Wow, that's crazy that you have your bike check-in as unprotected!

I am flying JetBlue in 3 weeks and will for the first time bring my Brommie. I just called JetBlue and asked if I could gate-check a "folding bike" that folds into 23x23x10 in. She automatically said no because it's a bike and read to me all the rules about bikes as check-ins. Then I told her what if I mention to the check-in counters staff that it is a "mobility device" and she suddenly said "hold on, I will check with my manager" along that line. She came back and said if you bike is collapsible to a carry-on luggage size, then you can gate-check it. Then she said to make sure the security allows it as well. I called TSA at my airport and they said that if your folding bike is allowed by your airline and if it doesn't fit through the scanner, it can go through the human scanner. I will call them again when my flight date gets closer because I don't want to bring my Brommie there and have them charge me an arm and a leg at check-in.