The problem

When sports enthusiasts travel, they like to have their own equipment with them. Mountain bikers are no exception. But it's not always easy for those who fly far away with bulky sports luggage. It's not uncommon to be annoyed by considerable inconveniences such as poor service or horrendous fees for excess baggage at the start of a vacation.

The ranking

The team at Ann's Cottage is now providing some relief right from the planning stage. They offer a ranking list with the best airlines for travelers with sports luggage. The travel specialists at the surf store chain have looked at comfort, costs and baggage limits as well as the surcharges for sports equipment - for surfers, snow sports enthusiasts, kayakers and, of course, mountain bikers.

The catch

For the latter, the Colombian airline Avianca leads the ranking. All well and good, but the airline doesn't make much sense for the Swiss as it doesn't fly to any local airports. For example, Madrid, Milan, Munich and Paris are airports where the Latin American airline lands and takes off. So you have to take a detour to reach your mountain bike destination of choice.

The solution

Well, with twelfth place in the overall ranking, the airline Swiss doesn't do too badly. So you can safely save yourself the detour. However, according to the list, it drops considerably in the overall ranking. As an alternative, choose the overall winner Singapore Airlines.
However, Edelweiss did not make it onto the list. The small Swiss airline is no longer an insider tip and is very popular with mountain bikers. This is because it flies sports luggage weighing up to 23 kilograms free of charge, whether on short or long-haul flights.

The bottom line

As interesting as the ranking list is and the ranking lists for the individual categories can be accessed via the icons, it is not entirely satisfactory. If you can't count on your own experience or that of your colleagues, you can still get the best and often cheapest all-round carefree deal from your trusted travel agency.

www.annscottage.com/adventure-airlines