Heading to the Alps this summer? You may want to think again about which company you fly with, or drive.
Whilst it’s okay to fly with a wind surfer, kayak or hang glider; bikes are now limited to a lower maximum weight of 23kg. That’s going to be a struggle if you want to take an all mountain/enduro bike and adequately protect it from the vagaries of airport handlers.
From the Easyjet website:
“One item of Sports equipment can be carried in addition to Your Hold Baggage allowance. Sports equipment is defined as:
Small Sports Equipment (items up to 20kg) for example:
- Golf equipment (excluding golf shoes);
- Skis (including boots and poles);
- Snowboards;
- Surfboards;
- Sporting Firearms;
- Diving Equipment (Gas or air cylinders are not permitted); and
- Sporting Wheelchairs (unless this is one of the two items of mobility equipment per passenger), or
Large Sports Equipment (items up to 32kg, except bicycles for which the maximum weight is 23kg (our emphasis – Ed)) for example:
- Bicycles;
- Canoes;
- Wind surfers; and
- Hang-gliders/paragliders.”
So why are bikes singled out for the lower, and quite restrictive limit?
We’d expect mountain bikers to make up a decent proportion of Easyjet’s summer clientele especially to classic Alpine destinations such as Geneva, so the decision seems a strange one unless the intention is to reduce use.
We’ve contacted Easyjet’s press team and will update this story once we get a reply.
UPDATE 13.30: In a tweet we’ve had this message:
“after many complaints from our customers we’re reviewing the bike weight limits and will have an update soon”
and an email stating:
“easyJet’s aim is to make flying with us as easy as possible for all. We are currently reviewing our bike weight limit policy and will be in touch again soon with an update.”
Further UPDATE 10/01/14: We’ve just received this email.
“IÂ have some good news for you!
We’re just about to announce that our bike weight limit is being raised to 32kg form Saturday 11 January. Whilst this will take a number of weeks to be applied to all our systems no customer will be charged an excess for bikes between 23kg & 32kg going forward.
Thanks again for getting in touch and bringing it to our attention.”
Well, that’s a pile of steaming poo.
Looks like I’ll be driving then 😉
23kg is a sub 30lb bike in an evoc bag from some experience. It’s a tight pack.
ferry and drive though !!
The reply should make some interesting reading.
They’re obviously trying to get you to buy another piece of hold luggage, for which you get an extra 20kg allowance and an extra bag.
The crucial thing is that your now 43kg allowance can be split between the two bags as you see fit, although you’re still not supposed to put anything other than your bike inside the bike bag.
And you HAVE to use a bike bag… not sure of they (or indeed you) would consider the sub-1kg ‘CTC plastic bag’ to be adequate.
PS: In 2012 at least, the plastic bag approach was acceptable: http://www.ctcwest.org.uk/ctcbristol/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=215:bikes-and-baggage-on-easyjet-flights&catid=30:ride-reports&Itemid=16
I would guess that they’ve done their research and they think that the extra baggage charges they can now claim from us all won’t affect their market share much, and will probably net them more money overall. Blatant profiteering.
I, for one, will be wearing a lot of clothing when I get on the plane.
I bet it’s because of the size and irregular shape. Or at least that’s what they’ll claim. They’ll say it makes it difficult for one person to handle if over 23kg. Health and safety of their staff etc.
Just strip your bike of peripheral heavy bits (cassette, brakes, seat/seatpost etc..) and put them in your hand luggage – and gain 15kg in body weight just to p*ss them off?
Monarch is only 20 kgs.
they’ve tweeted that they’re reviewing the limit again.
Budget airlines do like to take the piss with baggage eh?
I just booked flights with RyanAir.
Seat for me, a six foot, 88kg man: £48
20kg hold bag plus snowboard: £75
Could always buy a lighter bike
I used to play at avoiding weight limits when I flew a lot- you can easily get a couple of kilos of stuff in your coat and trousers for the bag weigh- thinking pedals, cranks, seat post tools, inner tubes etc- may struggle with a cassette though!- kinda pointy
We need to have a concerted campaign to try and change this.
Ive tried asking the question on their FB page but Didier their autobot just fobbed me off and then when I told him I wasnt pleased at being fobbed off he ignored me!
Twitter seems to get more attention we just need to all tweet at them with a catchy hashtag
#stopusingeasyjet ?
or #easyjethatecyclists
airports make their money from airlines on the baggage iirc. goes some way to explaining why the budget guys try to nail that stuff down? doesn’t explain the bike-bag debacle though.