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19. “This whole baggage fee issue seems so confusing”
Here’s the simple version for U.S. check‑in: Airline agents will always need to count bags in order to create the same number of bar‑coded tags. Because their count is easy to audit, check‑in agents will usually charge you for every item you check. In the U.S. most agents are not required to log the weight of your bags. Still, as your bag crosses the scale, they are now supposed to tag everything over 50 pounds to prevent workers’ comp claims. Even when they add the extra tag, agents often do this without comment or charge. Size is ignored unless the item is large enough to cause them to page a baggage handler. If you don’t have a full-sized tandem, using one of the ATM style check‑in kiosks may save you some money. Just type in the correct number of suitcases. When the clerk arrives with the right number of tags, they’re unlikely to comment if your bag is a bit large or heavy. In Europe it’s different; and often worse. On flights within Europe many airlines are now charging by the kilo for all luggage including carry‑on. After providing a small number of kilos for free, they weigh everything you’re not wearing (even purses and computers). The excess weight fee of up to 20 Euros per kilo (which is over $10 per pound) is so high that in European airports you’ll see people bundled in layers of clothing with extra shoes hanging out of their pockets. Under these rules a tandem packed in two S&S hard cases will be at least $100 more expensive than the same tandem packed in a SafeCase. Will this practice spread to the U.S.? Impossible to predict. An interesting side note is that in both Europe and the U.S. we are starting to see a reversion to sporting equipment rates that ignore size and weight. If you fly Swiss Airlines between Barcelona and Zurich, for instance, and check your minimal allotment of free luggage plus a tandem packed in pair of S&S cases weighing 44 pounds each, the fee for the tandem "hidden" in two S&S cases will be 600 euro (about $900). If the next person in line checks a non S&S tandem the same check‑in agent will charge them only 70 Euros (about $100) —and then supply a free pair of cardboard cartons if the tandem hasn’t already been packed. So in Europe you can sometimes save money by telling them there is a tandem inside your suitcase(s). In the U.S. though, two customers who flew their tandems to Hawaii for Santana’s 2010 Valentines Tour reportedly paid a "bicycle" fee for their S&S equipped tandems that was in addition to the normal fee for those same cases.

20. Southwest Loves Tandems
While most of the large airlines tend to move with the herd, Southwest takes pride in being contrarian. When others adopted fees for formerly free suitcases, Southwest attracted new business with their “suitcases fly free” ad campaign. Similarly, as other airlines made it tougher to fly with sporting equipment, Southwest dropped their bicycle fee to $50 (and allows a weight of up to 100 pounds). Before anyone phones me to report that Southwest’s web site claims they will turn away sporting items exceeding 80‑inches, please note that the same section of their website specifically allows vaulting poles, which are always much longer. Again, unless provoked, Southwest’s check‑in agents won’t look for ways to
prevent courteous couples from checking tandems onto one of their 737s.

21. Avoid tight connections
As you shop for tickets, don’t choose flights with tight connections at busy hubs. Even if your originating flight arrives on time, your bike is apt to miss a 60‑minute connection. When connecting overseas (where airlines aren’t graded for delayed luggage) I avoid connections tighter than 90‑minutes (especially if connecting between two carriers).

22. Check your luggage to your final destination.
A few years ago I took a last-minute short‑hop flight on one airline to reach a long-haul flight I’d purchased months earlier from a different airline. When the hop was delayed, and I asked the flight attendant how long it would take me to reclaim and re‑check my luggage, she let me in on something the airlines won’t tell you. If you show both tickets at check‑in (and the time between flights is less than six hours), an airline is obliged to check your luggage to your final destination. I’ve since tested her report, and can verify that it works! This tip will not only save you a second set of fees, if the airport where you’re changing airlines is large (ie: LAX, JFK, London or Paris), you won’t be weighed down with luggage as you make your way to a distant terminal.

23. Don’t get tripped up by Layovers
Alternatively, every year someone attending one of Santana’s European tours will decide to stop and see London (or another city) on their way to meet us. Even when they use the same ticket to continue on the same airline, they’ve been charged a fortune to recheck their luggage (and usually pay higher luggage fees for their intra-Europe hop than they did for their transatlantic jump). Similarly, Americans who fly to Hawaii, New Zealand or Australia may have an overnight layover in San Francisco or Los Angeles. If you decide it will be safer to check your luggage only as far as your layover point, be prepared to pay luggage fees again when you recheck your luggage the following morning.

24. Will Delta and/or Northwest turn away tandem owners
Because Delta’s website posts a fee for “single seat” bicycles, many tandem owners who wish to fly Delta have phoned me for advice. My advice for tandem owners is to ignore all senseless regulations found on any airline’s website. Punishing Delta or themselves because of this senseless regulation, or imagining that any airline will turn away a courteous couple because of their tandem, is silly.

25. Why do Airlines write regulations against bicycles or tandems?
Almost all of the past, current and future anti‑bike fees and rules were written by airlines as a reaction to a small number of bike riders who have caused problems. The posted horror stories written by cyclists who were “turned away” or “had to put up a fight” may not tell the whole story. Why is it, do you suppose, that these same posts can reveal an arrogant and/or belligerent attitude? If they posted the whole story we’d find that most scare stories are written by those who showed up too late, ticketed themselves onto a plane that was too small, or disrupted check‑in with a loud and/or prolonged argument about fees.

26. Has flying with a tandem become too difficult or expensive?
It only seems difficult because airlines are struggling to survive in an era of internet fare wars where their frequent choice is to sell seats below-cost, or have planes fly empty. If airlines can’t cover costs with airfare, they’ll charge extra for everything else. While checking luggage has therefore become pricey, the total cost for flying with a bicycle is cheaper today than it was a decade ago. Because tandems almost always fly for the price of a single bike, vacationing with your tandem is the best bargain of all.

27. Summary
Airline luggage rules have recently changed in unpredictable ways. Fees will continue to change as airlines learn how to increase revenue while selling seats in an internet-driven environment. Because the "bean counters" at corporate headquarters have made check‑in excessively confusing and restrictive, employees at check‑in counters have increasingly reacted by siding with passengers instead of researching and applying the onerous "regulations" that make their jobs less pleasant. Additionally, many of these overworked agents resent collecting huge new fees for the same management that recently cut their pay. The price that tandem owners pay to check their bike (which was always unpredictable) has become less and less a function of rules, weights and case sizes—and is increasingly a reflection of your personal demeanor. Does this make sense? Sure. Airport check‑in agents have a thankless job, and are often mistreated. While they can’t lash back at those who harangue them, they can receive a sense of job satisfaction by rewarding passengers who are exceptionally nice. Although I may not be as attractive as most tandem owners (?), I’m certainly more civil than a few (!). When I go to the airport I am positively charming and totally solicitous!!! Jan and I work very hard to make sure we arrive early, and in a good mood. If you show up at the airport late, unprepared, frowning, or with a chip on your shoulder, you're apt to pay more to check your luggage; and you may be prevented from checking your tandem!

Bill McCready, Founder and President
Santana Cycles, Inc.

PS: While I wrote this for clients bringing tandems to Santana's tours (all brands welcome), I'm happy to share Bill’s Tips with all tandem riders. If you want to pass the word, please don’t copy, re‑write or otherwise “borrow” my carefully-researched and totally original material. Instead, it’s OK to attach and send this .pdf file. Better yet, if you refer people to Santana’s website (www.santanatandem.com) they’ll always be able to find the newest version of Bill’s Tips within the Traveling with Your Tandem section. Additionally, all webmasters (even those who work for competitors) are hereby cordially invited to provide a link to the Bill’s Tips web‑page of the Santana website, where your readers will be able to view and download a .pdf file that allows them to print the current version.

Revised March 2010