Originally Posted by
staehpj1
I agree, but the key was the provided by carrier part. I wish they still reliably provided large-ish boxes at the airport. Obtaining and lugging the box to the terminal is a big hassle. They wouldn't have to be as big as the amtrak ones. Some minimal disassembly is fine, but it would be nice to minimize the packing and unpacking.
the only time I did not pack my bike at home or a hotel or whatever was returning from europe, and had reasonable assurance from someone who could speak swiss german to talk to someone at the airport and be assured that yes, they did have multiple boxes at teh airport. The Swiss being Swiss, I figured this would be the only time I would trust a phone conversation--cuz lets face it, you are totally effed if you arrive and you find out that "Frank" who told you there were boxes was full of baloney.
I much prefer to have time at the end of a trip so that I can track down a box at a store or whatever.
I've also been lucky and reused the same box a few times on trips, but of course that was returning from teh same place, leaving it with someone.