Air Canada to Intermodal Cyclists: Drop Dead
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 4.08
A folded strida in bag
The Supreme Court of Canada recently told Air Canada that people who need an extra seat on a plane because they are either disabled or obese need only pay one fare; Perhaps that is where I will have to go to defend the rights of cyclists with folding bikes. When I wrote previously about how they charged me fifty bucks to carry my Strida bike, which is smaller than their maximum luggage dimensions, most commenters suggested that it was "more of an example of a problem with the individual employee that the company itself." Alas, this was not the case. They are, in fact, blatantly bikeist.
I wrote to Air Canada and asked for my money back. Air Canada responded:
Air Canada's baggage policy deals with sporting equipment, and as such, bicycles fall into that category. We do not differentiate between a folding bicycle and a tandem bicycle. They are all treated the same. In order to provide fair and consistent service to all passengers, we ask our agents to strictly adhere to the baggage policy.Air Canada's current policy is the collection of handling fees for bicycles. Respectfully, we have to decline your request for a refund. While we understand that you are disappointed, we must remain fair and consistent with our handling of similar requests for all customers. (my emphasis)
Now I would respond to Air Canada (and who knows, maybe even the Supreme Court) with a few points:
1) There is a big difference between a tandem bike that is clearly oversized and requires special handling and a bike that is designed to NOT be oversized, and that falls within the maximum linear dimensions per bag as set by the airline.
2) Air Canada not only lets equipment for good Canadian winter sports like snowboarding, hockey and skiing on without extra charges, it WAIVES THE SIZE AND WEIGHT REGULATIONS. So for approved Canadian sports you can ship your six foot long skis or your sixty pounds of hockey gear without charge, but whiny cyclists on their foreign-sounding bikes pay through the nose, even if the bike is undersized and underweight.
That's bikeist. That's wrong. That's not fair. Air Canada should either start charging everyone for their sporting goods to be, as they say, "fair and consistent with our handling of similar requests for all customers," or they should recognize that a folding bike that meets their requirements for size and weight is a different category.
Any cycling lawyers who want to take this to the Supreme Court can drop me a line.
More on Bikes and Trains and Planes and Automobiles:
How Air Canada Lost a Customer Who Was Trying to be Green
Off To ICFF On a Wing and a Strida
Trend Watch: Multi-Modal Commuting with Folding Bikes
Fujitsu Siemens Launches Its Own Green IT Label
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The TH Interview: Fred Pearce—Confessions of An Eco-Sinner (Part One)
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You could just vote with your wallet and not fly Air Canada. Instead of petitioning them, why not make a "AirCanadaHatesBikes.org" site and get others who agree with you to stop flying AC too? Boycotts work much better than bitchy letters.
LA: I am already doing that, simply because travelling with Air Canada has an automatic 50 buck per trip penalty. But the website idea isn't bad.
Next time tell them its a lawn chair...
Pack your bike in two boxes that are within the size limit. Check your boxes. If they ask what is in the box you can tell them bike parts. The policy applies to bikes. I've never flown air Canada, but this has worked for me on other airlines that charge for bikes.
Save travels.
It's one thing to post a concise article detailing what happened with your trip, it's quite another to go on and on, venting about it. Save your whining for your personal blog, please.
I would disagree with Air Canada's assertion that all bikes are "sporting equipment." Fortunately, there's an easy solution for you the next time you fly. Simply remove one of the wheels, and then you have a unicycle, which would not incur an additional fee.
That is definitely not fair and consistent for all. I am right there with you on this, if it falls under the dimensions specified then it shouldn't matter what is inside the luggage!
Why even tell her what it is? Just make up something, like a folding cart for heavy loads.
The next time they ask what's in the bag, why not just tell them it's sporting equipment? Only security personnel need to inspect the bags and by then it'll be past the fee collector.
New tactic: Lie.
Tell them it's a pair of snowshoes. Or a bag of rocks. Or your sex toy collection (so they would rather not look). Just anything but a bike. A folding bike, when folded, sure doesn't look like a bike, so it's not something they should care about.
Security will X ray it of course, but Security is different from the Air Canada baggage wicket.
Thanks for the information about flying with Air Canada ... please update if they change their policy.
In this economic climate, it should not take many boycotting the airline before they take notice.
Look, many airlines have been charging for bikes for many, many years. I learned quickly that you simply remove any bike stickers from your hard case. If asked what it is, tell them it is a "trade show display". Works every time. But, if they really do dig, make you open it up, all you have to say is that the bike is in fact a trade show display. I've never had to do that since most bike hard cases look exactly the same as trade show display cases.
As for your soft bag thing for your folding bike, did you really think it would make it through the baggage system without some damage to the bike? Pretty risky, I'd advise a hard case no matter what.
It sure seems to me that they are not applying the rules consistently. I think you're justifiably outraged. It's unfair, period.
I was curious and sent them a question via their website and framed it differently by not mentioning bikes at all and I want to see their response.
I asked:
... I was advised to avoid your airline due to you charging fees for carry on bags that meet your requirements of size, weight, and number of bags permitted without such charges being levied.
Why would you charge one person with a carry-on bag but not another person with a same sized bag based upon the contents of the bag?
This does not seem like a fair business practice and I was hoping you could advise me that this is not your policy, even though I have read that it is indeed your policy to charge extra for certain sporting equipment.
There is no excuse for an additional fee if the item falls within the weight and size limits of non-fee luggage.
This needs to be brought to the attention of the general news media.
This isn't fair, but it's their business and they can charge for whatever they want. I agree with other posters to lie, or not fly with them. I also agree that it is well within your right to moan and bitch and complain as much as you want, but most readers of this site got your point less then 1/2 way through the post.
@ brennan
and what do you think will happen?? people will be shocked and outraged that a cyclist got charged 50 bucks for a folding bike that fit the weight and size regs?? boo hoo...the cyclist movement is picking up. wait for it... Air Canada will at some point start making it cheaper or remove the fee altogether, if cyclists board with bikes... probably economically viable since the no. of cyclists are increasing rapidly...
@ wuz
I wonder how they'll reply to that...
@ Lloyd Alter
well you have a plethora of different options to choose from... I'd say fly a different airline, or see if it works out cheaper to rent a bike at your destination while flying a cheap airline...
I'm definitely with you on this, what they did goes against their own written rules. Charging you for a folded compact bike in a bag does not make any sense, and you are definitely doing all a favor by taking your claim as far as you can.
It's worked only once, but I've used a little white lie and called my bike artwork. Hey, to me, my bike is a beautiful piece of art, that i can also use to get around. They can't really argue the point, and you aren't really lying either.
If there was an international event or movement involving many, many disgruntled cyclists and many airlines, *that* might merit a TH post/bandwidth. Til then, I agree that posts like this are more appropriate for a personal blog. Perhaps Lloyd and others can get a coalition of folks committed to making a fuss about bikes on planes and post a piece on the outcome of International Take a Bike on a Plane Day.
If available, try to use curbside to check in. Its fast and efficient. And say its "trade show display" as Willy says above. Works for me every time..its chaotic at the curb...no linger needed.
The curbside agents normally are not the "airline" employees. More like a contract worker... so, do TIP them well!
The bike thing is interesting, but the fact that a court has pushed the line on whether obese people get a free seat just kills me. As an American living in Canada, it amazes me how liberal the gov't is. In many ways, Canada seems to push the boundaries further than the US on deciding when citizens are not responsible for their activities or state.
I can see an individual who has a verifiable health issue, but gifting someone an extra seat for their comfort is crap. Especially if they got that way from too many Ho Hos and Warcraft.
Personally, I would love an extra seat each time I fly. My wife and I could take up a row of three seats and have the chance to get comfortable on long flights. Or, if you have a child and don't want them in your lap, why not get a free seat for them? Especially if they still have some baby fat and are "obese."
Air Canada is clearly a rabid anti-Bike-istic organization.
Yes, anti-Bike-ism--the irrational hatred of, and discrimination towards, all things Bike-related--has reared its ugly head again.
We must raise awareness about the spectre of this dreadful scourge, before it spreads too far.
Also, we must NOT lie about our true Bicyclist identity, but rather stand tall in the face of anti-Bike-istic discrimination. Our dignity will subdue our oppressors, our humanity will help us prevail!!!
In Solidarity,
Brother Biker....
As a work around.... A Bike Friday may be the way to go! I got one this fall and it packs up in a regular hard shell Samsonite case... looks like regular luggage and no additional fee. I took the bike to the Netherlands... mind you that was on KLM but there were no questions asked about my luggage.