Newbies at airline travel with bicycles
If I weren't already completely silver haired, I would have been just with the airplane portion of our travel.
It was generally agreed that the fewer connections, the smaller the chance of damaged or lost bicycles. Saving you MUCH discussion - we ended up with tickets from Eagle, CO with one plane change in Dallas, to Madrid. It is notable that the ticket from this small, convenient airport to us was $400. less than driving to Denver. Airplane ticket pricing make no sense.
We purchased those tickets in the fall. American has changed the tickets on us twice. The first time, I was on the phone for two HOURS getting a suitable ticket correction. I may not be a frequent international flier, but I do know that I need more than an hour to go through customs and catch my next flight!
Today, I received an email from American, prompting me to upgrade to business class (at $4,000. per person). I just happened to log into my account and noticed another ticket change! Neither Jacinto or I remember receiving an email saying that our flight had been changed again. Happily, this one wasn't too much trouble to get us back on our morning flight. The agent I spoke with tried to convince me that an hour and fifteen minutes was enough connection time for an international flight instead of five hours. But, she did change the tickets back. We have five hours for a leisurely lunch in Dallas. If our bicycles can't make the plane change in that amount of time, there is no hope.
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Speaking of bicycles. I ride a recumbent - a long recumbent. While planning this trip, I emailed with Julie Lovegrove, who rides the same bike I do. She also has a shorter recumbent that she takes on the train. I asked Julie if I should look at something similar. Her opinion was to go with the bike I am comfortable with. By chance, I came across a used RANS Stratus with S & S couplers. Sold! It still won't be as convenient as a traditional bike, or a folding bike. We are happy that the current trend for bicycles is that they travel as a piece of luggage as long as they fit in the guidelines. American has a generous 126 linear inches and 50 pounds. We each get two bags.
Brent Irvine made a dolly for his bike box - which I think is quite genius! Brent was touring Spain and Portugal this spring. His experiences were of extra interest to me. Brent is another generous Cycle Blazer who was patient with my questions!
We have reservations at a hostal close to the airport that has a free shuttle. They will get our bicycle boxes also, although it might take two trips. We have made arrangements with a bike shop that is a couple of blocks from the hostal for bicycle assembly. I am hoping we can sweet talk the shuttle driver into swinging by the bike shop. Or, we might try Brent's dolly idea. I did ask TSA if a dolly would be allowed. They said it was up to the airline.
There are so many things to think about with international travel. Last year we bicycled right out of the house. I didn't appreciate the simplicity at the time!
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