Taking bicycle to europe?
 

Flying Business Class from US to Europe. Will AA accept a bicycle carton as part of baggage allowance, fee free?

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...and-sports.jsp

Bikes

Allowance and requirements

You can travel with 1 non-motorized touring or racing bike if the:

• Bike is in a hard-sided case, bike bag or box built for bike transport
• Handlebars are fixed sideways
• Pedals are removed; or
• Pedals and handlebars are wrapped in plastic foam or a similar material

Please note that if your bike is not in a hard-sided case, it will be treated as a fragile item.

Cost

You’ll be charged $150 unless your bike and case are less than 62 inches and under 50 lbs. If so, they’ll be considered as your 1st checked bag.

If you are traveling to, through or from Brazil, your bike will be considered a bag. Once your free bag allowance is exceeded you’ll be charged $85 for each additional bike.

Maximum weight and size

70 lbs. and 126 inches based on the airplane size and load factors

Well, there is a page on specialty and sports baggage (Update: JDiver quotes it above), but it leaves something to be desired - in the section header it references only domestic travel, but in the subsection on bikes it talks about...Brazil, and only Brazil, no other international destinations. So, yeah...

Maybe, if it meets certain dimensional and weight requirements, otherwise, $150 with certain restrictions. http://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/b...and-sports.jsp
You’ll be charged $150 unless your bike and case are less than 62 inches and under 50 lbs. If so, they’ll be considered as your 1st checked bag. You can travel with 1 non-motorized touring or racing bike if the:

• Bike is in a hard-sided case, bike bag or box built for bike transport
• Handlebars are fixed sideways
• Pedals are removed; or
• Pedals and handlebars are wrapped in plastic foam or a similar material

Please note that if your bike is not in a hard-sided case, it will be treated as a fragile item.

Maximum weight and size

70 lbs. and 126 inches based on the airplane size and load factors

BA does not charge extra to substitute the bike for one of the two bags in your standard business allowance. AA unfortunately, as others have pointed out, does.

The language quoted above was on a page under a header explicitly mentioning domestic flights, with the confounding mention of Brazil thrown into the sub-section on bikes. I do not see this as conclusive. Personally, I think that this situation would be best remedied by a call from OP to AA (and ideally an answer or reference to the answer in writing), unless someone else has something more definitive.

Just break it down and box it... how is that going to be different than any other piece of luggage?

Even dismantled it's hard to imaging a bike, wheels, handlebars etc., fitting in something that ends up under 62 linear inches.
Good way to wreck it as well vs. a proper bike case. So it's $150, pay the $150. A J trip to Europe so this is pretty immaterial cost-wise.

Correct. I even had trouble putting them inside a sedan (with front wheel taken off). For high end bikes (BMC, S-works etc) it's definitely worth it.

I took a foldable bike from HKG to the US a couple of months ago. Since it is highly foldable, I can keep the box/suitcase under 62inches 50lbs(The bike is only 20lbs).

Bear in mind that you have to look very closely at the eBike option because I believe some airlines do not allow lithium battery-powered escooters/ebikes/skateboards to be brought to check.

Might be too late but I’ve taken my bicycle to Europe a few times on BA. They offer to check in oversized baggage as part of your normal baggage allowance.

It would be better to buy or rent a bike than ride a folding bike with the little shopping cart wheels on one of those.
I think the bottom line is he is not flying BA, he has a non-folding bike and it's a measly $150 to not have his bike destroyed, even with the moot point it won't fit some alternative box even if dismantled if the bike is an adult, non-folding bike.
He could fly on a private jet and not box it at all but that's more than other options also.

BA is always free. I currently have a two piece bike that I fly with all the time--it's legal. I've had ok luck not getting charged on AA with my normal bike (pikapackworks.com) but it gets pretty small. If you are going to show up with a cardboard box, or a large hardsided case, you are going to get charged every time.

Well, it kind of depends, my 20" folding bike can go 18-20mph on average and it is one of the best/fastest folding bikes in the world.
However, to the OP, that's the tradeoff you have to take. You can get a bike at your final destination but you would have to deal with the hassle with it, just like carrying a pet, piano, violin, or anything that requires special handling. I try to make sure it does not go over 62inches on any boxes.

YMMV, safe travels.

I fly a ton with my bike so have a fair bit of experience. With AA they will almost always charge the $150 fee, they rarely miss the opportunity even when you have a smaller soft pack type bag that looks more like normal luggage. The reality is that even a fully disassembled adult bike is impossible to fit within the linear dimensions of the standard luggage size so you are technically over the size limit and that is why they will collect the $150. I've been charged $150 by AA whether domestic or international.
Side note: Like BA, Alaska Airlines is also free for a bike (counts as 1 piece of luggage), it's a good thing to keep in the back of your head as you travel. I bring my mountain bike on most vacations as $300 per trip would add up pretty fast. I tend to use AS for any trip where I would bring the bike for that benefit.