Are Compact Folding Bikes Subject To AirTran's $79 Bicycle Fee?
by Larry Lagarde

This Fall, AirTran Airways will be offering a new non-stop service between New Orleans and Baltimore. I enjoy air travel but hate changing planes so this new flight could be useful to me - especially if I could take my CarryMe folding bike aboard as a carry on (just like Southwest allows).

Looking for answers, I visited AirTran's site and read through all the baggage policies. According to the site, Airtran allows passengers to bring aboard Assistive Devices "being collapsed small enough to fit in overhead bins"; such Assistive Devices do not count toward the carry-on limited either (cool). But what if they don't consider my compact folding bike as an Assistive Device? There were no prohibitions mentioning bikes and the CarryMe met the other published carry on guidelines (item length + width + height must be less than 55" and must fit in the overhead bin)...

Digging deeper, I found a reference to bicycles under Airtran's baggage policies for Sporting Equipment section of the checked baggage regulations; however, the info was vague and appeared to refer to full size, non-folding bikes. Would AirTran really charge $79 each way for a bike that folded so small that it could easily & safely fit in an overhead bin? To learn more, I wrote the following to AirTran using their online form:

I have an unusual piece of sporting equipment that I take when traveling. Smaller and lighter than AirTran's limit for golf equipment, it's a 17 lb bike that folds. When I fly Southwest, they let me carry it on and store it in the overhead.
Can I do this on AirTran too? Would any fees apply to flying AirTran with this?

Shortly after submitting my query, I received AirTran's standard auto reply which states that it can take 48 hours to receive an answer.

Will AirTran answer my questions like United did earlier this year (sending a general, canned response that had absolutely nothing to do with my question) or will I get a definitive answer? I'll let you know what happens in 48 hours.

Labels: AirTran-Airways, baggage-fees