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I bought my ticket for the flight to Cape Town from Qatar Airways. At Qatar Airways, the bike can be carried as part of the normal weight limit of 30 kilograms at no extra cost. This saved me at least 200 euros. This is the minimum price for other airlines to transport the bike on intercontinental flights. Everything else I take with me in my hand luggage. But the impossible man at Tegel airport at check-in weighed my carry-on luggage! I have flown a lot already. But nobody has ever weighed my carry-on luggage! That’s why I had not even considered the weight limit of 7 kg for the hand luggage. Already the suitcase weighs probably already 3-4 kilos. So I had to put almost everything from the hand luggage into the bicycle case. At least nobody has weighed the bike bag.
Before the return flight I checked with Qatar Airways, how much an additional suitcase would cost. But this option is not offered. You can only buy additional kilos. For additional 20 kilograms you would pay about 660 euros.
Note:
- It is strongly recommended to carefully check the weight limits and luggage regulations of the airlines before buying tickets. Of course, it will be easier if you do not travel alone. Preferably with someone who does not want to carry a bike.
- You can no longer trust that carry-on luggage will not be weighed.
In addition, I need to say that Qatar Airways is just another airline. There is absolutely nothing special or special about Qatar Airways. Maybe the young and good-looking stewardesses.
rani
1. January 2020 — 06:54
how was the benefit in this airlines?
ozett
2. January 2020 — 22:53
If you stay within the luggage and weight limit you don‘t have to pay an additional fee for the bike.
Lachman
12. December 2019 — 09:59
Thanks for this post. I’m planning a trip with Qatar soon, so this is valuable information.
I took my bike to Indonesia with Qatar in 2016 and their policy was much more bike friendly – the bike could be carried for free IN ADDITION to the normal 30 kg limit. This actually meant I could have a carry-on (no-one checked the weight), a bike box (the weight was around 22 kg) AND a regular backpack as checked luggage. Sad to hear that the policy has changed, but still the 30 kg limit means that you can pack quite a lot inside the bike box/bag.
BTW: Back in 2016 all Indonesian airlines allowed you to take your bike for free on domestic flights, only once did I pay some small fee for excess baggage as a result of misunderstanding. Not sure if this policy is still in place.
Another remark: Iberia has a similar policy to Qatar Airways (the bike counts as your baggage allowance), with the difference of the weight limit – 23 kgs. Effectively, the bike box is 4 kgs, the bike itself – ca. 12 kgs, meaning you have additional 7 kg of stuff that can be packed into the box. Took my bike with Iberia 2 times: to Costa Rica in 2018 and to Cuba in 2019, so I can confirm this works. So if you plan to fly to Latin America with your bike, Iberia is your first airline of choice. I was unable to check ALL other airlines, but it seems major airlines charge at least 100 EUR one-way for the bike on intercontinental flights.
ozett
12. December 2019 — 20:18
Thanks for your post and the shared information. Sometimes it could be worth checking prices of business class as the allowance is higher. That worked for me twice to Mallorca.
Marcel Marek
1. July 2019 — 22:48
Hello, I am in the process of booking a flight with Qatar airways and I am a little bit perplexed by the baggage policy.
It states that any sporting equipment counts as normal baggage, but also mentions that baggage cannot exceed 158cm.
“A single piece of checked-in baggage must not weigh more than 32kg (70lb) or exceed 158cm (62in) in length + width + height. Any bags weighing more than 32kg (70lb) must be broken down so each piece weighs less than 32kg (70lb);”
But from your post, it looks like they don’t care as long as it fits under the theweight limit? (Actually you claim they didn’t even weight the bike :D).
Thanks.
ozett
2. July 2019 — 11:22
Hi Marcel,
Lufthansa has now a similar luggage regulation with a similar maximum size of the perimeter. And I was concerned about it. I couldn’t really figure out when it applies. But I’m pretty sure if you use a common bike bag and you are not exceeding the maximum weight you can trust that the bag will be accepted.
But be careful with the weight. In further trips the bike bag was usually weighed.
Hope this helps you.
Olaf