I've not tried it myself, but I have heard that utilizing and tipping the curbside agents tends to make thing smoother than they should otherwise be. Status (if not the lowest tier) has historically been useful. I've travelled as a companion to relatives with higher airline status levels and things tend to go much smoother. The exception being flying Southwest, then everything goes very smoothly even if it's your first time.
I used to fly with my bike (full size) and at the time it was ~$75 per direction for the bike fee. TSA always opened it, and tended to less than generously repack it. I started using more padding and zip ties to keep things in place. At some point someone suggested that I stop including the water bottles. Might be coincidence, but they didn't search the box on my next few flights, or at least didn't unpack anything or leave a note.
A little while later I realized that renting a newer nicer bike than mine was cheaper than paying the fee both ways, and saved the dings on my bike.
I will be flying with a coupled tandem later this year, but on Southwest, under 62" and 50 lbf per box, so I don't expect any issues.