by Larry Lagarde

One of the great uses for folding bikes is taking them along when traveling. I have flown a variety of times with folding bikes socked away in suitcases that met the checked bag guidelines, allowing me to avoid the extra fee airlines charge for carrying full size bikes. But the rules are getting trickier as airlines struggle with sky high fuel costs.

Recently, the New York Times reported that Delta, United and US Airways will begin charging $50 round trip next month for a second piece of checked luggage. Since that story was published, Airtran, Continental & Northwest jumped on this bandwagon too (Airtran's fee will just be $20 RT though).

While charging for a 2nd carry on may be viewed as un-American (technically, that's true as American Airlines isn't charging the fee yet), Spirit Airlines has been charging $10/checked bag for some time now. Also, European budget airlines such as Ryanair have been charging for checked bags for years.

Ultimately, it's still more convenient to take your own folding bike when you fly but you'll need to research the airlines you're flying and pack more carefully to avoid paying additional fees.

Labels: baggage-fees