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Definitely follow the advice given above. I’ve only flown with cardboard boxes and it can be a challenge if you aren’t doing a loop and cannot store it at a hostel. One trip we ended in Tokyo and no shop I visited had spare boxes. Luckily my cousin, who lives in Japan, found a website that sold them and a courier delivered it the next morning. So asking a local or the hotel might be able to assist esp if you don’t know the language. If all else fails you can make a box. I went to a couple bulk retail stores to find bigger, thicker cardboard and used about 8 rolls of packing tape to Frankenstein 2 boxes for my wife and me. I was dreading they would disintegrate but surprisingly they made it thru 3 flights from Patagonia to San Francisco.

For one loop, we found a hostel that accepted baggage for a small fee. We took a bus from the airport, wheeled the boxes over to the hostel, rebuilt the bikes right there and checked our boxes in. We brought a large duffle and shoved everything we didn’t need and it was there waiting for us when we got back. The hostel was nice enough to offer some shade and water while we put our bikes back together. Process in reverse back to the airport.

If you are doing a loop and starting and ending at a hotel, I've had no problem with them holding the bike bag for a couple of weeks. I've also traveled with a cardboard box and just found one at a local bike shop. Sometimes they will offer a pack up for a small fee.

Hey Julien, it's a good question. There are various ways to deal with this. If you're using a cardboard bike box, you could just throw it away and worry about how you're going to procure another while on tour or when your trip is over. That's certainly something I've done. However, in most cases, it's best to try and find a local bike shop beforehand, asking if they wouldn't mind holding on to said box for some time, and then using it to depart as well. Always good to tip or at least patronize the bike shop in question, but you could just as easily do the same with a friend (if you have one) in the place you're arriving and leaving at.