I now own a Brompton folding bike. (Fortunately, I bought my plane tickets first, as I am also now broke!)
Anyone here ever checked one into baggage in a B-bag, and suffer damage? If so, what parts were damaged? I want to protect those parts, and I don't want to disassemble/reassemble. I suspect the bag itself is more likely to be damaged than the bike, but would like to learn from the experience of others.
Anyone here ever carried one on? I've read that this can be done, but after seeing it in the bag, I don't believe it. In fact, I think they're going to charge me extra for the size. (See update below.) Which reminds me of another related question:
Has anyone ever been charged extra on the grounds that the picture of a bike on each side of the bag makes it "sports equipment"?
UPDATE: Checked from IQT to LIM on Star-Peru. Completely unusable on arrival. Repairs very expensive. Also, it does NOT fit in most airline overheads and is significantly larger than the explicit limits for carry-ons at many airlines. Perhaps (as I've been told) it can be done on Southwest, but Southwest doesn't go anywhere that requires an airline.
UPDATE TWO: Every trip with the B-bag, there has been minor damage, but not nearly the disaster of Star-Peru. I finally went and got a Chubby which protects it much better and carries all my other stuff between flights. At the airport, fold the Brompton, empty the Chubby, put the Brompton in it, pack some of my things around it, and carry on the rest. Have to pay an oversize fee, or a bike fee, depending on the airline. Sometimes it's hard to predict which. Some airlines will treat it more gently if they know it's a bike; some the opposite. Also hard to predict.