bringing my uni on the plane

[mountain shooter]

How should I bring my 24" on a flight? I don't want to pack it, but I guess I could if I had to. Can I bring it as carry on??

Thanks

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by mountain shooter

How should I bring my 24" on a flight? I don't want to pack it, but I guess I could if I had to. Can I bring it as carry on??

Thanks

I've never flown anywhere with a unicycle so any advice I give would be speculation, but I did a little search and found this thread for you. So the short answer is yes you can according to Jack Halpern... Things might be different now that unicycles could be seen as weapons of mass destruction.

Originally Posted by Jack Halpern

Actually, normally I don't take the pedals off, don't deinflate, and check it in as normal luggage. Sometimes they give me hard time saying "bicycles" need to be put in a box or to deinflate the tyre. Most of the time a little explaining and I get it on with no trouble. When I do have trouble, I just say: "Do you know how to ride a unicycle"? And they say "No, can you show us". And after I ride around a bit they are so happy they forget all about boxes and deinflation.

The above technicques have worked for me for years.

[heartrider]

In my experience, I have had no problems simply checking my uni as is with the gate agent.
I have done this probably 40 times flying back and forth across the US. This has successfully been done with Delta, Southwest, Continental, Northwest, United, Alaska Airlines.
That said, my most recent trip, I encountered pushback from the gate agent which caused me to miss 2 flights.
This is a rather stressful scenario as you can imagine so I am now looking for a better solution.
I think the large duffel bag option may be the simplest. This way, I won't even need to take the pedals off.
I tried the gate check option once and was very sternly advised that this is not possible. I think this option is now nearly impossible in the US.
Smiling and making nice with the gate agent will never hurt and sometimes it gets you through without any further troubles.
Having a uni in a new city is so much fun.
Good luck.


IK

[heartrider]

Oh, I should mention that the airline that has given me the hardest time has been Alaska Airlines.
Delta has been easily the best.

[rolandisimo]

I have taken the uni (24, 29er) on a number of domestic and international flights without any serious problems with a number of different airlines, although not Alaska Air. Earlier this year I successfully took it as a carry on (gate check). Only once did I pay an additional fee, Swiss Air charged me 1/2 the 'bike fee'.

Ro