# Bikes on Ryanair



## fatblokish (18 Jun 2012)

Contrary to that which I have read elsewhere, it appears as though no pedal removal/handlebar tweaking/tyre deflation is necessary for flights on Ryanair; can anyone confirm this?
Will 50m of clingfilm serve as a protective bag adequate to satisfy its requirment (see below).
Finally, is my understanding of the para below correct, insofar as any bike weighing between 20 and 30 kg will attract the excess rate in addition to the standard bike rate?
ta.



_Sporting or musical equipment including but not limited to large fishing rods, golf clubs, bikes* (bikes have a weight limit of 30 kilos), scooters, fencing equipment, pole vaults, javelin, surfboards, bodyboards, snowboards and skis and large musical instruments including but not limited to harps, double bass and drums are inherently unsuitable for carriage by airlines operating fast turnarounds such as Ryanair. However, these items may be carried in the hold of the aircraft in addition to your personal checked baggage allowance up to a limit of 20 kilos per item upon payment of a discounted online fee of £50/€50 per item, per one way flight. If the item is purchased at the airport or through a Ryanair call centre a higher fee of £60/€60 per item/per one way flight will apply). Any sporting and musical item weighing over the 20 kilos allowance will be charged for the excess at the applicable excess baggage rate per kilo._
_*Bicycles - MUST be contained in a protective box or bag._


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## Red Light (18 Jun 2012)




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## stephenjubb (18 Jun 2012)

darn, at £50 each way for a bike I would fly with someone else if possible.


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## Alun (18 Jun 2012)

Yep, I think you're right about the 20/30 kilo limits for bikes.
How much does yours weigh?


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## TheDoctor (18 Jun 2012)

Bear in mind that if it's a choice between loading your bike or making their take-off slot, it'll be your bike left behind every time. And get good insurance.
Personally I wouldn't chance it. Use another airline, use the trains, hell, walk if you have to.
They're fine if you turn up with hand luggage and you don't mind sometimes being a bit late, but if anything at all goes wrong, you're on your own.


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## fatblokish (19 Jun 2012)

stephenjubb said:


> darn, at £50 each way for a bike I would fly with someone else if possible.


 Pedal power one way, jet power t'other. I don't really bemoan the £50 as I have had good value from Ryanair in the past; travelling with just hand luggage several times for next to nowt.


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## fatblokish (19 Jun 2012)

Alun said:


> Yep, I think you're right about the 20/30 kilo limits for bikes.
> How much does yours weigh?


 No idea, when I have strapped on the pannier rack I really must weigh it.


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## suffolkcindy (19 Jun 2012)

I flew my bike all the way to bangkok for forty euros. I would not entrust it to ryanair as their budget philosophy extends to handlers wages


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## suffolkcindy (19 Jun 2012)

Ps. My boxed bike weighs 20kg but panniers weigh 8-10kg so its tight because some airlines give 23kg max for boxed sports equipment.


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## rich p (19 Jun 2012)

Easyjet give you a bike allowance of 32kg and only charge £25 each way if that's an option.


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## endoman (19 Jun 2012)

Well I'm booked Ryan Air for The Etape, the bike box is booked on. To do it through the travel company meant the bike being away for almost 2 weeks and me taking half a day off work at each end to get the bike to their drop off point. Shall put the vital stuff in carry on, and arrive at check in with plenty of time. Lucky to have borrowed a box off club mate as well.


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## gavintc (19 Jun 2012)

I think you will find that airports employ baggage handlers not the airlines direct and as a result, your baggage is likely to be treated in the same manner as other airline's bags. The only issue, as someone has already stated; the need to make slot times. But saying that, instinct tells me to not trust Ryanair.


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## Fab Foodie (19 Jun 2012)

stephenjubb said:


> darn, at £50 each way for a bike I would fly with someone else if possible.


Always. For no other reason than it's a bloody horrible experience and I'd rather not give the man's airline any more cash than absolutely necessary.


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## fatblokish (19 Jun 2012)

I've been on a few Ryanair flights and not had a poor, or indeed horrible, one yet. I do know of others that have not had a good time. IME, as long as one's expectations are lowered, Ryanair meets them admirably.
Anyway, all this is perhaps irrelevant as the tickets are booked with Ryanair and there is no suitable alternative airline.

Any further thoughts on the three Q's I posed at the start of the thread?

ta


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## Lone Rider (19 Jun 2012)

Contrary to that which I have read elsewhere, it appears as though no pedal removal/handlebar tweaking/tyre deflation is necessary for flights on Ryanair; can anyone confirm this?
Will 50m of clingfilm serve as a protective bag adequate to satisfy its requirment (see below).
Finally, is my understanding of the para below correct, insofar as any bike weighing between 20 and 30 kg will attract the excess rate in addition to the standard bike rate?
Ryanair ask for bikes to be boxed - so removing pedals and turning bars is inevitable. The weight limit for bikes is 30 kilos, all other sports equipment has a limit of 20 kilos. I have flown regularly with them and never had a problem, except for some scratches on the bike before boxing was required - the scrathes were caused by another bike's pedals!​


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## Yellow7 (19 Jun 2012)

Deflating tyres is not required as on modern aeroplanes the baggage hold is pressurised, although some check-in may still ask out of habit / unknowing

Baggage handlers at airports are independent companies to the actual flight operator so their wages are in no way proportional to the ticket price, you may be ok. I flew back from Cape Town, changing in Dubai, without a box, just bubble wrapped the frame and racks, bars turned in and pedals removed, the wheels could still be turned which, when you think about it, enable them to move it somewhat easier, it arrived with no problems.

Do you cross the road or don’t you?..... life’s a gamble in itself.


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## growingvegetables (19 Jun 2012)

You might not want to be reminded of this?


Plus - you can't make a business out of singing songs afterwards, accompanied by a bicycle


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## fatblokish (19 Jun 2012)

Yes, you are correct, I didn't.


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## Bodhbh (20 Jun 2012)

Where are you going? I used to use Ryanair, but the bike costs have just got too much. Last 2-3 years I've flown to Munich/Frankfurt/Helsinki for 50-70 quid each way with the bike for free on BA. Also ou get a free drink and some food on the plane, as a opposed to paying £4.5 for a 33cl tin of warm Heniken. I would seriously look at some of the non-Budget airlines if you are lugging a bike unless you need to use Ryanair in particularly.


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## PpPete (20 Jun 2012)

Fab Foodie said:


> Always. For no other reason than it's a bloody horrible experience and I'd rather not give the man's airline any more cash than absolutely necessary.


 
Quite.
When I buy a ticket on a low-cost airline I expect to get treated like cattle, but Ryanair takes the biscuit, subjecting passengers to a constant inflight barrage of opportunities to give them more money. Ryanair scratchcards even..... shudder.
Sadly there is one destination I go to not infrequently where Ryan is the only direct flight from the UK.




Yellow7 said:


> Deflating tyres is not required as on modern aeroplanes the baggage hold is pressurised, although some check-in may still ask out of habit / unknowing
> 
> Baggage handlers at airports are independent companies to the actual flight operator so their wages are in no way proportional to the ticket price, you may be ok. I flew back from Cape Town, changing in Dubai, without a box, just bubble wrapped the frame and racks, bars turned in and pedals removed, the wheels could still be turned which, when you think about it, enable them to move it somewhat easier, it arrived with no problems.


Yes - but that was a ride there, jet back on a full-service airline IIRC?


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## Bodhbh (20 Jun 2012)

PpPete said:


> When I buy a ticket on a low-cost airline I expect to get treated like cattle, but Ryanair takes the biscuit, subjecting passengers to a constant inflight barrage of opportunities to give them more money. Ryanair scratchcards even..... shudder.


 
Oh I remember the straw that broke the camels back for me. They charged my credit card twice and when I tried to get in touch with them I found their customer service line was a premium rate line at a quid a minute.

There's an online template for contacting them by post which doesn't take much googling to find, obviously I wasn't the first and won't be the last. Also a template for taking them to the Irish small claims court if they don't reply in a hurry.


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## doog (20 Jun 2012)

Never had a problem with Ryanair, new planes, cheap tickets and better value by far than the bike express and so much quicker too.

Sure the sandwiches and coffee costs a fortune but pack your own sandwiches.

Treated like cattle ?? For that experience try Virgin to Orlando


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## Fab Foodie (20 Jun 2012)

PpPete said:


> Quite.
> Sadly there is one destination I go to not infrequently where Ryan is the only direct flight from the UK.


Me too, Bilund as it happens, but I'd gladly go via Schiphol to avoid Ryanair.
I also flew to Ancona on Ryanair and having bags weighed as you boarded the plane and a 40 Euro fine was the last straw, now fly to Rome from Heathrow instead of Stanstead and drive across Italy to Teramo, more choice, same costs, lovely drive!


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## fatblokish (25 Aug 2012)

Well, that worked out very well. Flew back this morning with Ryanair without any problems.
I wrapped up my bike in a large plastic sheets (4 euros from Brico Depot), plenty of parcel tape and handed it to the ground staff at Limoges.
Flight home landed 10 minutes early, my hold luggage (two panniers encased in a reusable shopping bag) was already waiting for me when I got through immigration, the bike arrived 20 seconds later carried by a ground staff fella. Not a scratch, ding, dent ot bruise. The STI shifters hadn't even been knocked.

For me it worked like a dream.


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## Andrew_Culture (25 Aug 2012)

suffolkcindy said:


> I flew my bike all the way to bangkok for forty euros. I would not entrust it to ryanair as their budget philosophy extends to handlers wages



You took a bike to Bangkok? That's cool as fark! I felt like a hero just taking my bike on a train from Ipswich to Peterborough!


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## bigjim (25 Aug 2012)

Rynair website states


> Sporting or musical equipment including but not limited to large fishing rods, golf clubs, bikes* (bikes have a weight limit of *30 kilos*), scooters, fencing equipment, pole vaults, javelin, surfboards, bodyboards, snowboards and skis and large musical instruments including but not limited to harps, double bass and drums are inherently unsuitable for carriage by airlines operating fast turnarounds such as Ryanair. However, these items may be carried in the hold of the aircraft in addition to your personal checked baggage allowance up to a limit of 20 kilos per item upon payment of a discounted online fee of £50/€50 per item, per one way flight. If the item is purchased at the airport or through a Ryanair call centre a higher fee of £60/€60 per item/per one way flight will apply). Any sporting and musical item weighing over the 20 kilos allowance will be charged for the excess at the applicable excess baggage rate per kilo.
> *Bicycles - MUST be contained in a *protective box or bag*.


Can't see the insistence on a box and weight limit is 30kg.


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## fatblokish (26 Aug 2012)

bigjim said:


> Rynair website states
> 
> Can't see the insistence on a box and weight limit is 30kg.


 
Indeed, a box is unnecessary. However if the bike weighs between 20 and 30kg, then an additional fee is payable, so attaching panniers to the bike for travel may attract this extra cost.


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## Alun (26 Aug 2012)

fatblokish said:


> Indeed, a box is unnecessary. However if the bike weighs between 20 and 30kg, then an additional fee is payable, so attaching panniers to the bike for travel may attract this extra cost.


http://www.ryanair.com/en/terms-and-conditions#regulations-checkedbaggage
_"*Bicycles - MUST be contained in a protective box or bag."_
Did you search for "bikes" try searching for "*Bicycles"

This doesn't fill me with confidence however
_" bikes* (bikes have a weight limit of 30 kilos), scooters, fencing equipment, pole vaults, javelin, surfboards, bodyboards, snowboards and skis and large musical instruments including but not limited to harps, double bass and drums are inherently unsuitable for carriage by airlines operating fast turnarounds such as Ryanair."_


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## fatblokish (26 Aug 2012)

Alun said:


> http://www.ryanair.com/en/terms-and-conditions#regulations-checkedbaggage
> _"*Bicycles - MUST be contained in a protective box or bag."_
> Did you search for "bikes" try searching for "*Bicycles"
> 
> ...


 
Having returned yesterday from France with my bike on Ryanair, I am sure a box is unnecessary; I used a bag as previously stated.


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## dawesome (27 Aug 2012)

I flew Stansted-Biarritz then Pau Stansted with Ryanair, I took the pedals off but didn't use a bag or box, bike was fine. Security complained about my pedal spanner so I had to promise not to attack anyone with it.


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