What are the costs and conditions to take a bicycle as accompanied
luggage from melburne , australia to mulhouse, france ( which is
actually basel's Airport)and back to melbourne from colone, germany?

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Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 27 Jan 2004 17:25 PST

Klausi --

It will probably depend greatly on your carrier.  I checked last
summer and within the U.S., both United and Southwest had dramatically
different policies.  While Southwest was willing to fly the bicycle
for $50 per leg -- the packing restrictions were very onerous.  In the
end I'd have exceeded their weight, even with my folding bike.  We
ended by renting bicycles locally for a fraction of the transportation
costs, then rode around Lake Michigan.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

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Clarification of Question by klausi-ga on 27 Jan 2004 21:16 PST

I assume the carriers are either Qantas, Cathy, Air Singo, Lufthansa,
or AirFrance. I don't think American airlines fly from Australia to
Mulhouse.There is the possibility that we have to use Frankfurt as the
entry and from there to Mulhouse.
We are intending to do a bicycle trip from Basel, Switzerland to
Colone, Germany along the Rhine River in late August.
Mulhouse airport is actually in France but serves at Basel's
international airport as it is only 30 kilometres from Basel.
Good on ya mate,best from Ozzi
klausi-ga

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Clarification of Question by klausi-ga on 28 Jan 2004 22:07 PST

Thanks maniac-ga and politicalguru-ga. 
The German bicycle club referes back to local carriers ( austalasia)
and the carriers give me the runaround. I heard that with some
carriers, one does not have to pack the bike and others insist on it.
An other problem is the accompanied luggage weight. Apparently with
some airlines the bike's weight is not discounted from the accompanied
luggage weight - but I can't get any clear answers. klausi-ga

Hello Klausi,

Hmm. Another factor to consider is the packaging necessary for your
bicycle. I made a couple bus trips with my bicycle and the problems
that come to mind include:
 - getting a suitable box for the bicycle. A local cycling shop should have one.
 - getting the box to the airport [bus station in my case]. The box I
used was light enough to carry on the bike, but it was inconvenient.
 - removing the wheels / packing the bike. If you need any tools
(e.g., wrench, packing tape, knife) they need to be packed safely as
well.
 - at your destination, what do you do with the box? From your
description, you would have to dispose of the box and get another in
Cologne.
Remember, you have to do these steps before each flight, in Australia and Germany.

It might be worth a try to contact a cycling group in Germany (or
Switzerland) to see what they recommend as well. There are also some
researchers in Germany - I'll leave a note and see if they can suggest
something as well. By the way, what you are considering sounds quite
interesting. I hope it works out well for you.

  --Maniac

Dear Klausi, 

Contact the ADFC, and they'll be pleased to help you: 
http://www.adfc.de/