Routes / Re: Meeting other riders or loose group riding the Trans America
« on: December 09, 2020, 10:00:33 am »I would have to ship .... pay $150 per leg per bike to fly on US airlines.
To clarify, it is per direction, not per leg. A direction can be made of one multiple legs but is only one direction. The counter of the carrier you start the direction on typically charges (or not) for the entire directions flights, regardless of the number of legs, carriers, etc.
For example, say you are going from Minneapolis to Paris on Air France then connecting to Frankfurt on American. If you showed up at the Air France (free) counter in Minneapolis for your Air France flight to Paris, then you would NOT be charged by American in Paris. Conversely, say you started on American and connected to Air France in Paris or anywhere for that matter. American would charge you the $150 for the flight regardless if Air France does not.
The exception to this rule is if you are using separate tickets for each portion. Under the 1st scenario, the bike would fly free from Minneapolis to Paris and then you, with your totally separate ticket on American, would very likely be would charged for the bike (and your luggage) for the Paris to Frankfurt portion on American.
However, if you had your flights entirely on Air France, then you would be charged whatever Air France charged you, if anything, in Minneapolis for the duration to Frankfurt.
When flying with a bike (or even luggage), it really does make sense to ensure you check the luggage costs. It does not matter who tickets the flight but which carrier you start the direction on.
Hope this helps, John