In Reply To:
Still, remember that lying to the TSA might not be a career-enhancing move.
In most cases you NEVER speak the TSA. Remember there are two roles here. The airline has to be able to carry your bike to it's destination. To do this they have to make sure that it will fit in the aircraft and that in loading it it is in the right place for weight distribution. They also have a duty to their staff to make sure they are alerted to any overweight baggage to avoid injuries.
The airlines really don't care they are shipping bikes. However over the years they've gone from taking fully assembled bikes with the pedals removed and the bars rotated, but they were completely recognizable as bikes(and are what the bike baggage rules were written for), perhaps with old rags wrapped around tubes. etc. To shipping manufactures boxes, to shipping bike bags and then to shipping the monster boxes that things like the Trico Iron cases are. Also, while the weight of our bikes have gone down, as the airlines started charging, we (typically) put more stuff in the boxes to get the most out of shipping.
There is no reason why a small box should be charged as a bike, even if it contains a bike. In order for it to be carried as luggage it needs to conform to the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Convention, and later modified by the Montreal convention, especially when travelling internationally. Mostly, any bag under 50lbs and less than 62-linear inches is a bag, even if it contains a bike.
Now, you can have an opinionated argument with the gate agent about this, and you'll always lose, especially if you have a large heavy box. The airlines run to pretty tight schedules and budgets these days,.
They won't necessarily have the number of people to load heavy boxes ready for every flight, so if you have a large box with your bike in, they can reasonably argue that it needs special handling and thus you should pay for it. However, if it's under a certain size and weight, then your ticket is a contract with them, and you have not broken that contract, it really doesn't matter that it's a bike.
So, look up the rules. Nearly always searching for sporting goods for the airline web site will find the page quickly. for example
http://www.google.com/...g goods" site:aa.com What this says is if it's between 63-81-inches linear, it's oversize. It doesn't matter if it's a bike. If it is 62-inches or under, it is not, and is 50lbs or less, it is a bag that should be carried based on the fact it is a bag, the contents is irrelevant. Now assuming your are over the linear length but under 50lbs then you are oversize.
If you print copies of the pages from the website, clearly understand what your ticket and airline frequent flyer status entitle you to, you can pretty much avoid gate checkin arguments. You are not required by law to tell them whats in your bag, only that it does not contain any of the prohibited items which include CO2 cartridges(even though there is no charge of them being a danger... but lets not debate that). The most successful tactic I used was to have a bike box under 62-linear inches. Well that was my opinion, I never came across a gate agent that had a tape measure. Of course, this doesn't work if you have a bike box thats visibly 4ft long and rectangular, it's an insult to gate agents to assume they can't do the math, especially when they are 5'2" ;-)
So, assuming you get your bike box checked in ok, either free or paid for, it then goes off to the TSA. If it's oversized, you may have to take it to the TSA scanning area, or a redcap/porter may be called to take it for you. Again, the TSA have the right to open it and examine it, and as such you don't need to tell them what's in it. I mostly just drop my Scion case at the TSA and walk away and find some discrete place to stand and watch to make sure they test/scan it and send it's on it's way.
Once in Miami on a connecting flight from the UK to SF for Escape from Alcatraz, my box sat for 45-mins waiting for the TSA to scan/check it, with only 15-mins to before my flight, there was no point in asking the TSA to hurry up, I went back to the AA desk and asked for a supervisor. I told them that the box had been sitting there for 45-mins and that I would not go through security until the box had gone. This potentially causes the airline headaches since my normal suitcase was already, I assume, on the plane, if I didn't board they'd have to unload it. The supervisor went and spoke to the TSA, it got checked immediately and I was on my way.
So, in general don't deal with the TSA unless specifically asked, don't volunteer, just let them do their job and stand back. Show up early for your flight, make sure you have printed copies of THE AIRLINE rules, answer questions accurately. Call ahead, get THEIR approval for your interpretation. My 2nd bag is this size, it weighs this much, am I correct in thinking I can check it for free/$xx etc. get their name and serial number.
If what you are trying to do is cheat the airline out of revenue by being deceptive, lying or otherwise being dishonest in trying to get your box the size of small car shipped for free, well good luck with that.
Here are a bunch of livejournal entries I wrote over the years on the subject, I don't travel so much now, even to races as it's got "old" and the last two races I used tri-bike transport. However, my young elite racing padwan has been very successful this year in getting her bike checked for no charge.
http://triman.livejournal.com/tag/flying http://pics.livejournal.com/...ic/00030bkb/s640x480 Good luck, happy travels!
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