Cardboard box vs CTC plastic bag for one way flight.

[yoav]

I'm planning a bike tour consisting of flying to Europe with bike and then cycling home. My first thought was to cadge a bike box from a local bike shop and dumping the box at the destination airport. But then I thought of the CTC bike bag (from Wiggle) which means less bike dismantling but possibly less protection too.

So which is best?

[bryn]

What is best is what your airline will accept.  Beware! They all have different rules, so check carefully on their websites.

Bryn

[andrewc]

I've used the CTC bag several times, but have usually had to argue about it at check in!   A few minor dents & scrapes on the bikes but nothing that stopped me riding away. 

[Karla]

I've flown with a cardboard box on these routes

Jet2 Leeds to Rome
Ryanair Stansted to Bucharest
Wizzair Luton to Sofia
Flybe Berlin to Doncaster
Easyjet Geneva to Manchester

I've never had a problem - my bike has always been accepted without comment and has always arrived intact with no dents or scrapes.  Using the box, you can fit all your luggage in there along with the bike and you can pad it out with as much bubblewrap/etc as you like.  Also, it's free!  All it costs is an extra hour to reassemble your bike at the other end - would you risk your bike for the sake of that?  I & Miss B will be flying with bikes again this summer, with different start and end points, and will certainly be cardboard boxing it once again.

[Aunt Maud]

Cardboard box and pipe lagging always worked for me. It's a bit environmentally unsound for a one way trip though.

[Karla]

Really?  All mine - including padding - come from bike shops, where they were being chucked out anyway. 

[Martin]

I've used both; beware conveyer belts and sticky out bits of the bike if you use a bag (I've had a frame bent in a very much reuseable bag on a return flight). The only advantage I can see over the box is being able to carry a bag on your shoulder on the way to the airport by bus train etc.

BA used to loan bike bags; might be worth checking. They do say the bike has to be in a recognised box or bag which probably rules out the CTC bag. BTW BA still carry bikes free as long as you have no other hold baggage (and obv. pay more than the hand baggage only fare)

[yoav]

Planning to fly EasyJet Manchester to Basel. Sounds like cardboard box is the way to go and free.
Thanks.

[Aunt Maud]

Really?  All mine - including padding - come from bike shops, where they were being chucked out anyway.

I meant buying pipe lagging and chucking it away after a short flight, not the cardboard box.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I've used a box inside a Decathlon bike bag a few times, as well as the bag on its own, without any trouble, on flights and for a courier service. I do know someone whose fork got bent when using a cardboard box. Ask in your LBS if they have any of those plastic axle things to fit into the dropouts.

[αdαmsκι]

I've used the cardboard box method on these flights:

Amsterdam > Manchester
Kefalonia > Gatwick
Heathrow > Christchurch (via Singapore)
Auckland > Melbourne
Brisbane > Vancouver
Los Angeles > Heathrow

Not had an issue with the size of the box or damage to the bicycle. I've always managed to pick up an old box from a bike shop before flying. I've never used the plastic bag method.

[rafletcher]

  Using the box, you can fit all your luggage in there along with the bike

True of course, but not in line with any airlines rules - bikes are bikes, luggage is luggage - because you pay for excess baggage of course.

[bohrsatom]

I've used a bag just three times and on the last go my bike was damaged by the baggage handlers (two dents in the down tube). My OH's bike survived all three unscathed so there is definitely an element of luck here. If you do go for a bag, try to get your bike under 85cm width so it fits through the scanner and on conveyer belts. I have to remove my front wheel to do this.

IMO the bag is much more convenient than a box. Who wants to spend the last day of their trip searching for a box at local bike shops, carrying it to their hotel, arranging transport to the airport... a bag stays safely tucked inside your panniers until you get to the airport and start dismantling your bike.

Next time I travel it's likely to be box out and bag back. A well packaged box does offer more protection and I'm less fussed if my bike was to get damaged on the way home as my trip is over

[Cudzoziemiec]

IMO the bag is much more convenient than a box. Who wants to spend the last day of their trip searching for a box at local bike shops, carrying it to their hotel, arranging transport to the airport... a bag stays safely tucked inside your panniers until you get to the airport and start dismantling your bike.

I've not done it myself, but people I know have found a quiet layby or similar and left the box (cardboard box) in some bushes, then returned for it on the last day. Needs a circular tour and a dry climate, of course.

[Martin]

depending on how tall you are a bike box is probably less dismantling and certainly less damage prone than a bag; I can fit my road bike into a mountain bike sized box (narrower than a road bike) by

removing pedals
dropping seatpost (or remove completely as it has a Carradice bracket attached)
removing handlebars (4 Allen bolts)
removing front wheel

reassembly time about 20 mins. A box also enables you to put tents (parts of which may be verboten as hand baggage) sleeping mats etc in.

[yoav]

As I'm planning to ride home, not fly, then I'm quite happy to dispose of the box at the destination airport.