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Beware: British Airways and Lufthansa

madone77

Warming-Up
Jan 11, 2010
4
0
I just got back from a cycling holiday in Girona, Spain that started and ended nightmarishly. I flew BA to Barcelona through Hearhrow's notorious Terminal 5 ,which as you guessed it, lost my bicycle. It took them two days to locate and deliver it to me which meant two days sitting around and staring out at the mountains that I should have been climbing.

On the way back, my BA flight got canceled because of heavy snow in the UK. They put me on a Lufthansa flight through Frankfurt only to arrive at Narita to discover they too had lost my bike. Another 2 days of nervous waiting and anxious phone calls before my bike was finally delivered. But too late to salvage anything from this picture postcard 3 day weekend.

Of course I sent letters of complaint to both airlines demanding some kind of compensation for the inconvenience they caused. So far I've only heard back from BA who gave me nothing more than a curt apology and flood of excuses, but no compensation. I really don't expect much more Lufthansa.

This was my eighth cycling holiday having flown Quantas, KLM, Air France, Northwest and Singapore Airlines without any problems transporting my bike at all. So for it to get lost twice on the same trip just speaks to the overall incompetence and indifference of BA and Lufthansa when it comes to oversized luggage and sporting equipment.

One thing I know is these are two airlines and two airports that any vacationing cyclist should approach with great caution.
 
Sorry to hear - this is really bad.

I suspect the problem is more with the airports than with the airlines, but of course the airline's indifference is a problem too.

I'm glad my bike arrived when I shipped it from Frankfurt to Japan. But I will think twice about doing something like this again, given your experience. Or maybe non-stop is fine, but connecting flights cause problems because the airports don't know how to handle bikes?
 
Sorry to hear your news...

I just got back from a cycling holiday in Girona, Spain that started and ended nightmarishly. ...

It doesn't sound like a fun cycling holiday without a bicycle to ride. :( I hope there was no damage when you did get it back (both times).
 
Virgin Atlantic took care of my pride and joy and did it for free!
They take sporting goods up to 23kg on top of your regular allowance.
 
Wow, you could take three bikes and maybe squeeze in a couple of wheel sets if you give them a smile.

My Bike Pro USA case, bike (Ridley Excaliber, SRAM Red), helmet shoes, padding spares and odds and ends came to just under 20kg. Three bike may be a squeeze!
Even smiling wouldn`t help much as the now charge for snacks and stop serving beer halfway!:eek:
 
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