Here's what happened:

My buddy checked in at BTV with his cycle in a Thule case. There was no charge and there were no questions asked. He was in NF BTV-IAD and NC IAD-MUC on UA metal.

On his return, MUC-(LH)-ORD-ALB, he was in Y. When checking in at MUC, the LH agent told him he would have to pay for the bike. My friend told the agent that he had been told that there would be no charge. The agent went off to research this, came back, and said "you're right—no charge!"