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There have been several changes in airport security following September 11th and much of it concerns checked luggage, IE: your bike. One of the big ones is that anything which will not go through their baggage X-ray machine will be opened for hand inspection. The second is that anything that is not recognizable in the X-ray triggers a hand inspection and finally, security people are told to consider as suspect all locked or sealed cases and packages. Since your bike box falls under all three of those parameters, depend on it being opened so do not tape it shut. It will likely arrive flapping open and who knows what small items will be missing.
Instead of taping your box shut, buy a couple (or even three for extra safety) luggage straps long enough to go around the box. Cut them down to a length of about a foot longer than what it takes to go around the box. If you leave long tails on them, they can catch in their baggage conveyors and be ripped off.
If you look at the buckles on the luggage straps, you will see they are similar to those on toe straps; you press on a tab to release them. The problem is that if your box is laid with the buckles down, the weight of the box can cause them to release. To prevent this, when the straps are tight, bring the loose end around the buckle under that release tab and back up the other side of the buckle and do a half-hitch around the strap around the box. In fact, do several half-hitches to take up the remainder of the loose end and then tuck the tip under the strap.
Another trick to keep the buckles from coming open is to locate the straps to where the buckles are over the hand holds in the box. Once the straps are tight, turn them over so the buckles go inside the hand holds.
Since there is no reason to try to slip your bike through as a sales display to escape the fee, might as well spell it out. Print on each side of the box in big, bold letters; BICYCLE, DO NOT THROW OR LAY FLAT. It just might help in getting it there with less damage. |
