Hi there!
My wife and I are planing on riding around Norway for a few weeks this summer. We want to use our bikes rather than renting but have never flown with them, let alone flown international with all our tour gear. Do you have any advice for us? Shipping them separate seems out of the question (very expensive), I've read no box just clear bag (seems kind of odd). We would love to hear from you and your experience of getting your bicycle and gear to a foreign country. Our bikes are 26" Long Hauls with front and rear racks. We are leaving from Seattle and going into Oslo. Thanks for taking the time!
Ben & Palmer
Flying with bikes to Norway????
日, 2016-03-27 11:39
#1
WS Member
Flying with bikes to Norway????
I could tell you any number of tales of woe but what you need most is recent intelligence specific to the airline you are travelling on. Beyond that be prepared: ask at least a few different people from the airline what the requirements are (box? wheel off? pedals off? excess baggage policy? etc) and if you get a different story at check in be prepared to stand your ground, ask to speak to a supervisor or manager etc - some airlines hove got this downpat nowadays but there are still plenty that are clueless.
Perhaps you could let us know which airline you are flying and then, as I said, get searching here, on crazyguyonabike etc to find the recent experiences of others who have flown the same carrier with thier bikes.
Suerte.
wich airline are you flying with?
Leaving from Seattle i guess you are using a US airline, be prepared to pay a lot, US airlines charge a lot of money for transporting bicycle.
No airline has been selected yet. Looked at a 5-6, american and European, all seem to say $150 each way, that's a lot of money! So far we are looking at Air France, KLM, Icelandic, delta, they all had the lowest fares at this moment. We are going to buy tickets end of April beginning of May.
I travelled from London to Podgorica (Montengro) with Ryanair 2 weeks ago with a plastic bag, protection with cardboard and pipe lagging- just took my pedals and front wheel off and turned the handlebars to the side- it arrived with no damage!
Our Surly LHTs have flown something like 18 times in the decade we've had them, and with only one paint scratch. Most of these flights have been Air Canada, with their standard bike fee of a reasonable $50 cdn. Does air canada fly out of Seattle? If not, can you get yourselves to Vancouver and start from there? (Consider staying with us ...if we're there.)
Note: in our experience this fee applies for the whole journey even when the second leg (I.e. London to Oslo) is a different carrier (I.e. SAS). On the return flight you may be subject to a different airline's pricing.
For international travel with more than one leg (more baggage handling variables) we've always boxed ours, making sure to remove the (vulnerable) derailleur as we do. For advice on air travel with bikes and associated gear, see our page:
https://candmwanderings.wordpress.com/practical/transporting-bikes/
Norway is great for cycling! We did the Lofoten peninsula in 2013, and would happily do more rides here. We are here at the moment, having done a two week hut to hut ski tour. Our daughter lives here.
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