Too bad. I got turned off to Bikeflights after it switched to UPS both for price and for service reasons. Using BF in 2019 was the first time I had used it since they switched to UPS. Price-wise, the pick up option from the LBS that packed my bike was $10 compared to $5 just two years before (and before the switch). I actually never paid the fee the previous three times when BF used FedEx because there was a FedEx/Kinko's location around the corner from the shop. And employee would walk it around the corner and drop it off for me for free. When I got home from the trip I priced what shipping would have cost with Shipbikes using FedEx. It was noticeably less expensive. Shipping time quote was longer with BF post-swtich to UPS.
I feel that BF got more "corporate", for lack of a better term, as it got more popular. You used to not have to create an account with a password. Customer service was more responsive. What really frustrated me in 2019 was when I was trying to buy return shipping while on tour the web site would not accept the correct zip code for the Missoula, MT REI. I could not rightly call about the problem because I was in the Whitefish library. I finally gave up and used the zip code the website suggested. Fortunately, everything worked out in that respect. But there was another problem. I got an email from BF saying pickup failed on the scheduled day. After a couple of emails and a phone call I found out that pickup had not actually failed. BF could not explain why it had sent me that message.
