Props for Frontier Airline

We'll see......we've put bikes on planes a couple dozen times at least with no problems.....but his new bike didn't fit in the box very well and we had to end up taking the fork AND the crank off due to the Trek integrated seat post on a 60 cm frame.  It's always an adventure.  

They didn't let us stand by and repack after TSA gets done like we do most times, so he's got his fingers crossed.

I wonder how much United charged Rory McIlroy to check his golf clubs this week...

Mark

60 cm - jeebus how tall is that kid?

6'4"

Yah for Frontier...super to see an airlines treating cyclists and bikes better than most. 

 et Blue and SWA charge but less than the old guard airlines. Does Jet Blue still waive bike fees during the Tour?

LB hope bikes arrives pristine, gets put together smoothly and your son has a super race (I assume he is racing).

Thanks Kathy......I just talked to him and they just finished putting their bikes together.....no issues.

Yeah, he's racing the Jr. Elite Cup race in Monroe, Washington on Saturday. 

Pretty cool flight for him.....there is also a Brookes HS track invitational Saturday in Seattle. Top HS kids in the country.  He said his plane from Denver to Seattle was filled with HS and Jr. athletes in track and triathlon.  He knew a few of them, got to meet a few more.  He said there was quite a few introductions and seat swapping for everyone.  Pretty cool deal for all of those kids......makes you wonder if they know how lucky they all are to be traveling around the country racing at their age.

Yeah, it's a series of 3 races.....one in Richmond, one in Monroe, one in Des Moines, leading to a National Championship race in Cincinnati.  Top 20 kids from each race qualify for Nationals.  Youth division, 13-15, and then Jr. division 16-19.  The Jr. division is where the PATCO and Jr. Elite World team USA kids get picked from.  Blazing fast kids in the Jr. division.  You have to swim 1:10/100M, bike 25 mph, and run a sub 17:00 5K off the bike to even be remotely competitive.....in a race of 750 swim, 12 mile bike (20K), and 5K run it's not uncommon to have 20-30 kids under 58-59 minutes. Crazy talented kids.

Good luck to little (or perhaps at 6'4" not so little) Left Brained!!!

 when you check bags in never say its a bike, just walk around the word bike, has worked for me in the past.

I did this once, worked like a charm.

"Whats in the box sir?"
"Um...buncha stuff..."

Boom, no charge

I'm not teaching my kids to lie....... we just say, "a bike"....they either care or they don't.  Frontier never has.  We will fly with them whenever we can.  I don't have enough good things to say about that airline and traveling with bikes.

DP

Dude....I don't care what you say to them, and I don't mean that sarcastically....I get it. 

BUT.....for my kids sake, a lie is a lie.....we're not working on technicalities. I'm their dad......I'm not teaching them to lie.

I've never been asked "what's in the bag?".  It has always been "Is that a bike?", "Did you pay the bike fee when you checked in online?" or "how much does the bike weigh?".  For the latter, I said altogether it was 40 lbs (which was true) and wasn't charged.

I'm with LB - if I'm asked a direct question like "what's in the bag?", I'm saying it's a bike.  I just do my research before buying a ticket to know what I may be facing for fees and if I can avoid them by simply not offering information then great.  Otherwise, I knew what I was getting into when I bought the ticket.

If you can find someone higher up in the company to email, I'd tell them why you choose them over other airlines.  Plus, positive feedback genuinely surprises people sometimes.

I'm not delusional......my kid will likely learn that some things "are not technically lies" on his own.....we all have.  My deal is that he may likely one day have an opportunity to race with the very best if he stays on the path he's on.  I don't want to teach him that rules can be "technically" broken....or  perhaps better said, teach him that "technically" he didn't break a rule.  He once said to me, in regard to his hero, "Lance wasn't technically cheating because everyone was doing it".  I said, no, Lance and everybody who doped were cheating, period.  if you want to say that he didn't "technically gain an advantage" then maybe you can make that argument.  We have discussed it many times.  In life, and in sport, rules are important, and not cheating or lying is important.  It's a matter of a parent mentoring a child, nothing more. One day he will decide for himself what technicalities he can live with.....and live with those decisions.

And yes, spudone, I will send an e-mail to a Frontier manager/executive.  Our experience with them has been fabulous when traveling with a bike. Thanks for the reminder.

That's old as hell,  but still funny as the day he wrote it.

We already bailed on the team USA travel and lodging package....crazy expensive.  As good as USAT is to deal with, I can't say I'm a fan of how expensive they make the team USA package.