Austin bike shop reco to receive 2 BikeFlights bike boxes?

[shirlee]

Hi all! I am going to be shipping my and my husband's bikes to Austin with BikeFlights, and I wondered if anyone knew of a local bike shop that would be cool with receiving them for us, and holding onto our bike boxes for 6 days while we're on tour? We'd be happy to pay some fee for the box storage. Thoughts?

[BikeliciousBabe]

There are two REI stores in Austin, including one down town. I have shipped my bike to the Missoula REI three times and had them assemble it (for a fee, of course) so it was ready and waiting for me when I arrived. They were happy to hold my box and duffel bag that I flew my gear out in. At the end of my tours, I rolled the bike back in, gave them my Bikeflitghts shipping labels and relaxed.

Give one of the local stores in Austin a call and see if they offer the same service. I would do so earlier rather than later so you can get on the schedule. The bike departments can get very busy certain times of the year, especially after big sales. People order bikes, the get shipped and then need to be assembled.

One note about Bikeflights: If you are going to be on the road for more than a short time and need return shipping you will need to get computer and printer access during or just after you finish. That's because Bikeflights won't email you your return shipping until 10 days before your ship date. That can be a PITA if you are on a tight schedule and are in rural areas without reliable Internet access. A couple of times I had to make a bee line to the Missoula public library at the end of tours to get my labels. Had to do the same in Rapid City, SD at the end of a tour.

[driftlessregion]

I did not have a problem printing my Bikeflight labels 16 days before my return from Seattle 2 years ago.  You might want to call them.
Use the internet and call bike shops.

[BikeliciousBabe]

I did not have a problem printing my Bikeflight labels 16 days before my return from Seattle 2 years ago.  You might want to call them.
Use the internet and call bike shops.

I had an email exchange with them several years ago. I was told 10 days was the policy. For that reason I didn't bother buying return shipping right away in 2017, and I knew I would have time in Whitefish during my two-week tour to stop in and use the library. Maybe they have changed their model since we had our back and forth.

Edit: Checked their FAQ page. Still says 10 days before shipping date:

"Q: How and when do I get my shipping labels?

A: Labels for shipments occurring within the next 10 days are available in less than three minutes after booking through your BikeFlights.com account. Login - if you aren’t already logged in - to view information about all your past, current and pending orders, including the ability to view and print your labels. We will also email your labels to you within a few minutes of booking. In the unlikely case you don’t get your labels with a few minutes, check your spam folder to make sure they weren’t mistakenly filtered there.

If you book your shipment more than 10 days ahead of time, we’ll both post your labels to your account and email them to you once you cross the 10-days-to-go mark.

Note: If your return shipment occurs more than 10 days after your outbound shipment, the two labels may be sent separately. Each will come as soon as it is within the 10-day window. (Emphasis added.)

If you do not receive your labels as specified above, please contact BikeFlights.com Support so they can re-send them to you."

[shirlee]

Thanks for all the great advice!!!

[BikeliciousBabe]

BTW...I don't know what labor rates are like in Austin, but the Missoula REI assembled and tuned my bike for only $40. Packing at the end of the trip was the same charge. Where I am from, those services will cost you about $100 each these days.