Avoid excess fees when flying with your bike

Want to avoid excess fees when flying with your bike? Look no further!

When traveling with your bicycle it’s important to know what the spiel is with excess baggage, but many airlines like to make it as difficult as possible for you to find out what the additional luggage charges are.

Many of you who have traveled with your bike before will know that you’ll often find that the fees can sting quite a bit on something as bulky as a bike!

Here’s our easy-to-use guide to bike baggage fees to help you spend less and avoid any nasty surprises.

Who’s the cheapest?

Let’s get stuck right in! Regional Express Airlines (REX) claim that they will carry your bike for free. However, they have extremely strict weight and size restrictions e.g. the bag or case must be under 15kg, so unless you have a super light bike it’s going to be charged $7.70 per additional kg. This is obviously a bit of a trick to lure you and hoping that you will only see the word ‘free’ and won’t read the small print.

Plus, it's Rex. Who even flies Rex? Unless you're flying to somewhere like Dubbo.

Air New Zealand are more reasonable with flat rates from $20 each way.

Not far behind this is Qantas with prices from $30, but their prices are all based on weight, so you could end up fishing out up to $280 per extra 5kg on some international routes. You might be better off booking with Virgin Australia whose rate is a flat $35 each way with no hidden extras.

In some cases, it may actually prove cheaper or the same to fly business or first class because the airline will waive the baggage handling fee or you’re allowance is increased under these tickets. It’s definitely worth checking- save money and get more leg-room!

Who’s the most expensive?

Drumroll please… Jetstar Airways top the charts of priciest airlines with an extortionate $15-25 per extra kilo! This is also based on the fact that their allowance is so low in the first place at a mere 15kg. The average bike bag weighs around 9kg and box box is about 12kg, put your bike inside alongside the helmet, shoes etc. and you’re looking at a LOT of extra pennies that you could be spending on your actual holiday.

Some extra tips

1. Book in advance when possible. Some airlines only let bikes on planes on a standby basis so if you just rock up on the day you might be disappointed.
2. Print out the airline’s policy on bike baggage from their webpage in case the desk clerk is a donut. I travelled with my skis once and had a full-blown argument with the lady behind the desk because she was telling me that I couldn’t have both a checked bag and sports equipment for free despite the fact the airline’s website said that I could.
3. Most importantly, invest if you haven’t already in a protective bike bag or bike case. The last thing anybody wants is a broken bike when you arrive at your destination. We’ve got some top tips for packing your bike bag here. Or alternatively you could watch some of our friend's SCICON’s how-to-pack videos here.
4. Make sure you get a light-weight bike bag like the [easyazon_link identifier=”B005DHB64O” locale=”US” nw=”y” nf=”y” tag=”velonomad2-20″ cart=”y” localize=”y” popups=”y”]Scicon Aerocomfort 2 TSA[/easyazon_link].

These were correct as of 7^th November 2014. However, we do recommend double-checking with the airline before you fly.

Airline	Treated as part of normal luggage	Extra costs (in AUS $)	Max Weight (kg)	Additional Info
Qantas	no	$30 each way for domestic flights $70- 280 per 5kg each way for international flights (depending on route)	32	More info here.
Virgin Australia	no	$35 each way	32	Pre-purchase at least 48 hours in advance. More info here.
Air New Zealand	no	$20- $70 depending on route	23	If over 23kg and under 32kg then an additional charge will apply. More info here.
Jetstar Airways	no	$15-$25 per additional kg above 15 depending on route	15	More info here.
Regional Express Airlines (REX)	yes	Free if under 15kg and 140 dimensional inches but charged per $7.70 per excess kg and a one-off fee of $16.50 for being oversized.	15	More info here.