Thanks to all the previous advice I've bought a bike bag and have got a cardboard bike box to line it. Hopefully with careful extra padding it'll have a sporting chance of surviving.
The next challenge is getting the bike an bag down to Heathrow, along with the rest of our luggage, wife and son. I'm guessing the bike bag might fit in the back of the car with half the rear seats folded, but I thought it might be easier to strap the bagged bike to the roof bars on the car.
Just wondering if anyone has done this successfully before. Don't fancy seeing my pride and joy disappearing in my rear view mirror on the M6! Any advice on the types of straps to use? I'm running out of time to mail order things so It'll likely be a Halfords purchase.
Wondering how to solve the problem of getting the bike bag in the car when we get to RSA. How easy is it to get cars with roof bars or is it just a matter of splitting the rear seats?