Cyclocross on airplane I'm planning on flying to Japan for a bicycle vacation early this spring. Having had a look at flight bags, I'm puzzled. They are expensive, weigh tons and are huge, I couldn't feasibly bring them with me on my bicycle trek. I might be able to rent storage for roughly a month in Tokyo, but it seems like quite a tedious project on its own.

How do the rest of you manage? Remove the wheels and wrap the thing up in (EDIT: cardboard and) plastic-wrap on the airport, have it checked in instead of luggage, and then use the panniers as carry-on luggage? Is it safe? Has anyone had their bicycle damaged or stolen during transport?
For packing, a box from a bike shop will do fine and you can chuck it in the recycling when you get to Tokyo and find another before flying out. Most bike shops will give these to you if you ask nicely and even if they charge you, it ain't going to be much.

A much bigger issue is airline choice. Options for flying with a bike range from free to pay by the kilo in excess charges to some obscene special bike charge. Read up and check the baggage allowances for sporting goods very carefully.

If you fly a lot, get a loyalty card, the extra 10kg you get on most airlines' lowest tier covers a bike in a box nicely. And if you get some special luggage tags, that can't hurt either.

My bike has survived a few flights totally unharmed, this was in a bike box though. Though I do have friends who have shipped a lot of bikes all over the place in cardboard and I've never heard of any problems. Not that it can't happen, it's just unlikely. You can't move for bikes/bike shops in Tokyo so getting spares isn't going to be an issue.

Getting your bike stolen is not going to happen. Walking out of the secure side of an airport with a bike up your jumper is going to raise eyebrows.