Flying with Claire? Worth the hassle?

[Amira]

Also, I know that on Southwest bikes fly free as your 1st or 2nd bag. Skis too.

Actually, having just flown Southwest the week before last with my bike, they charge you $50 each way, even if you are only checking the bike and one other bag. It's because it's oversized (mine actually weighed in at 49 lbs, the case being heavier than the bike). I'll have to look at Frontier for some future planned bike travel, although I can't complain about SW's fee (compared to trying American or some other options). If I was flying with my bike, I'd definitely get a case for it instead of a cardboard box. For one thing, not having wheels to get it to/from baggage check and baggage claim would be a deal breaker for me. Second, the SW desk agent who checked me in said that although they don't sell extra insurance anymore, they will cover either loss or damage (it was one of those, but now I forget which) if it was in a hard case, not a soft case. I was fortunately to have a friend with a very nice, new hard case who loaned his to me, but now I'm going to have to consider buying one of my own. You do have to remove the pedals, wheels, seat/seat post (use electrical tape on the seat post to mark the height and it's a lot easier to get it all back together the way you want) and handlebars (lesson learned - put another piece of electrical tape with a mark where your handlebars line up with the groove in the stem or you'll be messing with them for awhile to get them back to normal). Electrical tape doesn't leave a sticky film like duct tape and it's easy to mark on to show your handlebar positioning. My frame was small enough that I didn't have to take my derailler off to fit in the case, but my brother-in-law did on his bike (same exact case). That added a LOT of time to packing/unpacking for him.

I can so relate to wanting your bike when you visit your inlaws. While I love mine and they are wonderful people, they live in a rural setting, where EVERYONE is sedentary and unhealthily overweight and there's not much to do. I would dearly love to escape for a few hours during the day instead of sitting in the living room watching mindless TV, but they wouldn't understand at all. I think they think we are crazy when we go out for a long walk in the evening when we are there.