Hey everyone, I require your collective knowledge/experience because Etihad's website and call centre was really unclear and inconstant.

I'm flying with them in 2 weeks from Milan to Sydney, Austalia and from Christchurch to Milan all on one multi-city ticket from Etihad (code share with NZ air from Christchurch to Sydney).

I wanted to know how to pack my bike the way they prefer so I wouldn't be forced to sign a waver of liability form for my bike/luggage (a blog said airlines do that). I couldn't find the answer on their website, and got inconsistant answers when I called their hotline. In the end I finally got the answer out of them that they "are not responsible for any damage of the bike." Well this scared the .... out of me. Imagine starting your Oz/NZ bike tour without a working bike and no money to replace it.. What they're saying is it doesn't matter HOW I pack it, just because it's a bike that means they could purposefully set it on fire and I wouldn't get a penny.

So I've done some research about the Montreal convention and EU laws and read through Etihad's 'General Conditions of Carriage'
(http://cms.etihadairways.com/sites/E....aspx#article8) and I couldn't find any legal reason how they would not be liable!

Am I just going nuts or did they blatantly lie to me??

Rather than fret about all this, you probably really want to make sure your vacation isn't ruined by a broken bicycle. After all, even if the airline was liable for damaging the bike, it would be long after the vacation that you'd receive restitution.

This is only a suggestion FWIW ...

1) Go to a bike shop and have them professionally pack it for you, just like they'd do to ship one of their own bikes to a customer.

2) I can't say where to find it, but I'd imagine there's an insurance company somewhere that would sell you some extra coverage. This way if your bike doesn't arrive in working order, you'd be able to simply purchase or rent a bike of similar quality and performance in the land down under without worrying about the extra expense!

Hmm... sometimes your credit card company provides extra baggage insurance if you purchased the airline tix through them ... you could check with them too.

1. Highly unlikely that they will accept a bicycle as checked luggage without a signed waiver, for exactly the reasons you are worried. Most insurance excludes whatever air carriers exclude, so read it carefully.

2. As others suggest, given that you presumably need a working bicycle on arrival, have it professionally crated for air shipment. This will be expensive and the weight of the package will make the excess baggage charges extraordinarily high.

3. One alternative is to air freight it ahead.

4. A better alternative is to look into renting a comparable and saving a ton of money.

Consider purchasing a hard sided bike case. We've taken my husband's bike with us as checked luggage to multiple places around the world. We would never consider packing it in a cardboard box. I've seen what those look like when they bring the oversize luggage out.

As far as a waiver, we've never had to sign one on United or BA, but even without it, you'll be limited to the airline's luggage reimbursement policy.

I've rented hard-side cases from my local shop to travel with a bike before. Some hard cases are designed to fit airline oversize luggage limits. They're easy to use and they work.

I've also packed my bike into a cardboard bike box for shipping via Fedex. I lined the box with corrugated plastic, wrapped the frame with foam and cardboard, and zip-tied everything together. The cardboard took a beating, but the plastic liner kept it safe.

If you've never packed a bike before, have a shop do it, as suggested above.

.....