Highway Robbery

Well, the trip is underway, and I wish I could say it was off to a
better start. When we were planning for the trip I looked online and
found that Delta charges $150 each way to check a bike. It's a
ridiculous fee, but I figured it was worth it. I had high hopes of
checking my bike without getting charged a "special baggage" fee since
I only had one other checked bag and you're allowed two on
international flights. That was optimistic to say the least. Not only
did I have to pay the fee, but I was informed upon arrival that the
fee was recently increased to $300 each way!!! $600 round trip! Right
now you can get a roundtrip ticket from Salt Lake to Rome for less
money - and that includes two 50lbs bags. It's truly unbelievable. To
add insult to injury, the Delta representative informed me that my one
bag was 3lbs too heavy and that I would need to pay an additional $150
for my overweight bag. She didn't seem to care that I was only
checking one of my two free bags or that I had just spent $300 for the
bike. Fortunately I was able to pull a few pounds of camera equipment
out and carry it on the plane.

For $300 the bike better arrive safely and on time in Geneva. Oh well.
I'm not going to let this ruin the trip. Water under the bridge.