the difficulty of travelling with my bike was why I had S&S couplers installed. www.sandsmachine.com
before that, I'd get two cardboard boxes from my lbs (one slightly smaller than the other) and double them up, then disassemble according to the instructions many have posted. and stuff rags and things to keep stuff from moving around. I also taped blocks of wood between the rear dropouts and front fork to prevent crush-age. never had a problem, except you need more boxes for your return trip. the travel cases are no good unless you have a place to store it at your destination. also, the airlines may chrage you as much as $100 to put the bike on board.

with the S&S I have no charges and the box is small enough to store easily and the bike is super safe. good luck.