Airline Chumps

Packing and shipping a bike is not a bowl of cherries. First there’s the anxiety of “will this long bike really fit in the short box?” Then there’s the concurrent anxiety of “will I remember how to reassemble the stuff I’m taking apart? Will I turn up one bolt short?” Anxiety’s 1 & 2 were enough to find me in my garage at 2:30 AM this morning adjusting the bike position and double-checking all accessories. The real kicker, though, is anxiety no. 3: will the airline accept my bike box—and how much will they charge me?

I have the misfortune of living in Delta’s hometown—and that would be the Delta Airlines known as “generally a leader in anti-bicycle policies” according to ibike.com. Delta says it will charge me $300 EACH WAY to cross the Atlantic with my bike in the unheated hold of their airplane, while charging me $325 each way to recline my body in an air-conditioned cabin seat. Make sense? There’s more. Hard-shell golf bag cases (about the size of a bike box) and ski equipment (up to 82” long, 20” longer than a bike box) are FREE subject to normal checked baggage rules. Clearly, Delta executives golf and ski and don’t bike.

The unanswered questions are: will Delta assess a weight surcharge (“per normal checked baggage rules”) if the bike box weighs more than 50 pounds? Will the bike box also incur a $75 fee as a second piece of checked baggage? Will the check-in clerk know the rules?

Yes, it’s chump rule-making but not chump change. What will be the final charge?