Shipping My LHT with Racks and Fenders

[indyfabz]

$200/bike each way from Philly to Venice back in May. When one of my friends got back he found a split in one of the chainstays of his carbon frame. Upon inspecting his hard case he found a slit in the box, the dimensions of which were eerily similar to those of a fork lift blade. U.S. Air did compensate him for a new frame.

What really pissed me off was that we upgraded to 1st Class for the flight home yet we still got charged the full $200 for each bike even though the second bag, which was normally $100, was free because of our status. IMO, that $100 should have been credited towards the $200 bike charge. In other words, we each lost the $100 perk that came with 1st Class simply because we had a bike rather than "normal" second bags and then had to pay $200 each on top of everything else. That was definitely mean.

[John Nelson]

we each lost the $100 perk that came with 1st Class simply because we had a bike rather than "normal" second bags and then had to pay $200 each on top of everything else. That was definitely mean.

What's mean is when the airlines charge more for a package of identical size and weight simply because it contains a bicycle. Why do they do it? Because they can. We who travel with a bicycle are not of sufficient numbers for most airlines to care about us. It's really nice that a few of the airlines do care (e.g., Southwest and Frontier).

[paddleboy17]

I second your position.  Since when to golfers deserve so much respect?  Airlines (other than SouthWest, and I can't speak for Frontier), know how to ship golf clubs and do not know how to ship bicycles.