Originally Posted by
xyzzy834
I'm looking at flying with my bike to a starting destination for a tour this summer. I haven't checked all the airlines, but Southwest Airlines (in the US) will charge me $50 (one way) to check in my bike in a box. The box can be large enough that the only real disassembling I have to do is to loosen the stem, turn the handlebars sideways, and remove the pedals.
Maybe SW has loosened up a bit since last August, but then they insisted that the box be no more than 80", L,W,H. This is at least 20" smaller than a standard bike box. I had to do some whittling and more disassembly than was convenient.