Greetings, I am Diamond on Delta and have checked bikes over 50 times with many different cases. My son who is platinum is a professional cyclist living and racing in Europe and he has checked his bikes multiple times. You can argue dimensions weight etc....but in my opinion that does not matter. If it is a bike they can and sometimes will charge you. I get charged about 50% of the time. No logic as to why sometimes I get charged and sometimes not. If asked I always say it is a bike and then I sometimes don't get charged. This is both domestic and international.
One tip...we bought a pika pac works double bike bag. Soft sided and holds two bikes. Very easy to pack and for tsa to inspect without craming it closed. For my wife and I with both bikes and wheels weighs 56 lbs. Barely larger than a standard one bike bag. Never had a problem with soft sided bag and have never had to sign a waiver. That way if we get charged we only pay for one bike! Save $300 round trip. You have to call the guy and ask him ti make you a double bag. Happy to talk to you about it if you want.

Thanks for all the responses! That seems like a gamble if they will charge the fee or if they won't. It seems crazy that they would since it wouldn't exceed regular checked bag dimensions or weight. It would look different but that is all. Although $300 round trip could negate any savings on bike rentals. I'm going to borrow a friends and maybe try it out once...

FYI, when your travel needs can be met by AS, they dont charge a bicycle fee, and will even waive the the overweight and over size fees for bikes.

That is good to know...however I don't really want to connect through Seattle even when I am going to New York or Boston

But thank you for the info, I will keep that in mind when headed to the west coast.

I find the details on the DL website to be confusing. On the one hand it says that if the bike does not exceed normal dimensions, then no oversize or overweight fees apply. On the other hand, it lists a bike fee. I am guessing that this explains the mixed experience at check-in. If DL agents look this up and see this language, which seems rather contradictory. And yes, I understand that it could be read that there are additional fees beyond the bike fee, but it could also very easily be read that bikes are included in the standard luggage allowance if they meet size/weight requirements.

• If you are checking a bicycle that does not exceed the size (62 linear inches/157 cm) and weight (70lbs/32kg) guidelines for normal checked baggage when folded, no oversized or overweight fees will apply.

On the other hand it also says:

Bicycle Transport Fees / Packaging Information

• 150 USD/CAD for travel to all regions (excluding Brazil, Europe and North Africa)
• 150 USD, 175 CAD*, or 125 EUR* for travel to/from Europe or North Africa
• 150 USD for travel to/from Brazil

Obviously you haven't heard of a milerun

This means that no oversize/overweight fee applies, if your bicycle exceeds the normal size/weight restrictions when unfolded, but does not exceed when folded. Thus eliminating confusion on whether you get charged based on the folded or unfolded size.

The special item fee always applies to an item. It's charged for the special handling requirements of the item.

I've traveled with a packable bike (Bike Friday) for going on 12 years now, on NW and DL. I do at least one TATL trip a year with it and sometimes two. The suitcase is a Samsonite F'lite 31. I never have been asked what is in it (though I have lots of TSA/German security inspection notices ). In the Bike Friday community there has long been a discussion on what to say if asked what is in the suitcase; the consensus answer is "Bicycle parts" or "Machine parts."

I really don't believe Delta (or any airline) cares what is in a checked bag, so long as it isn't anything prohibited (and of course, is properly packed). It is just anecdotal but I did have a discussion once with a Delta agent about my bike and bikes in general. She said the charge was because of the special handling required -- they can't just through it on the package conveyer or pack it in a baggage container.

To the OP: Do it! There is nothing like riding your own bike while traveling instead of somebody else's rental crap.

Nope, doesn't apply to golf clubs (they get to go free, even if oversized)
I remember an article talking about why, I presume it has to do with golfers being wealthy and businesses catering to them. Forget exactly what it was though.

Reread, I said the special item fee, not the oversize/overweight fee.

Not sure what you mean. Golf clubs have no fee. Period.

I never said they did. I said any item that has a special item fee is charged that fee. You then replied talking about oversize/overweight fees. I never said anything overweight/oversize fee. Youre conflating special item fee, with the overweight/oversize fee. They're two entirely different things. The special item fee always applies, if there's one.

Let's see. You said "any item that has a special item fee is charged that fee". Is that like saying if a bag is blue it is blue?
Under the section "special items" is "sports equipment." Is it logical to conclude thus sports equipment are special items? And under sports equipment are golf clubs? And bicycles?
Now, because you are talking about "special item fees", what do you conclude that "bicycles" doesn't have a fee listed, unlike kayaks, but "bicycle transport fees" does have a dollar amount listed?
Maybe that is why TheMadBrewer writes that they say "bicycle parts" when asked what is inside.

Thank you, this is exactly what I was saying.