The first time I had to carry my cycle in the airplane, I took it very relaxed and started the dismantling process one hour before boarding the flight! This led me to jot down, “I am sitting in my Indigo flight from Mumbai to Kochi. Boarding this flight was a total last minute madness mainly because I was transporting my cycle. My parents were probably traumatized by how close I cut it, but that is OK. Next time I will make it easier for them. I ended up dismantling my bike for the first time just an hour before I had to leave for my flight. Everything could have been smooth as I planned it out in my head but well it wasn’t. The pedal got jammed damn bad so much so that finally I cut a hole in the box and that pedal just poked out. There was no other way.“

So first tip,

Unless you have done it before, suggest you ask a cycle shop to dismantle and pack the cycle for you. You can sit with them and help them with it so that next time you could do this on your own.

Secondly, do this a little in advance. You never know some hitch may come up and you may need to spend some time sorting it… Like my pedal thing… I will now take the cycle to a shop in Melbourne and consult them about it.

So now we have the very basics clear, here is more:

1) How do I carry my cycle in a flight?

It depends really where you are traveling to. Domestic flights in India are more conservative about things. For eg: Indigo insisted a cardboard carton. While Air Asia is OK with a standard cycle plastic bag. The plastic bag sounds awesome as I don’t have to dismantle my cycle. (Update: I did this a couple of times – wrapped the cycle in a huge plastic bag, but there are a lot of difficulties. Despite whatever Air Asia has written on the website – the staff were absolutely against accepting my cycle like this. They did eventually. But the experience with their staff was so bad that I decided never to fly Air Asia again.)

Packing in Cycle Cardboard Box

Indigo didn’t actually ask me to dismantle my bike, but the cardboard carton is smaller than the cycle size, so we have to dismantle to some extent. Moreover, flights have a specific size limit for the cardboard box also. It is important to note these details, because they put this whole cardboard carton through a scanning machine – IF your box does not go through it then there will be trouble. Because obviously, they can’t send un-scanned stuff into the airplane!

The cycle cardboard box – you can generally get for a small amount at any cycle shop. The one that I got – I had to remove both wheels and the handle bar for all of it to fit in.

Cycle Plastic Bag

Standard cycle plastic bag may be a bit hard to get in India but it can be ordered from Wiggle. I ordered this for myself in Taiwan. And then packed my cycle in this bag. But getting it through the flight folks was difficult. They made a lot of fuss. I am surprised because I have read many international cyclist blogs and they talk about walking in with their cycles and simply handing over. But I have never been able to do that. Not sure whether it is some kind of discrimination or based on flights I chose. Even getting flights to accept Wiggle plastic bag has been a pain.

Hardcase Cycle Box

There is another option – expensive one – buy a hardcase cycle box. This would be the safest for the bike, but it is expensive and is something that you will have to carry around with you or find a place to keep. As it is not ‘use and throw’. Yea lot of wastage throwing the cardboard box loaded with thermocol.

Foldie bikes:

these are small bikes which can be folded. They are great for transport – not just flights, even local transport. The small size along with easily foldable feature lets you carry it around with ease. However, you have to think through with this type of bike because all cyclists would tend to have some preference with regards type of bike and maybe a foldie isn’t yours. Also, if going for long distance touring then you will still be carrying a good amount of luggage, even if the bike folds in, you will still have to manage all of that luggage.

For flights, Foldies will also require some kind of box or bag to carry in. Depending on how small your foldie folds into… you need to check airplane baggage rules.

2) for Indian domestic travel: Which flight to prefer for cycle transport?

From my research on forums, it seems that in places like Leh – cycles are fairly common. So the airport authorities of most airlines there work well with cyclists. So if you are going via an airport that has cycle traffic – most airlines should be OK. The problem usually arises with other airports & also how do you know a particular airport has more cycle traffic? So I started checking out cycle policies of all the various flights – Indigo, Jet, Air India, Air Vistara and so on. Indigo was the only one that has clear instructions about the cycle as baggage – read here.  But now the crux of the matter – the customer care executives for ALL airlines told me you can’t transport a cycle even as over sized luggage. And the conversation can be fairly frustrating for eg:

Yes, madam you can take a cycle as check in luggage as long as it fits baggage size requirements.

Duh, if it fit baggage requirements I obviously wouldn’t ask you!! It is obviously oversized – So can I take the cycle or not?

Wait let me check. Yes, you can take a cycle but you need to pay extra charges.

OK I can pay extra – but how do you want me to pack the cycle?

Just put it in a box. It needs to be in a box of “so n so” size.

Ohh so I will have to dismantle it?

No madam, no need to dismantle.

:-O The size is such that I have to dismantle the cycle completely before it can become a box of given size.

The best thing that happened was that I started pinging all the flights on Twitter. And thankfully Indigo as the current number 1 twitter customer service brand in India, responded very well. Responses were quick and I spoke to the executive, he assured me that the cycle is accepted and I just have to pack it in a cardboard box. I asked him for his assurance in writing and he agreed. He also asked me to send him my ticket PNR number once I booked so he can send out necessary instructions for it. Note: while booking your Indigo ticket, there is NO option to select sports baggage/cycle etc…. But you do need to select the relevant extra luggage charges as per additional cycle weight.

So this Twitter service was really useful… And makes it my preferred airline as of now.

3) What about Carrying Bikes on International Flights?

The Air Asia staff at Kochi airport seemed PROs when it comes to cycles. However, when I tried to transport the cycle in a plastic bag from Melbourne to Taipei and then from Kuala Lumpur to Chennai they were very harrowing. So much so, that I decided never to fly with Air Asia again.

I have read international cyclist travel blogs and also spoken to many of them – they walk in to the airport with the cycle and hand it over for certain flights. Just deflate the tyre, remove the seat and pedals and your done 🙂 I have NEVER experienced this. I have been wondering if it has something to do with my skin tone. Maybe brown folk cycles can’t be trusted – they have to be packed in properly. Or maybe it is the passport. I don’t know.

International flights to Thailand provided free cycle transport in 2019. Other international flights usually had very reasonable costs. So, nothing to worry. But they all needed proper packing. They prefer a cardboard box. Even though their website often writes ‘plastic bags’ are allowed.

If any cyclists who have done this are reading, do share your experience in comments. I would like to know.

(and No this is not a sponsored post for or against anyone, just my personal experience)

4) What is COST of Carrying Cycle in Flight – Domestic & International

The cost of carrying a cycle differs for different airlines and even within routes. Typically, I have seen that the cost of carrying my cycle ranges from 2000 to 6000 INR i.e. $24 to $72 for domestic and international both. Moreover, a LOT of airplanes do offer discounts and even free cycle carriage for ONE cycle per ticket.

We have to check the cost that each airline charges for a bicycle while booking our tickets (DON’T leave for later). A friend once booked his flight tickets without confirming bike carriage details. Later found out that particular airline did not allow cycles. (read that story here) Avoid such messes.

While planning your trip, before you decide which flight to take – you have to find out their bicycle carrying rules and costs.

For example, Indigo has a clear page which mentions their rules and costs for carrying non-standard baggage including sports equipment like a cycle: https://www.goindigo.in/baggage/special-baggage.html
“IndiGo will levy a fee of INR 1500 (or equivalent in foreign currency) for Domestic flights and INR 3000 (or equivalent in foreign currency) for International flights , for any Special Baggage that is submitted as Checked Baggage. This fee will be applied over and above any Excess Baggage charges that might be applicable.“

This means that you have to factor in this Special Baggage cost. Additionally, you have to calculate the weight of all your luggage + cycle and see whether it is going over the free baggage allowance. If it is going above, then you have to buy that much excess baggage.

Usually, I have seen that the cost of carrying my cycle ranges from 2000 to 6000 INR for domestic and international. So, it is not that much. A LOT of airplanes do offer discounts and even free cycle carriage for ONE cycle.

Let me know if you have any more questions.