I’ve flown with my mountain bike a few times but never the touring bike. Is there an issue tossing your panniers in the bike box with everything else? (provided you stay below the weight limit)
I asked over on r/westjet (the airline I’m flying on) but seem to be getting mixed messages. You’re only supposed to put bike gear in there, and it seems like panniers full of clothes and camping gear are a grey area?
I know lots of people have done this before, curious if anyone has had issues or been forced to check a 2nd piece of luggage.
Bike pic for attention
by Accomplished_Bus9847
9 Comments
For me… I can’t include the panniers in the box. I check one, and carry on the other. The checked one has liquids, sharp things, etc. the carryon had my electronics
I put my handlebar bag and tent in the bike box and put the panniers in a very lightweight duffle that I can check at the airport and then.fold up and carry with me to the end. My panniers would add too much weight and not fit in the required box size and weight.
Gonna get too heavy. Do what the previous folks mentioned: cheap duffel, cheap zip market type bag, or just check them. I prefer some kind of outer protection so even a cardboard box is fine. Carry on whatever you can to save checked-weight.
Also, if you’re in the US or traveling through it, TSA will open and manhandle every bike bag. The less you have in there, the better it stays in there and gets repacked okay. They are vicious. (And they can suck it for the amount of bikes they’ve opened and put back in a dire state for me.)
I’ve done 7 flights with my bike, panniers in the box everytime. Never had an issue.
Many airlines say “bike only” so I carry a duffel bag that all the panniers and top stuff fit into (as well as the pedals, chain, tools, etc. )
The handlebar bag is my carry on.
I usually put one pannier in the box with lightweight items such as my helmet, straps, random items. I carry one pannier with the handlebar bag as carry on, this bag contains my clothes and important items. The rest I put in a carton box wrapped with plastic wrap and i bring this as checked luggage.
I’ve had to unpack and repack the whole bag at Vancouver airport so the non bike parts can be xray-ed. I have also heard of boxes getting wet so they’ve fallen apart so make sure your details are on every thing in the bag and preferable attach it to each other.
Nope. I pack all my gear in the bike box. JetBoil, clothes, tent, sleeping bag. Literally everything that I’m not gonna need til I get home goes into the box.
You mean packed panniers or empty ones? Empty- no problem. Full – you might go over the max weight