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Bikes on Ryanair


mossy
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hi there

 

never flown with them, but explored their pricing when I was planning a trip to italy last year. I believe they do charge £15 per flight leg, so if you need to go somewhere via london = 4 flights = £60.00

 

m

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  • 2 weeks later...

I flew Ryanair to Girona last September with my wife, for a cycling tour in Languedoc. They charged £15 each way for each of our two bikes (total £60) which added quite a lot to the 'cheap' airfares...

When we arrived at Prestwick we were asked to wheel the bikes through a side-door where a guy tagged them with a 'fragile' label and wheeled them off.

(Maybe I'm just being naive but I got a reasuring feeling that the bikes were not going to be chucked around like suitcases, as I know they are when you fly BA etc who don't charge extra.)

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...forgot to mention: Ryanair do not require you to remove pedals or turn handlebars sideways (all they ask is that you deflate your tyres).

 

My only other experience of flying with a bike was when I flew to SE Spain in 1996. Can't remember the carrier but I know that (a) they did not charge for bikes and (B) you had to remove pedals/turn handlebars - no great hassle but it adds to the impression that your bike is going to be treated the same as a suitcase i.e. chucked about.

 

I didn't really mind paying £15 on Ryanair because I thought it was quite good to pay for the cycle reservation in advance because then I knew there was no chance of my bike being refused on the day. I think technically your bike exceeds normal baggage allowance so they can refuse it if the hold is going to be really full. (When I flew to Spain it was with a party of about 12 CTC people, and the airline were reluctant to accept our bikes because there was a golfing party on the same plane and their golf bags took up so much room!)

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I had also heard that Ryanair were charging £15 each way for bikes so on a Ryanair return flight from Barcelona to Prestwick I noticed a group of irate women golfers who were all checking in large hard shelled golf club transport cases.

I asked if they had been charged extra for these cases and was told that they had to pay £15 each way, they were not chuffed.

It does appear that Ryanair are charging for extra luggage but they are being consistant in charging everyone not just a bunch of paranoid cyclists. :lol:

Regards

David

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They say on the web site that they charge for ski's as well. Baggage would be fairly limited to keep within the limit if the bike was included, so I guess £15 each way to not have to pack the bike or have a bike case and still get the full baggage allownce on top is not so bad. Not having a bike bag means if you have the right luggage you can just ride your bike from the airport, saves on taxis and on car parking at Prestwick. If I was flying with a change at Stanstead then the Hold All trick might be the one to go for.

 

So, I missed it this year, but who is up for doing the Felice Gimmondi ride from Bergamo, Italy in May 2005? Fly from Prestwick Sat. a.m, ride Sunday, fly back Monday.

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My only experience was flying to Italy last year with BA.

Before going we asked if there was a charge for bikes and were told that there wasn't, squeezy jet wanted £15 per leg making it £60 for the round trip.

 

No problems on the way out, we checked in out baggage and put the bikes into the big baggage check in. Bikes arrived safe and in one piece with to evidence of damage - they were in bike bags.

 

On the way home the decided to weigh our bikes and bags and I was stung for 99 euro to bring it back, the others all paid excess baggage too - though not as much as me.

 

Douggie McF claimed I would have been better off dumping the bike and buying a new one back home :grin::grin:

 

So watch out.

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This is shaping up to be a great topic for discusssion: just shows how paranoid we are about our bikes (And quite right too).

Not having a bike bag means if you have the right luggage you can just ride your bike from the airport, saves on taxis and on car parking at Prestwick.

 

I personally favour the bike bag approach as opposed to the 'bare bike'. One of my colleagues at work is a tandem tourer, so when he flies he has no choice but to turn up at the airport and hand the bike over. But... he has described the very painful experience of watching his bike being wheeled through a door by a baggage handler, followed by the muffled but obvious crashing sound of his bike being flung across a room. He's also been daft enough to look out of the aircraft window to watch baggage being unloaded and seen his bike hitting the tarmac. The paintwork isn't what it used to be...

 

I guess you pay your money and takes your chance, but before you make up your mind, have a look at http://www.bikeaccess.net/BikeAccess/default.cfm

 

just proves that we're not the only ones who worry

 

m

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