uhr
Betreff: Re: [*BCM*] Moving bikes internationally

On Wed, Jun 20, 2007 at 09:40:07AM -0400, Tripp Hyde wrote:
> I have only done this within the US flying coast to coast, so I'm not
> sure if the same rules apply, but I'll share my experience anyway.  I
> was flying from San Francisco to Boston and had to get my bike back.
> I asked around at a couple of local bike shops and eventually someone
> gave me a used bike box that companies ship bikes in from the factory.
>  I had to take the wheels off and loosen the handlebar stem clamp to
> slide the handlebars back, but you won't have to worry about any of
> that if you have a collapsible.  Anyway, in the US I think they charge
> an additional $50 for shipping a bike in a box.  I suppose you might
> be able to get away with just calling it "luggage" if the collapsible
> bike collapses into a small enough box and then you wouldn't have to
> pay the fee.

Yes, most airlines have an additional fee for oversized baggage and both
the definitions of oversized baggage, the fee and how it's applied, varies 
wildly by airline and sometimes by origin and destination.  You can 
typically find this information by digging through the airline's website 
but sometimes it's fairly well hidden.

That you have collapsable bikes means that you can likely fit them into
your bags as standard luggage.  If you bag the bike you can do something
like pack clothes around it to pad it.

--jim

> 
> On 6/20/07, Marci Anderson <marcievansanderson at googlemail.com> wrote:
> > Hello,
> > I'm brand new to this mailing list and was hoping someone could help me out.
> >  My husband and I are moving from Munich, Germany to Boston in August.
> > (Munich is the most friendly bike city I've seen!  The entire city is lined
> > with bike paths.  I am now getting nervous to move to Boston that isn't so
> > accomodating to bikes!)  Does anyone know the best way to transport bikes
> > when flying internationally?   We have two collapsable bikes.  We heard you
> > can get bike boxes and check them as a piece of luggage.  Any tips would be
> > appreciated!  We contacted the airline and they weren't too helpful...
> >
> > --
> > Marci
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> >
> 
> 
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