Broker Posted February 28, 2008 Share I discovered yesterday that SAA will not like in previous years take our bicycles down to the Argus at no cost. All of a sudden you got to pay R 400 for that privilege. I was not told this when I originally back in Oct 2007 made my flight reservations. Paying to get my bike in Cape Town is still acceptable, if properly and timeously informed - but why must this be paid at a Pick & Pay and does not form part of your Air ticket. There is no doubt in my mind that this is another scam to rip us cyclist off. I would like to know who pocket this fortune (5000 cyclist flying @ R400 = R2,000,000.00) - Pick & Pay or the Argus organisers. Mr Ackermann you owe us an explanation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuctionLamb Posted February 29, 2008 Share A lot of people.....LBS, Cycling agents, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willehond Posted February 29, 2008 Share I think we need to THANK mr Ackermann for his support, not ask him for an explanation of SAA's actions. PnP is probably the biggest corporate supporter of cycling in SA, so don't p1ss them off, rather thank them! Plus the Cycletour organisers can't be too happy with it either. They are not making a cent and SAA have got clients who have already paid. SAA are the ones you have to bitch at Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted February 29, 2008 Share Okay so take your estimate of 5000 cyclists times that by the average weight of a bike, or for now let's work on the minimum of 6,8kg and you come to a good 34T. Should SAA just foot the bill? I'm sure the rest of the year they don't charge cause there's hardly ever more than one bike on a flight. Wonder what a boeing /airbus' fuel consumption/ton is. Just imagine how much longer it'll take the groundstaff to check in everything and load al those bikes and make it gets to CT and back to wherever in one piece with no scratches or else there will be another outrage on The Hub. As far as I can remember the news that you have to pay to get your bike down on SAA, Kulula and Mango was discussed a good couple of weeks ago, so obviously the other guys knew. Would you rather drive to OR Thambo to go pay or just pop into a P'n'P? Think before you stink. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spinnekop Posted February 29, 2008 Share Okay so take your estimate of 5000 cyclists times that by the average weight of a bike' date=' or for now let's work on the minimum of 6,8kg and you come to a good 34T. Should SAA just foot the bill? I'm sure the rest of the year they don't charge cause there's hardly ever more than one bike on a flight. Wonder what a boeing /airbus' fuel consumption/ton is. Just imagine how much longer it'll take the groundstaff to check in everything and load al those bikes and make it gets to CT and back to wherever in one piece with no scratches or else there will be another outrage on The Hub. As far as I can remember the news that you have to pay to get your bike down on SAA, Kulula and Mango was discussed a good couple of weeks ago, so obviously the other guys knew. Would you rather drive to OR Thambo to go pay or just pop into a P'n'P? Think before you stink.[/quote'] Practice what you preach boet....They charge TRIPPLE to what the normally charge during the rest of the year.....so that should be MORE than enough to cover the extra fuel and labour.......... Mango flights are R2000 compared to two weeks later at R500.Eish..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Low Posted February 29, 2008 Share Announcing charges now is a bit clumsy and disappointing when folk expected the free transport to continue. But it's not strange for airlines to charge for the service of moving our freight around. Using Pick & Pay looks like a convenience for the cyclist. Airline tickets can't include irregular freight - they don't know what each of their thousands of passengers will want to carry. The whole thrust of the thread seems a bit negative for a sunny Friday morning. If you're in the sport you make the best of it according to what you have. If you feel someone is over-charging for what they're selling or providing, then don't give them your money. I can see that being hit late in the day when there was an expectation of no charge is hard to take. Me I'm going Kulula and that's still free but am still thinking of putting my bike with road transporters. I got my derailleur broken on SAA last yr and it cost me time on the race as my saddle sank half way round - long story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Badenhorst Posted February 29, 2008 Share If they're going to charge for bicycles then they must charge for golf clubs too. Why should cyclists pay for the additional weight and not golfers? In a four-year period I flew with my bike about 100 times and most times there were golf clubs on the luggage conveyors, usually more than one set on each flight... Add the number of golf bags being flown around every day by SAA and see what tonnage that gets you! Sean Badenhorst2008-02-29 00:33:34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Low Posted February 29, 2008 Share Bikes vs golf clubs is a bit spurious. The bike are going unaccompanied freight and have warehousing at both ends of the trip. Weight may be similar but a bike's volume is much greater & this is the major determinant of cost. I'm sure airlines will still take a bike over the counter on a lot of flights but not for the Argus. Joe Low2008-02-29 00:41:03 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippIt Posted February 29, 2008 Share If you make your luggage and bike together weigh under the airline baggage limits ie 23kg, surely they cant do anything. its only if you over that weight limit then its understandable to a certain degree, to charge extra.its pretty should be easy getting under the limit - I do it in most cases - then you have no problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted February 29, 2008 Share I fly all the time and the price always varies. 5:30 flight cheaper than 6am and 6:30 and from 11amit starts getting cheaper again till about 4:30 or so. Busy times of the year it always costs more, not just on Argus weekend. Dec holidays, long weekends, Comrades Marathon. It's all about supply and demand. Sure there are golf clubs on every flight, but hardly ever more than two or three, that's not a lot. Golfing doesn't have an event where 35000 people show up to compare to cycling so it's not a fair argument I think. As a musician no airline ever charge us for our bulky gear or even when we are just a couple of k's over if we let them know in advance. But when we travel to a big festival from Cape Town and there are between 7 and 10 bands booked on one flight by the organisers then it's a different story. In any case, if I was coming down from CT I would rather use one of the other companies who are bringing bikes down specially for this event. It costs a bit more than what SAA is charging, but they specialise in bike transport, it includes insurance and you can pick your bike up and drop it off in Green Point. I don't get the practise what you preach statement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Colonel Posted February 29, 2008 Share If they're going to charge for bicycles then they must charge for golf clubs too. Why should cyclists pay for the additional weight and not golfers? In a four-year period I flew with my bike about 100 times and most times there were golf clubs on the luggage conveyors' date=' usually more than one set on each flight...Add the number of golf bags being flown around every day by SAA and see what tonnage that gets you![/quote'] SAA sponsors Golf. You join the dots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted February 29, 2008 Share If you make your luggage and bike together weigh under the airline baggage limits ie 23kg' date=' surely they cant do anything. its only if you over that weight limit then its understandable to a certain degree, to charge extra.its pretty should be easy getting under the limit - I do it in most cases - then you have no problems[/quote'] Maybe, but I think it has more to do with the fact that a bike is bulky, if not that heavy, and it's difficult to transport. You can't load 10 bikes on top of each other or put them against each other unprotected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotSoBigBen Posted February 29, 2008 Share I guess the overall answer to purely the question of 'who's making money out of cyclists' it seems it is everyone they deal with ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brightspark Posted February 29, 2008 Share When you bring a lot of bikes down together there is more chance of damage to the bikes. Who pays for the damage? The passenger would try and get the airline to pay. If the airline has allowed the bikes to travel for free, he would be out of pocket. So I think the extra money is to cover insurance for one and to cover extra staff to handle all the extra fragile cargo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty Posted February 29, 2008 Share Not sure if its been mentioned but according to the article in The Citizen, the charge is only applicable for the duartion of the Argus. SAA used to be the sponsored local carrier but no longer. SAA is not charging international cyclists nor for local trips after the tour. Not sure why SAA have a media liasion official, as she has refused to comment on this decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolweseun Posted February 29, 2008 Share The rest of the year I never pay to travel with my bike except for Nationwide that is I dont fly with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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