I tried the Alan once. It has the manoeuvrability of my Golden Retriever when she figures out we're off to the vet (which she hates), and the damn thing weighs 12 kg by itself, so it's very easy to go above weight and be charged. I then tried the Evoc bike bag, which was a bit better, but one of the wheels sheared clean off. Cardboard it is, and I'm a lot happier for it.

With regards to the call, my warm suggestion would be to just use the web chat and open up with the line "I need to add a BIKE SSR to my bookings. The box dimensions are XXcm x YYcm x ZZcm, and the total weight is QQ kgs".

It really helps when you fly shorthaul, especially in a group, so that Ops is aware of what's about to hit them as bikes do take more space than bags in the bins. So if you fly with your 20 mates from the Putney Pursuers or whatever cycle club you're part of to Mallorca, those 20 bikes will take approximately the space of 60 normal bags, or about 3 bins. An A320 holds, if memory serves me well, 7 AKHs. If 3 are used for bikes, that leaves 4, so approximately 120/150 bags.

Going a bit beyond the topic, if anyone reading has a mobility aid - wheelchairs, a mobility scooter, a battery-powered wheelchair - please please please please do notify BA. There has a been a case not long ago of a person who just rocked up at the airport for her flight to Europe with a battery-powered wheelchair, which needs to stay in a bin by itself, and hadn't notified anyone. Full flight. Because of the fact that a bin had to be reserved to that mobility aid, a good 20+ bags were left behind as there was no place to put them in. The hold of an aircraft is not Mary Poppins' bag and though the workers do amazing things, including chopping cargo and playing Tetris like you wouldn't believe, but sometimes volumes don't agree.