[Closed] Putting things other than just my bike in bike box - Easyjet

I've put helmet, body armour, boots & spares in from Bristol to Geneva with Easyjet many times but not since 2018.

Depends if you get a jobsworth at oversize check in.

I've had a hit and miss success with this but I haven't flown in the past couple of years. Some don't seem bothered as long as the bag is under the recommended max weight whereas others have been very anal and I've had to remove items from the bag and place them into another bag. It seemed to be whoever was on the check in at the time and what mood they were in.

Easyjet gatwick is all auto check in, so nobody checks, and then on to the oversize where all they care about is weight.

I've never had a problem with this at the UK end but have had to repack and remove stuff when leaving Geneva to fly home.

Never had a problem on EasyJet, Ryanair or British Airways.
I've got a Bike Box Alan - solid case on wheels - and the bike is always packed out with bin bags of clothes, a few tools, helmet, shoes, lights etc.

Most of the check ins are fully automated now and then you just go to oversize baggage. Never had any comments about it, never been asked to open it up.

Last time I took my bike with Easyjet this wasn’t a stipulation.

It has been at least since I first used them over a decade ago?

I once got asked as it was right on the weight limit, so I said the bike, there was a massive queue so they looked at me funny and waved me off to oversized baggage. I did also have a hold bag though that was only about 8kg.

On another trip on the way back (Malaga) they asked again, and I had a broken arm so had consolidated my hand luggage into the hold and told them 2 weeks of sweaty sports kit. They decided not to check 🤣.

I know one person who flew a couple of times a year and got caught out once. And I've been in the airport when people have been having to unpack their bike bags. So it does happen, just fairly rarely. The common denominator on those occasions seemed to be people who had booked no other luggage. i.e. bike bag + hold bag both under the weight limit they don't care. Turn up with a 32kg bike bag and they seem to ask questions.

yes, the Easy Jet plane was held and the baggage handlers came on board with a card machine and charged me and my brother about £50 each if I remember rightly. This was a long time ago, we were off to Les Gets for the Dragon Downhill race (2002?) with a Super 8 and an original V10 plus body armour, riding kit, spare parts and normal clothes. I remember them being properly heavy and we had to buy more bags in Les Gets before we travelled back. I think it was just the weight of a single piece of luggage they were pissed about. Drove over every time after that...

Turn up with a 32kg bike bag and they seem to ask questions.

Not IME - even when I flew to the States I only had the one bike bag (with bike + clothing + tools/helmet etc in it) and then a piece of hand luggage.

Flying within Europe, never once been an issue.

That said, don't fly with CO2 canisters. Whether you're allowed them or not seems to vary between airlines, check in staff and security staff, it's invariably more trouble than its worth!

10 years ago I did two bikes in one bag (not MTBs) and had no problems seems to be luck. Seems. Worth the gamble imo.

It is at lot more than 10 years ago that I last took a bike on a plane - haven’t flown with bikes since the oompa lumpa was born.

Thanks all - it seems like we will be fine as long as the boxes aren’t at the weight limit.

Is it the weights or just the pricing model of these airlines? When they're only making a few quid per ticket, for people to 'avoid' (in their eyes at least) paying for baggage by stacking the bike bag and having the rest in carry on is removing £30 or whatever the hold baggage fee is from their income.

I flew up to northern Finland a few times in winter - every single item of luggage was at the max weight limit including my bike bag which was stuffed full of extra gear. 20 years of flying with bikes and the only issue has been weight limits - once came back from L’Eroica in Italy with EasyJet with bottle of wine in the bottle cage that miraculously survived the trip!

Just put your stuff around the frame, cover in bubble wrap and it’ll pass as frame protection. They’re not gonna unwrap it.

I had to take stuff out once to transfer weight to my hand luggage (which has no limit) so removed my tools and spare bits (tyres/mechs/pedals) which bought the weight down.

No guarantee, but I can’t see them check as long as the whole bag is not over weight.

At it's best.....returning from a season in the med my windsurf kit and my sail bag was so stuffed full of contraband (in every sense) it took two of us to carry it trying to look nonchalant dropping an 80kg bag that should have been about 15kg onto a conveyor belt then watching two baggage handlers have to put it down for a rest on the way the the plane. But it made it home no harm done or fees incurred.

At worst....Gatwick to Inverness with a bike bag full of extras. Told to off load the extras so stuffed them into my hand luggage. At security my bag of spares (now in my hand luggage) got pulled and my leatherman found and confiscated. At the gate my bag was deemed too big with all the extra stuff jammed in.....so I had to pay to put it into the hold...where my ****ing leatherman would have been absolutely ****ing fine it I'd ****ing paid for hold in the ****ing first ****ing place.

As you can tell I'm not bitter about it.

Not allowed, but everyone does it. Also, more often than not bike bags/boxes go to oversized luggage which is run by the airport rather than the airline so they don't give a crap. CLothes, shoes, pads, spares, all ideal (and you can always say that they're padding)

I wouldn't put anything in it that's at all breakable, though. Helmet is a carry-on for me now frinstance.

I got a few thousand Marlboro in my bike box on a trip back from Tenerife without issue. Probably more luck than judgment but it did pay for the holiday when I turned them into cash upon my return.

I fly with bagged road bikes and mountain bikes regularly (until covid obvs) - multiple times per year - and always pad out the box with clothes, pads, helmets and other stuff etc.

Never exceeded the weight limit and not once had an issue.

I didn’t even realise that there was a rule about this.

I put shoes and a few other bits in with my bike last October with easyJet from Bristol.

I've always had bike, tools, spares ,helmet, shoes, clothes, etc in there right up to the 32kg limit.
Been fine on Easyjet, British Airways,LATAM, Emirates, Virginia.
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Easyjet is expensive, cost more to get a bike from Edinburgh to Nice than BA and LATAM charged me for Edinburgh/Heathrow/Sao Paulo/Campo Grande!

Never had a problem, always stuff ours to the gills...

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Took a group of 14 with EasyJet from Manchester to Reykjavik a couple of years ago all with Evoc bike bags. We all had extra kit including spares (wheels, tyres etc) and clothing/shoes in the bags and had no issues. Some of the bags were very close to 32kg! The oversized bag staff did ask about CO2 canisters and oil though and they had to be removed.

I have had bags 'checked' in the past post check in - in all instances the zippers were left open so anything could have fallen out but I got lucky. I don't know what they were looking for, maybe deflated tyres or shocks I don't know, but it did make me think twice about loose or smaller items in the bag.

Basically don't take the piss is the correct approach

Also at some airports (Edinburgh and Madrid for example) you take your big box to check in, they weigh it, give it all the labels and stickers and things and then ask you to take it to oversize baggage yourself.
All kinds of stuff can find it's way into the box on the way between those places.
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In the last 3 years we've done Finale and Madeira twice from Edinburgh. Bike bag always right at limit and packed with stuff. No issues at all.

I wouldn’t put anything in it that’s at all breakable, though. Helmet is a carry-on for me now frinstance.

~thread revival~
Has anyone flown with their helmet as hand luggage recently? I've done it before but now seeing that easyjet are charging extra if your hand luggage is greater than 45 x 36 x 20 cm - are they strict about this?
Would rather not put it in my bike bag or the hold but dont fancy spending an extra £15 each way for larger cabin bag either..

^ put it on your head

Has anyone flown with an eBike yet? No battery, obviously, but EasyJet say no eBikes and I'm wondering how strict that is and the thinking behind it.

No probs either from BRS or LHR with bikes or boards and lots of “padding” 😂

We flew from edinburgh to geneva last aug and i put helmet, knee pads, elbow pads, pump, hip pack, trainers and quite a few tops/t-shirts wrapped around the bike and was fine.