[Closed] Flying with bikes - Manchester Airport

Similar experience to myself.  Myself and SWMBO have flown from there with our bikes at least half a dozen times with no issue, until a couple of years ago when we had to ditch CO2 cartridges and the mini bottles of Stans fluid.  They also had a discussion about a multi tool that was in the bag, but they let us travel with that in the main body of the bag.  Didn’t let it spoil our holiday though:))

Dunno about bikes, but MAN is the only airport we've flown through, with the baby, where gate dropped items such as buggies or even frikking zimmer frames and wheel chairs are forcibly directed from inbound flights to the baggage carousel. Really helpful of them that - get off a 6 hr flight with two kids and a baby in tow, to be told that we have to carry the baby and all its paraphernalia through the passport control queues and onto the queue for luggage. Halfwits.

In your hold luggage?

All in my bike bag, not hand luggage.

Never had that at Manchester, but last Leeds-Bradford flight had to remove CO2.

Not really a surprise they ask you to remove co2 though, is it? Given they ask you to let the air out of your tyres...

Ive been asked about CO2 cartridges explicitly at Gatwick, Birmingham and Manchester in the last couple of years.

Flying from Manchester next week and was investigating much the same re: Lube. Now I have flown many times before with a small quantity of Rock'n' Roll Gold in the bike bag hold luggage, no problem but never searched, now I realise perhaps shouldn't have. Am aware that Rock'nRoll became hard to acquire in this country due to air freight restrictions on account of it being highly flammable, so did a wee bit of research...and being as many are a self proclaimed lube specialist I examined my box of many lubes...and also their MSDS sheets.

Now it seems most dry wax type lubes are regarded as highly/ extremely flammable being a wax dispersed into a petroleum base where presumably the fumes could be ignited at room temperature - the safety labels of most of my bottles state the same white lightening Epic/  Finish Line Dry and as such should not be anywhere near an aircraft hand or hold luggage in accordance with the airlines guidance. Also suspect the fumes from these things could highly resemble some naughtier explosive devices on whatever detectors they use these days.

Some wet type lubes such as Pedros Syn lube or Finish Line ceramic wet have no flammable warnings or mention in SDS.

As wet lubes are not my lube of choice I'm trying my hand with Purple Extreme whose labelling calls itself 'Combustible' ie: much higher flash point than 'flammable'

why no Stans?, was planning on taking a small bottle...is it the ammonia..

Is this just Manchester being crazy? Their security is crazy over anywhere else I have been to (searching bags for nothing, full searches on anyone going through their scanners), and baggage reclaim is always crazy slow, but I’ve never had chain lube issues before.

Manchester is abysmal. T3 where all the low-cost and regional (Flybe etc) flights go from has possibly the worst security queues ever. The layout is appalling (can tell the place was built to cope with about half the number of passengers they now have), security is massively overzealous with at least half the hand luggage being sent off for manual inspection and I guess it doesn't help that the majority of passengers there are pissed up Mancunians going off on their annual Costa del Chav...

Strangely, the one place I never have any issues is oversize - my bike has always gone through absolutely fine, even Di2 stuff with batteries and wires visible everywhere. I never use CO2 though.

I've no idea on the bike specifics but Manchester do certainly take a different view on security compared to any other airport I've ever been to. The latest was having the bag go to the back of a queue of... well... basically everyone's bags being rescanned and it turned out that a bone dry empty plastic bike bottle inside had given them cause to rescan. I was advised not to travel with any kind of bottle in future by the staff there... 😒

Mmm, I thought you were allowed c02 in the hold bag under the small non flammable gas cylinders rule. I plan on taking 4 in September when doing Edi to Malaga
So

Manchester airport is just badly run, all over. They need somebody, senior enough to have some authority, to walk through as a passenger and say "that's shit, we'll fix it". Arriving in the UK there is a terrible advert for the country.

I always have checked baggage and a bike bag.

Usually have 2 co2’s in each. And chain lube in both too. Don’t usually have a problem but have had co2 and lube confiscated before.

USA is pretty strict as is NZ.

Southampton, Gatwick and Heathrow are fine.

Not tried Manchester.

Gone through from Manchester and Birmingham with CO2, just said I didn’t have any when they asked...was well within the airline guidelines anyway.

That said I won’t risk the hassle of having to open the box next time, will fly without next time and pick some up over there.

Our daughter has flown three times from T1 this year and so far has not had co2 or dry lube confiscated.
Last year was different and everytime they took it off her
Man. Any co2 or chain lubrication
Abigale. Yes but I've checked with the airline and they say its ok.
Man. Well I'm telling you its not so we will have a look what else you have got. Oh you have Allen keys can't take them either.
Abigale. I can't build bike back up without them.
Man. You should have thought about that. Its not my problem.
Abigale. Now upset. I've got my dad on the phone can you speak to him.
Man. No I can't, and if I don't confiscate then you can't fly
Abigale. OK Can I go and post them home
Man. No I have to take them
Abigale. Can I leave them here or bin them
Man. No. Did you not listen I have to confiscate them or you aren't flying
Abigale Now in tears and man getting grief from passengers behind her. OK
but you can't have the tools.
Man. OK then

And that's the shortened version

She is convinced that they are taking stuff and selling it on. She also got a name and reported it but just got the standard response.

flew from manchester to tromso in may.
me and the wife with 2 bikes in cardboard boxes.
we were not asked about anything at all.

and sas told us we did not have to bother with boxes. plastic bike bags would have been fine.

Hmmm! Slightly worrying comments on this thread. Flying out of Manchester soon with a big group and lots of bikes. Will obviously need lube, sealant and tools etc. Leaving CO2 at home and going to buy in country. Fingers crossed for the rest!!

The worst thing about Manchester is the stupid narrow automatic door on the way out which means you have to load the bike bag length ways onto your trolley, it’s virtually impossible to get through

Have flown Manchester to Orlando a couple of times with a bike, never had any issues at Manchester but Orlando seem to cut the locks off the bag every time and go through the contents. Therefore based on the above, Manchester must be the second worst airport to pass through with a bike...

I had no issue flying out of Manchester a few weeks ago (agree with the comments regarding the layout of the airport, its a terrible design), they did ask about co2, but I don't use it, so no issue.

I use tie-wraps to seal the bike bag, with some side cutters and more tie wraps in the outside pocket of the bike bag, the only time they got me to open it and inspected thoroughly was coming back from Vancouver airport.

When flying with 'Special Luggage' e.g. Snowboard bag or bike I always try to get to the airport 2hrs+ before the flight ... when flying from Manchester it's probably worth getting there the day before!!

Flew from Manchester to Narvik via Oslo and they made a real fuss about an [empty] steel drinks flask in the snowboard bag. They knew what it was because it showed up on the screen and the guy asked if it was a drinks flask - but they insisted I prove it wasn't a compressed air can for an avalanche bag, so I also incurred the tutting of the growing queue behind me!

I think Manchester make a special effort to make your flight as stressful as possible - fly through Schipol these days and you don't have to take laptops or liquids etc out of your hand-luggage ... contrast to Manchester where you have to queue for ages and then wait for 45 minutes whilst they falsely identify a German Phrase book as 'liquid' ...

And don't get me started about Manchester T2 M&G trashing a £70 car tyre and just replacing it with the cheapest tyre known to mankind ...

@Tracey - were Abigail's allen keys in the hold luggage or hand luggage?

They were in a tool bag along with her bike and as many spares as she can take to keep below the limit like brake pads and tyres.
She has flown all over the world with the bike, in North Star at the moment, and its only Manchester that stresses her out.
She asked the guy what happened to the confiscated goods and was told it was none of her business. They also refused to give a receipt for them

I'll happily pay a premium or add an hour or two to a journey just to avoid security at Manchester Airport. Petty and rude staff who seem to make up the rules as they go along just to make your day as miserable as possible. Or, as above, perhaps to steal from people.

Last time I was there they made me unpack and repack all my toiletries because the ziplock bag I'd been issued at the airport at the start of my journey and taken through 5 other airports apparently didn't meet their standards. I asked them why they have different rules to every other airport in the world and the explanation was "Because this is Manchester".

They were in a tool bag along with her bike and as many spares as she can take to keep below the limit like brake pads and tyres

That's really harsh Tracy ... petty and harsh.

She has flown all over the world with the bike, in North Star at the moment

Yes - I'm following Abigail and the Gowaan Girls' progress on Instagram! Good luck to them all in North Star!

Tracey, that kind of utter bell-endery really puts my gas at a peep. What a corrupt bully, a sniff of power.

I’ll add to the scorn for Manchester airport. only had the ‘pleasure’ twice, both times with bikes. Actually, the bike thing was not an issue at all - they asked about CO2, I said I didn’t have any (a pure lie), and never had any problems.

It was everything else about the airport that was bloody awful - we were flying Swiss, which is in some cupboard annex bit, impossible to get through with bikes without causing a huge strammash. And then of course back out again to get to oversized baggage.

Then both times that oversize baggage queue has been about 1.45hrs long - seemed that any bag that wasn’t a basic square with simple zips or clasps was being sent through oversize so it was absolutely rammed as every airline was then pumping almost all its customers to one poor chap on the oversize desk. The queue was circling the departures hall.

And the staff, good lord, the awful, awful, in-humane staff. The boss of the airport needs a rocket up thief arse for infrastructure planning and execution, and the utterly horrific staff.

And the staff, good lord, the awful, awful, in-humane staff. The boss of the airport needs a rocket up thief arse for infrastructure planning and execution, and the utterly horrific staff.

My next-door neighbour works at supervisory level in security at Manchester Airport and he's a genuinely nice bloke who works godawful shifts. I suppose he could be transformed into an 'utterly horrific' person as soon as he enters the airport, but it seems unlikely.

I suspect the reality of it is some tired, bored people working long hours in a relentlessly busy environment being grumpy and hacked off, which of course is more noticeable because airports are one of the places where we mostly surrender any element of control over our lives and are simply processed.

I'm not saying that there aren't idiots working at Manchester Airport - I'm sure there are, like most places - but I've flown a lot from there, with and without bikes, and mostly staff have been polite and helpful often in the face of thoughtless, rude travellers, with and without bikes.

Fair dos, it is why I call out leadership.

I'm sure your pal is a genuine person, and there are many other awesome people there. I am certain that I am also, sometimes, a thoughtless, rude traveller.

However, awful people like myself use many airports and leave with a different impression than that of Manchester.

For me, N=2 I know so not exactly statistically significant, and clearly I’m not trying to call your mate out, but something seems to be going a wee bit awry, no?

I have no doubt that working in airport security must be a tiresome and frustrating job but, as big scot says, there are hundreds of airports the world over who manage to do it well.

Schiphol has some of the tightest security I've seen - full body scans for everyone and a very high proportion of bags getting pulled. My bag got pulled recently for a metal pen which hadn't been a problem anywhere else. The difference is the guy explained his actions, was polite, apologetic and wished me a pleasant journey.

Manchester seem to think security means treating everyone like a convicted violent criminal. Actually, I think even convicted criminals should be treated with more respect than the staff in Manchester offer.

Just adding my own, similarly depressing experience, of Manchester Airport. It's hateful. I can understand the poor layout and crap experience of the actual buildings due to age and older designs. The attitude of staff has been consistently poor, which is much harder to understand.

I've travelled to and from many different airports across the world and check in and security at Manchester are the bottom of the barrel by a long way. Newark airport in the 90s was better!

Every time I have been through security I've had the rude and obnoxious treatment.

Bike has been ok, except for outsize baggage queues. I have my figures crossed for a trip I'm doing in September from Manchester. I only use it now if there's no other option. Often I'll go from Leeds to Schiphol or Heathrow and connect from there just to avoid Manchester.

I’m sure your pal is a genuine person, and there are many other awesome people there. I am certain that I am also, sometimes, a thoughtless, rude traveller.

However, awful people like myself use many airports and leave with a different impression than that of Manchester.

For me, N=2 I know so not exactly statistically significant, and clearly I’m not trying to call your mate out, but something seems to be going a wee bit awry, no?

I didn't say you were an 'awful person', you made that up. All I'm saying is that mostly I haven't had bad experiences at Manchester, which I use a lot. Maybe I've just been lucky. Maybe I have low expectations and have got used to the way they are. I've been through lots of airports and had bad experiences at a few, Leeds-Bradford for one. On top of that my neighbour - not 'my pal' - has never struck me as a rude, unpleasant human being, but I guess he may be less so at work, I don't know.

Like I say, maybe I've just been lucky - I don't mean that in a throw-away sort of way, perhaps I've genuinely been fortunate enough not to encounter any idiots at Manchester Airport bar the meet and greet car parking staff who managed to flatten my perfectly healthy car battery in three days, probably by leaving either the lights or radio on, then blamed me for it.

I'm screwed now aren't I next. Next time I fly out of Manchester I'll be arrested and forced to dismantle my bike into individual component parts. I'll blame you lot 🙂

Never had any issues with Manchester, always seemed pretty relaxed to me and it's my "local" so I've flown from it loads of times. The only security that were over zealous about tools and grease/lube were Denver when I was headed home from Moab last year.

Agree with colp about the doors on the way out though, they are shite for everyone with oversized luggage

Ihad a daft experience at manchester airport. Flying out early so stayed overnight in the airport hotel. " Can you direct me how to walk to the terminal" " there is a shuttle bus" " yes but i would like to walk - its only a few hundred yards" " there is a shuttle bus"

The hotel just couldn't tell me how to walk to the terminal and from what I could see no way of doing it. No footpaths, no signs, it literally was a few hundred yards to walk but the shuttle bus we had to get on took 20 mins driving a couple of miles to get there with one way systems and the like. I just drew a blank on attempting to walk.

The confiscation of tools for check in luggage is the guy either being a dick or not knowing and being afraid to back down / loose face. I always fly with a mini tool kit in checked baggage for work. Most of my colleagues have an entire case of tools. So do hundreds of other engineers / fitter / electricians flying to jobs.

The hotel just couldn’t tell me how to walk to the terminal and from what I could see no way of doing it. No footpaths, no signs, it literally was a few hundred yards to walk but the shuttle bus we had to get on took 20 mins driving a couple of miles to get there with one way systems and the like. I just drew a blank on attempting to walk.

I've walked, with a bike bag / box, from the long stay car park to a terminal several times. It's actually pretty straightforward, you just sort of head towards the terminal crossing roads and car parks in your way. The latter actually have openings in appropriate places to allow this, though you may have to put the bike through end on. My usual route goes past at least one of the airport hotels, but there are several of them, so it depends which one you're at.

Picking people up from the airport has become an utter cluster process though. No easy way to do it without shelling out for the privilege. Pro tip: hop on the train to Heald Green station which is five minutes away and get picked up from there instead.

You could use the Drop off at Jet parks 1
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article65592.html

Except:

And before you ask, NO You CANNOT pick up passengers from the free drop off area.

... but good call on drop-offs 🙂