JetBlue latest to offer ‘Bikes Fly Free’ promotion

“The cycling community is anything but stationary, and in honor of their much-loved sport we are proud to waive all bike fees for traveling fans this July.”
— Sam Kline, JetBlue

JetBlue announced today that bike fees — usually $50 — will be waived on all flights during the month of July.

A company statement says the promotion is in celebration of the Tour de France, which begins Saturday. In addition to zero baggage fees for bikes, JetBlue will also show live coverage of the Tour on all of their seatback televisions (which they’ve done for several years now).

“The cycling community is anything but stationary,” said JetBlue rep Sam Kline, “and in honor of their much-loved sport we are proud to waive all bike fees for traveling fans this July.”

While JetBlue’s move is a nod to cycling “sports fans” their official statement also notes that they have operations in in “some of the biggest cycling cities in the country” including Austin, Chicago, Denver, Portland, San Diego and Seattle (they’re based in New York City).

We wonder if JetBlue’s bike baggage bungle back in January 2009 had anything to do with their awareness of this issue. In that case, they charged a Portland flyer $50 for a folded bike that was no larger than a standard piece of baggage. After the story spread around the web, JetBlue changed their policy for folding bikes the next day.

JetBlue’s move comes as several other major airlines have run similar promotions in recent months. Both Alaska and Southwest ran a local promotion at Portland International Airport (PDX), letting bikes fly free out of Portland during the month of June. Back in April Frontier Airlines waived their flat fee for bikes altogether.

It’s great to see all these airlines re-evaluate their baggage policies and make traveling by bike more welcoming. As more of them do special promotions, it seems only a matter of time before ‘bikes fly free’ policies are the norm.

For more on this topic, read these previous stories on BikePortland:

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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craig
craig
12 years ago

no art? doesn’t show up as nice when I link to it on FaceBook 🙂

Hart Noecker
12 years ago

“in honor of their much-loved SPORT…” !?!?

Oh, gimme a break.

Schrauf
Schrauf
12 years ago
Reply to  Hart Noecker

But this is clearly a Tour related advertising scheme, and bikes happen to have a sport aspect as well as transportation aspect. It’s similar to if an airline waived the requirement for obese people to purchase two seats, in honor of the Daytona 500.

A.K.
A.K.
12 years ago
Reply to  Hart Noecker

God forbid some people may be into the sporting aspect of it, and not transportation-wonk hipsters.

Marcus Griffith
Marcus Griffith
12 years ago

“SPORT”?????

Jacob
Jacob
12 years ago

Or you could save a lot of money and C02 and just ride the train. Just Sayin’ .

Michweek
12 years ago
Reply to  Jacob

Agreed!!

middle of the road guy
middle of the road guy
12 years ago
Reply to  Jacob

My time is more valuable to me.

Eileen
Eileen
12 years ago

Okay, but let’s make a deal, if you are taking a plane trip you don’t get to gloat about your environmentally superior transportation, k?

Shozo
Shozo
12 years ago

Are Jet and Elly related?