This story struck me as interesting when Air Canada imposed a bicycle fee on a special folding bicycle that folded down to the specifications defined in the airline’s contract of carriage.
Is a bicycle that folds down to the size of a suitcase to be considered a bicycle and be subject to additional charges, or can it be considered a piece of luggage and fly free on some airlines.
It all seems to be in how the bag, err bicycle is defined. Bike cost more. Bags may fly for free or for far less.
After being charged for his bag as a bicycle, this passenger fought the good fight through the Canadian Transportation Agency. They decided a bike was a bike no matter how it was wrapped. Or more basically, whatever the airline says, goes.
[14] The Agency is of the opinion that, generally, air carriers should have the flexibility to establish their terms and conditions of carriage and to price their services as they see fit, subject to legislative or regulatory constraints.
In the U.S.A. a similar row with JetBlue resulted in the airline making a change to their baggage rules.
Our bicycle policy has now been updated to reflect that Customers traveling with a folding bikes in a bag that fits within the standard checked bag weights and dimensions (62 inches in overall dimensions and 50 pounds in weight — see our baggage requirements here) will not be charged the Bike fee and will be treated like any checked bag.
So for the time being a bike is a bike in Canada and a bike can be a bag depending on how it folds up and whether you are flying on JetBlue in the U.S.A.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
There are airlines with reasonable bike policies and airlines that seem to use bikes as profit centers. I’ve heard several reports where cyclists were charged up to $174 EACH WAY for traveling with a bicycle on Northwest. On the other hand, Southwest has never charged me for checking my folding bike (and they do not charge for checked bags either). In fact, when I travel with the CarryMe folding bike, Southwest has let me carry it aboard and stow the bike in the overhead bin!
Ultimate, the key is to pay attention to the policies & attitudes of the airline you intend to travel on. For best results though, travel with a bike that folds compactly (a variety do; to learn more about this, check out the videos, photos, reviews & details on my site).
Larry
RideTHISbike.com
United did this to us 4 years ago – we had disassembled a parts bike and actually had the parts inside a “legal” sized suitcase (back when you could check bags for free) and they charged us a fee because they were BICYCLE parts. Crazy!