Traveling with the biked can be stressful. Packing takes time, there is always some fear of something breaking & maybe even the fear that the bike will not arrive.

And then there is the check-in… every time we arrive fully convinced that we are allowed to take the bikes, that we booked the right luggage and that we won’t face any additional costs. But several times we faced issues and sometimes we had to pay additional fees. Luckily we could always bring the bike.

To hopefully help others, we decided to outline our experience per airline. This will give an indication of their regulations and might help you pick the right airline. Of course it is always best to contact the customer service and ask if there are any changes in the policy. And after booking, ask for a for a confirmation via email which you can show at check-in.

Writing down this information, we realized how many flights we already made with the bikes. And only one time we had an issue with a broken bike. Josien’s carbon frame cracked during one of the flights back from Lanzarote. There is always a risk and since that time we pack them even better with bubble plastic.

1. Edelweis

From Switzerland it is great to fly with Edelweiss. We flew with them to our training camp in Lanzarote and they have many other direct flights to destinations which are great for cyclists.

• Cost: Free!
• Max weight: Up to 23kg
• Max dimensions: 275cm (height+width+depth)
• Part of standard baggage allowance: No, the bike is an additional 23kg on top of your standard check-in bag.
• Action you need to take: Register during your booking or online until 4 days before departure.
• Regulations official website

The only action you need to take prior to the flight is to add this piece of free sports equipment to your booking. This can be done online, and it will appear in your booking afterwards. To double check if all went well it is of course possible to call customer service to get a double confirmation.

Super easy and customer friendly process!

2. Emirates

So far also only good experience with Emirates. With Emirates it is allowed to bring a piece of check-in luggage up to 32kg – depending on your booking category, so check this carefully (it varies from 20 – 32kg). Within their regulations it does not make a difference if this is a suitcase or a bike bag. So theoretically it is possible to bring your bike for free.

• Cost: Free!
• Max weight: Depending on your booking class (varies from 20 –  32kg)
• Max dimensions: 300cm (height+width+depth)
• Part of standard baggage allowance: Yes – so the weight of the bike is part of your standard baggage allowance! If you can take 32kg of luggage this should cover your bike + bag (around 18kg?) + 14kg of normal luggage.
• Action you need to take: Contact Emirates at least 24 hours in advance, because special packaging rules may apply.
• Regulations official website

We have soft case bike bags, which makes it possible to add our clothing, helmets, shoes etc. in the bike bag and fill it up till the maximum weight.

3. Qatar

For Qatar it is slightly more complicates as they have different regulations depending on your destination.

On the website is written: Qatar Airways accepts any sporting equipment as checked baggage as part of the passenger’s free checked baggage allowance mentioned on the ticket.

BUT, here you have to be very careful as Qatar has two types of baggage allowance depending on the route and destination of your flight. 

1. Piece concept allowance – with a maximum weight per piece
2. Weight concept allowance – there is no limit on the number of pieces that can be checked in as long as the weight allowance for the total number of pieces is not exceeded.

Below we outlined the regulations per ticket type.

Piece concept allowance – with maximum weight per piece (for example flights from Brazil):

• Cost: Depending on the size of the luggage & the destination of the flight – you can find a table here.
• Max weight: Depending on selected weight and size category
• Max dimensions: Depending on selected weight and size category (varies from 175-300 (L+W+H)
• Part of standard baggage allowance: Only if the maximum size does not exceed 158cm (L+W+H), which is practically impossible with a bike
• Action you need to take: Our recommendation would be to always contact Qatar prior to the flight or even prior to booking the flight to clarify what the regulations and potential excess fees are. When booking the ticket it is not clear in the process if the weight or piece concept applies.
• Regulations official website

Weight concept allowance 

• Cost: Free! As long as you stay within the weight allowance of your booking class (20-32kg)
• Max weight: 20-32kg depending on booking class.
• Max dimensions: 300cm
• Part of standard baggage allowance: Yes, like with Emirates, the weight of the bike is part of your standard baggage allowance! If you can take 32kg of luggage this should cover your bike + bag (around 18kg?) + 14kg of normal luggage.
• Action you need to take: Our recommendation would be to always contact Qatar prior to the flight or even prior to booking the flight to clarify what the regulations and potential excess fees are. When booking the ticket it is not clear in the process if the weight or piece concept applies.
• Regulations official website

Personally, we have mixed experience with Qatar. On our flight from Zurich to Tanzania we had 0 issues. Same as with Emirates we could fill up the bike bag with our other luggage up to 32kg. Very smooth check-in process and no issues at all.

Because of this good experience we decided to fly with Qatar again from Brazil to Nepal. This time the booking confirmation said that we could bring two pieces of 20kg each. When we arrived at check-in we were informed that the bike bag exceeded the maximum size of 158cm and that we had to pay an additional 120 dollars. Which was a bargain, because officially they could have charged us 240 dollars.

4. FlyDubai

FlyDubai… what an experience. We flew from Kathmandu to Dubai. Added the bike to the booking in advance and made the payment. When we went to the airport we were prepared for a smooth check-in and not for 2.5 hours of discussions and phone calls. We will explain,  but first the official rules:

• Cost: 100 AED / 23 Euro
• Max weight: 20kg
• Max dimensions: 190cm x 40cm x 80cm
• Part of standard baggage allowance: No, the bike is an additional 20kg on top of your standard check-in bag.
• Action you need to take: Contact the callcenter in advance to add the bike to the booking & make sure the payment is made not later than 24 hours prior to the flight.
• Regulations official website

All seemed fine, until the check-in steward told us otherwise. He was 100% convinced that we paid a “handle fee” for brining the bike, but that the maximum weight of ALL luggage remained 30kg. Which made us end up with excess weight of about 20kg.

After three calls with the callcenter in Dubai, the employees in Kathmandu and Dubai finally spoke to each other directly. Conclusion was that we could indeed bring 30kg check-in luggage and in addition the 20kg bike bag.

If we bring our bikes again with FlyDubai, we will clarify prior to the flight what the exact regulations are & ask for an additional written confirmation.

5. Ethiopian Airlines

When we flew from Tanzania to Brazil with Ethiopian Airlines we got lucky. We did not read the regulations carefully and only realised after booking that maximum dimension allowed was 158cm only. We packed the bikes as small as possible and were allowed to bring them for free.

• Cost: 100 USD per flight segment (with a layover they charge for 2 segments)
• Max weight: 23kg
• Max dimensions: 158cm (height+width+depth)
• Part of standard baggage allowance: No, the bike is an additional 23kg on top of your standard check-in bag.
• Action you need to take: Nothing officially mentioned, but we would recommend to inform the airline in advance about brining the bike.
• Regulations official website

For us, no questions were asked during check-in, but this could have turned out completely different which would have resulted in an additional charge of 400USD (100 USD per flight segment, per person).

6. Swiss Airlines 

We flew via Tokyo to New Zealand with Swiss (& Air New Zealand). It was not 100% clear to us what was within the possibilities when it comes to bringing a bike for free, so I spent quite some time with the customer service on the phone.

• Cost: Domestic – 70 EUR, Europe 80 EUR, Intercontinental short/medium/long – 150/200/250 EUR
• Max weight: 32kg
• Max dimensions: 280cm (height+width+depth)
• Part of standard baggage allowance: No, the bike is an additional 32kg on top of your standard check-in bag.
• Action you need to take: It is advised to contact the Service Center in advance & the bike should be checked-in latest 1 hour to the closing of the check-in counter.
• Regulations official website

Above are the official regulations, but we ended up bringing both our bikes for free – so it is worth contacting the Service Center and asking if you cannot just replace your normal check-in luggage with a bike. It took us a couple of calls, but in the end we managed to get this arranged.

Josien has Gold Status with Star Alliance, which allows to always bring 2 pieces of check-in luggage. Over the phone we came to the conclusion that Josien could replace one piece of check-in luggage for a bike.

Franklin was also allowed to replace his regular check-in bag for a bike. The maximum weight was 21kg, so it hardly left any space for additional luggage.

In the end we brought 2 bikes, 1 piece of check-in luggage and two pieces of hand luggage for our 3-week vacation. Which was perfect!

7. Lufthansa

Personally we never brought our bikes on a Lufthansa flight, so all below information comes directly from their website.

• Cost: Varies from 70 EUR (within Germany) to 250 EUR (long intercontinental flights)
• Max weight: 32kg
• Max dimensions: 280cm (height+width+depth)
• Part of standard baggage allowance: No, the bike is an additional 32kg on top of your standard check-in bag.
• Action you need to take: Per flight the allocation of sports equipment is limited on Lufthansa flights. You have to contact the service center and make a reservation prior to the flight, latest 24 hours prior to the flight.
• Regulations official website

8. GOL

From all airlines with GOL it was hardest to find out what the exact regulations were. We tried to call customer service, we tried to contact via social media, but 0 response. Eventually we cycled to the airport to find the answer at the booking counter… but no success. Nobody knew the answer. The only people who could help us were the awesome people at the check-in counter. And the answer was very pleasing. The size of the luggage does not matter as long as it does not exceed the maximum weight.

• Cost: Free
• Max weight: Depending on the luggage  allowance you booked
• Max dimensions: No max dimensions (we would recommend 300cm like other airlines to make sure it fits in the plane).
• Part of standard baggage allowance: Yes, the weight of the bike is part of your standard baggage allowance.
• Action you need to take: No action, just make sure you booked enough luggage so you have no access weight.
• Regulations official website

When booking with GOL, just make sure enough weight is included.

Another non-bike related tip when booking with GOL… The app is horrible, but when patient enough it can work. But make sure the language setting of the App is Portuguese otherwise it will automatically switch to the online web version, which does not work. We spent some very frustrating hours booking GOL flights. The App is horrible, the booking counter at the airport is horrible, but the check-in and the flight itself are perfectly fine.

9. LATAM

When we flew from Tanzania to Brazil with Ethiopian Airlines we got lucky. We did not read the regulations carefully and only realised after booking that maximum dimension allowed was 158cm only. We packed the bikes as small as possible and were allowed to bring them for free.

• Cost: 34 – 100USD depending on the flight segment and destination
• Max weight: 20-32kg depending on ticket
• Max dimensions: 300cm (height+width+depth)
• Part of standard baggage allowance: No, the bike is an additional 23kg on top of your standard check-in bag.
• Action you need to take: Nothing is mentioned about informing the airline beforehand. But our advise would be to contact customer service and inform about the max weight of the bag. Also for some flight segments the max dimensions of the check-in luggage is 300cm, so in our eyes you could bring the bike as normal check-in luggage.
• Regulations official website

For us, no questions were asked during check-in, but this could have turned out completely different which would have resulted in an additional charge of 400USD.

9. Air New Zealand

When we flew from Tanzania to Brazil with Ethiopian Airlines we got lucky. We did not read the regulations carefully and only realised after booking that maximum dimension allowed was 158cm only. We packed the bikes as small as possible and were allowed to bring them for free.

Domestic

• Cost: Normal check-in baggage charge (35 NZD first bag and 55 NZD second bag)
• Max weight: 23kg
• Max dimensions: 280cm (height+width+depth) – double check prior to flight as this is dependent on the aircraft
• Part of standard baggage allowance: The bag you book for the bike is separate check-in luggage.
• Action you need to take: Advise to contact Air New Zealand Customer Center beforehand. Always a pleasure to call them as this is, in our opinion, the friendliest airline in the world.
• Regulations official website

International

If you fly from Europe or the US to New Zealand, normally the regulations of the carrier the flight is booked with will count (for example Swiss, Lufthansa etc.)