The Flying Bike Fee

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

If you are a cyclist who likes to travel with your bike, this fee will burn your butt worse than an 80-mile spin without chamois shorts.

The bike fee is tacked on by most airlines on when you take your bike along as checked luggage. The fee varies widely, from $50 (Southwest, Jet Blue) to $80 (Delta, United) to $110 (American). If you got a cheap flight, the fee can sometimes exceed the price of your ticket. Airlines have charged this fee for decades, although the carriers allow items that fit into a box the same size to be shipped without surcharge.

Cyclists feel singled out when charged up to $110 while checked baggage of identical dimensions, weight and fragility fly free. Try this loophole: Generally, airlines don't add a fee for “exercise equipment.” Just tell the truth—you’re checking exercise equipment—and you’ve saved enough to buy the new Kevlar tires you’ve been eying.

The International Bicycle Fund has a handy guide explaining what the different carriers charge. Click here to read it.

Click here for some good tips on how to pack a bike safely for travel.

Do you have a juicy Fee of the Week? We'd like to hear about it. Click here to e-mail us at the Hotline.