Originally Posted by teacherlady

Lufthansa allowed us to fly without boxing our bikes. They did charge $150 for the bikes, but we rode our bikes to the airport, walked our bikes to the ticket counter, took off the panniers, handed over our bikes, and received our claim tickets. Yes, there was a new chip on my bike, but I'm not much of a mechanic, so it was a small price to pay to avoid the hassles and expense of boxing, or of putting a bike together after 20 hours in transit. I left my Bordo lock on the bike where it always lives, and somehow the lock didn't make it home with the bike. Lufthansa couldn't find it, and sent me a check to cover the cost.

Virgin Atlantic also allows you to ship unboxed bikes.