I tried to do this when going to the US the last time. I took my mini giraffe as
hand luggage and was going to try riding it in the plane but the people on the
desk wouldn’t let it on as hand luggage! It would have been cool I have ridden
it regularly in buses and was looking forward to doing it on a plane, I think it
might have been a first. Giraffe in plane.
Roger
The UK's Unicycle Source <a href="http://www.unicycle.uk.com/">http://www.unicycle.uk.com/</a>
----- Original Message ----- From: Unicycle17 <unicycle17@aol.com> To:
<unicycling@winternet.com> Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2000 3:34 AM Subject: Re:
unicycles on the Plane
> Please don’t try to ride your unicycle on the airplane. There isn’t
really > room and the movement of the plane might make you fall into someone and
give us > all a bad name. > > Idaho Joe
In the past 2 years, I have flown twice with my Summit. I took it apart and packed it in a cardboard box. With the assistance of lots of tape, the box survived the two trips but I will get a new box before the next trip.
On the first trip the box was hand-searched. I had told the ticket agent the box contained “sports equipment”. When the luggage searcher got done with my box he yelled across the counter, “your unicycle is all ready to go”.
A box big enough to hold a dismantled unicycle is cumbersome to carry through an airport.
I’ve flown with my summit several times since 9/11. I use the so-called “Jack Halpern” method. I don’t dismantle anything and have actually riden it in the airport.
Only once was I given any trouble. An airport security officer told me that I could not bring it through the security checkpoint. When I questioned her about what I should do she told me to talk to the ticket agent at the counter. When I went to the ticket agent he printed a card that gave me persmission to bring it through. I saved the card because it seemed so funny to me. On the card it had a place to indicate the reason for the permission. The ticket agent had written:
Looks like the “naked unicycle” method can still work, even in the United States. I was going to caution that some airports (or TSA employees) or airlines may be more strict. But the most strict, thorough TSA inspectors I’ve come across were in Salt Lake City (after they hosted the Olympics). That’s where mgrant is.
But if you travel with a naked unicycle, you may end up stuck like the unilady was ($40 box or other fees), so use caution. I still prefer my big, expandable zipper bag with wheels on the bottom. It looks like “regular” luggage, and it’s easy to manage with one unicycle in it. There’s room for more stuff and, best of all, it has wheels!
Note that there are many restrictions on what you can and can’t bring in your carryon (through the security checkpoint). Pedals, tools, generally anything metal may be a problem, so try to pack them in your checked luggage.
Or, if you’re traveling with a laptop, just put them in the laptop’s briefcase. It seems they get less attention if you have a laptop with you. They concentrate on the laptop and so far, haven’t been at all curious about all the other metal stuff in the briefcase. At SLC too!
Great advice John, & all. Here is a pic of what I used to travel with this summer. I had the 29er and the 36er with me, which are harder to travel with than the smaller wheels. I agree totally with the curb side checker. The lady behind the counter also mentioned to me about the upcoming changes on oversize bags, like the “hockey” bag that my frames, etc are in. Weight is really important, they will charge extra for weight as well as oversize bags. Leaving Aspen I had no problem, but coming back I had to switch some items around to make it work w/o paying extra $$. BTW, if anyone is interested, those wheel bags can be purchased here, they are made out of tower pad material, and are solid.
I too am interested.
I just yook my 24 muni to maui and thanks to John Foss I got a large suitcase/bag from the local flea market and was able to pack it well and no problems at the airport but would like to take my 360 on trips
I will check with my source on price and availability for the different sizes. I cut cardboard circles out to go against spokes, then some bubble wrap and filled the gap with jerseys, etc. soft goods. The shoulder strap and handle work very well together. Props to Nathan for helping me get started on design!
I’ve had a 29 or 24" uni along for plane rides a 1/2 dozen times over the last year. The first time I boxed it up and the box fell apart so I abandoned that and just checked it without any wrapping. This has worked well for me, no damage yet (what, are they going to scratch my muni?). Airline regulations about luggage in general seem to change weekly, and with no official rules about Unis, the mood of the persons you check in with is the most important. On my most recent trip they wanted $200 for my 29" uni as a 3rd bag so I took it as a carry-on instead with no (major) problems (more details on this here).
-Ro
I’ve been suprisingly lucky recently with what must be the world’s worst airline for excess charges: Ryan Air. If you have one bag to check in that’ll be an extra £16 please - each way. They’ll happily charge you if you’re 1 kilo overweight and have a miserly 15kg allowance too. “sports equipment” is charged something like £50 extra (I can’t remember if that’s each way) and these rates will probably have increased by the time this post is completed.
However I carry my 24" along with clothes etc in a saggy (soft with some padding at the axle) bike wheel bag with no branding. If asked I say it contains “a wheel”, which they can tell by feel anyway. no problems on something like 10 flights with some of the more difficult airlines in Europe…
When I tok my unicycle to tromsø, I had no problems. Sent it as “special luggage” and it didn’t cost anything. I flew with Norwegian. Nothing happened to it, and no questions asked. No wrapping, just a little note on it, like on any other suitcases or bags.
Hey I am going to fly with this company!: maximum 2 baggages and each baggage no more than 23kilos. that makes a total of 46kg!
usually I can’t fly with more than 20kg per person!
Since I want to go from Europe to Moab with my Muni a 20kg total is easily reached! (I probably need something around 25kg: one suitcase with everything+ 1 bag with Muni).
Looks like their international policies are much more relaxed.
For us, the issue wasn’t weight, it was size - the maximum size item one can check domestically without being hit with a $175-each-way fee is 62 linear inches, which might just barely fit a 29" wheelset with no additional hardware.
Probably we would have considered carrying on if we’d known that they weren’t making any attempt to enforce their posted 9"x14"x22" maximum carryon size.
I still think that the worst airline for fees, is SAS, Scandinavian airlines.
When I was flying from Tokyo to Copenhagen, they were the only airline I have ever had that weighed Carry On!!
I spent all summer flying almost every week, and I was usually right at the 20 KG limit I would max out my carry on, and they wouldn’t weigh it as long as I didn’t have more than the two carry on bag limit (if anyone argues that you are only allowed 1 bag carry on I have found a loophole).
They weighed my carry on and then sprung the 30 euro per KG in fees. I ended up spending about 350 dollars or about 200 and something euros just in baggage fees!
So at this point most people’s horror stories sound affordable and leniant.
These weight & size horror stories serve as a good reminder to make sure you know your airline’s rules on luggage before you pack. Better yet, before you buy your tickets because if you’re flying with unicycles or other big/heavy stuff, it can be a deal-breaker. Though fuel prices are low for the moment, anything can happen to make the airlines paranoid again, and fee-happy.
So go to your airline’s web site and read carefully. Maybe even keep a copy of this information to show to check-in persons if you don’t think they’re going by the rules.
After all this, I still prefer my method of using normal-looking luggage when possible, and keeping it within the weight limits (also when possible). Much less hassle that way.
For bringing a 20 in a carry on luggage bag: Does anyone know the exact diameter for the rim? My Muni is 21", so I’m guessing 17?
For this and my last two trips to visit my Mom here in Boston, MA, I put my 24" DX in a wheel box from my LBS. This time United charged $15 for the first bag and a bunch more for the second (I forget how much) The box was a bit bigger than in the past and ended up at 66 lbs and they wanted to charge me w/ a $125 over weight fee (now I had my 16" too). So I spent nearly a hour reorganizing things.
I managed to fit my 16" w/ it’s tire removed, both frames, posts, seats, pedals, and tools in my 2000cc backpack. Then I put back in clothes into the box and got it down to 58 lbs (the max per bag is 60).
Carrying the box has always been hard but now it’s impossible for me to go more than a few feet. I had to resort to sliding it on the ground.
I’m going to try to get a large luggage case w/ wheels for the trip back.
+1
I saw quite a few people w/ carry-ons bigger than that, I’m guessing the largest was ~ 11X17X24".
I read about a guy who made himself a box out of plywood for his 29er mtb. He put both wheels w/ tires removed and cloths for padding and got just under the 62" total (I think it was 61"). He had another box for his frame w/ bars, fork, and pedals removed (I don’t remember if he made that one too), w/ cloths for padding again. On both it was challenging for him to stay under the weight max. I think he also told them they were just sports equipment.
I think I remember how he made it if you want to know.
