Cost to Bring Your Bicycle on Different Airlines
Posted on 15. Apr, 2009 by carlos in Touring
Joe and I will be flying to New York to start our ride on May 20th. We expected a reasonable fee to bring our bikes on the planes. Unfortunately, some airlines hate the ‘wheeled’ kind of people and want you poor. Hopefully this chart helps some new commuters pick the best airline for taking your bike to the relatives for a long weekend.
Many of these airlines will not charge you if the box that you ship your bicycle in is under ~62 linear inches (which most bicycle boxes are not.) These fees were taken as though we were shipping a ‘normal’ size bicycle. This chart is not for people who have foldable bikes (which it appears many airlines will carry for free, or simply the excess baggage fee.) Lastly, these are fees for domestic airlines and domestic flights.
| Airline | Price | Max Weight | Notes | Direct Link |
| Frontier ($) | $50 | 99.99 lbs | - | Link |
| Southwest Airlines($) | $50 | - | Allow an extra 30 minutes for check-in. | Link |
| JetBlue($) | $50-$70 | 99lbs | - | Link |
| AirTran($$) | $79 | - | - | Link |
| Alaska Air / Horizon Air($$) | $50- $125 | - | Chart is confusing. Visit link to confirm you meet the $50. | Link |
| Continental ($$$) | $100 | - | - | Link |
| US Airways ($$$) | $100 | - | - | Link |
| Hawaiian ($$$) | $100 | 70lbs | - | Link |
| American Airlines ($$$) | $100 | 70lbs | Acceptance conditional on aircraft size and load conditions | Link |
| Northwest Airlines ($$$$) | $175 | 100lbs | - | Link |
| Delta ($$$$) | $175 | - | - | Link |
| United ($$$$) | $175 | 50lbs | Allow an extra 30 minutes at check-in. | Link |
Every airline requires that your bicycle be put into a box, or hard case. There is no need to list the many variations of the same exact thing from each airline. Please visit the provided airline link to make sure the packing of your bicycle is correct.
Update 1: It is worthwhile to mention that Amtrak only charges $5-$10 per bike. This may be something to take into consideration if you have more time than money to kill. (Thanks @amodernbird )
Up to date as of April 15th, 2009
Credit: Image
Jay
15. Apr, 2009
You often need more time AND money to kill if going by Amtrak. The difference in bicycle carriage fees may even it out a bit, but I have not in the last 7 years found an Amtrak ticket to be less expensive than an economy ticket on a discount air carrier for the same trip.
cny-bikeman
22. May, 2009
American Airlines does not charge for a boxed bicycle, regardless of size, as long as it is one of two pieces of checked baggage. I have confirmed that by phone and email. I encourage others to use AA whether taking a bike or not, and to let them know the positive impact of their policy.
Renee
17. Jun, 2009
FYI, AirTran charges a $79 bike fee PLUS the $15 baggage fee (or more, depending on how many pieces you’re checking). So it’s actually $94 each way on Air Tran. I have flown AirTran twice with a bike, and they have put my box on the wrong flight BOTH times.
zulusafari
06. Dec, 2009
From what I read on American Airlines’ website, the cost for an over sized (normal luggage) bike (typical adult size) is $100 ON TOP OF the additional luggage fee. A friend is bringing a bike for me with NWA for $175. Expensive, but not a ton more when you take into account whatever the excess fee is for luggage with American PLUS $100.