Unicycle travel

[Kim]

After years of being a minimalist show, slipping in and out of airports with little additional expense, I'm looking at traveling with the traditional "big unicycle" this summer.

Can any hardened Unicycle couriers offer me hot tips and lessons learned about travelling (flying) with an 8ftDM?

It seems that the samsonite case is a popular option... I'm wondering if there are any secret moves I can pull to avoid paying huge excess luggage charges?

Advice, wise ones?

-thanks!

[Frisbee]

take the wheel off and put it in your suitcase/trunk.

The remainder of the uni should then be put in a long thin case, closely resembling a golf club style bag.

If they ask you what is inside the case, say sporting equipment.

9 out of 10 times sporting equipment is allowed to pass thru as it is oversized a lot of times and they have exceptions to sporting and especially golf equipment.

[Rachel Peters]

Disassemble it entirely – nuts and screws and all – then deftly place all the pieces in and throughout every orifice of your being. This plan works as far as the metal detector. After that, I don’t know, man. You’re on your own.

PS: I'm sorry. I'm not help at all.

[thayr]

If you can break it down enough that it fits in your checked baggage then that's the best thing to do, if they ask you could say it is spare bicycle parts.

If you can't break it down to under a certain size they'll charge an oversized fee, if you already have the allowance of baggage they'll charge excess plus oversized. Some airlines have a 'bicycle' rate, where it's a set fee even if it's a unicycle.

I've almost always had my baggage allowance plus 1 or 2 others. I got a less expensive excess charge when I said it was just bike parts that wouldn't form a full bike (they were going to charge me the same bicycle fee even if it was a bicycle taken apart) and when they looked they saw just a wheel and seat. If the airline has a set bike fee see if it would be cheaper than the oversized/excess fee.

I've also attached things together, for example a free standing ladder with a girafe strapped to it, I still had to pay excess, but only one time. If you do have to pay excess and you change airlines during your trip, the other airline will charge you again for excess baggage.

And that's all I have to say about that.

[Dan, a balloon man]

You could try to get a long daschund dog and hide the unicycle inside the dog and pretend to be blind and act like the daschund is your seeing eye dog and when you get where you're going, you can pull the unicycle out of the dog.

I'm even less help than Rachel.

[Aaron Gregg]

golfbag baby

I agree with frisbee, if you want to avoid the charges then put any long parts in a golf bag. You could likely find one for cheap in a thrift store. Pete Sweet discovered that his oversized pipes for his slackrope rig travel free if disguised as golf clubs.

-Aaron