Travelling overseas with a bike for the first time, so I rang the velocity gold hotline for advice. "Go to the departures - oversize baggage and buy a box for $15 said the helpful lady on the phone.
Sounds easy - drive an hour to the airport, sell my left kidney to pay for parking, walk in and ask for a box. "Not sure if we have one but will look" said the polite lady at the oversize baggage counter. About 10 minutes later they find one and bring it out. Brilliant so far!
Get the credit card out for the $15 fee but no can do. She needs a booking reference. I explain that the bike itself is kinda big and that I would like to see if it fits in the box so I know what ticket to get (being Gold Velocity, I get one free bag - might need two if I am taking the bike). She cant sell me the box without a reference. I have cash or credit, but no can do. She helpfully calls the supervisor but there is no way they are letting me buy a cardboard box without a ticket ref. If I get to the international airport early on the departure date, I can pack the bike at the airport - pretty good advice but I might pass given that 15 minutes ago they weren't sure they had any boxes, nor do I want to do this on the departures floor.
Drive home forlornly for an hour and a half in peak hour traffic, mostly inventing new swear words for a ridiculous policy...
Sounds easy - drive an hour to the airport, sell my left kidney to pay for parking, walk in and ask for a box. "Not sure if we have one but will look" said the polite lady at the oversize baggage counter. About 10 minutes later they find one and bring it out. Brilliant so far!
Get the credit card out for the $15 fee but no can do. She needs a booking reference. I explain that the bike itself is kinda big and that I would like to see if it fits in the box so I know what ticket to get (being Gold Velocity, I get one free bag - might need two if I am taking the bike). She cant sell me the box without a reference. I have cash or credit, but no can do. She helpfully calls the supervisor but there is no way they are letting me buy a cardboard box without a ticket ref. If I get to the international airport early on the departure date, I can pack the bike at the airport - pretty good advice but I might pass given that 15 minutes ago they weren't sure they had any boxes, nor do I want to do this on the departures floor.
Drive home forlornly for an hour and a half in peak hour traffic, mostly inventing new swear words for a ridiculous policy...