Ship or Fly

[khschenk]

What would you think is the best method of getting a bike cross the country?  

I will be flying to Montana from Philadelphia.  Is cheaper to ship the bike back and forth or box it up and check it in.  Which is best for the bike?

According to the UPS site, it will be about $70 each way to ship.  Does that sound correct?  

Thanks!
--Kurt

[DaveB]

That sounds about right for UPS which makes it about a wash with paying the oversize charges to take the bike on the plane as checked baggage.  However, get a quote from Fed Ex Ground.  I believe their shipping costs are significantly lower.

[ptaylor]

I paid $49.75 last spring (including insurance) to ship between the East Coast and Indiana. But I understand that rates have since increased. I have heard others say FedEx is cheaper, but I haven't checked them lately. Both UPS and FidEx have good web sites where you can calculate shipping costs.

Make sure you understand the dimensions rules, as that is more important than weight on a bike. Bike Boxes come in at the second from the largest UPS size break. I forget what they call it, but the bike box will be about 47.5 x 30.5 x 10.5 inches, just a whisker under the size limit for that size category.

Gramps

[khschenk]

On your advice I checked the FedEx site.  It comes to 46.75 if I have direct signature (whatever that means).  The insurance is the nice part that I doubt the airlines would provide.

Thank you.
--Kurt

[ptaylor]

Well done Kurt.

Now think about where you want the bike shipped to.

Now you dont have to worry about getting the boxed bike in a taxi or hotel shuttle, nor do you have to worry about assembling the bike in the Philadelphia airport and riding it on unfriendly roads to your first night's stay.

If you are staying at a friend's or relatives house, that will be utopia (free I would hope). Have it shipped there. If you are staying at a nearby hotel, have it shipped there: call them and ask how the box should be addressed. Another alternative is to ship it to a nearby bike shop and pay them to re-assemble it for you.

On a side note, I have been to Philadelphia on business a few times. I remember that they had signs saying 'no pedestrians' all over the place. We couldn't legally walk from our office building to a restaurant 1/2 mile away for lunch, because there were no sidewalks! I think that Pennsylvania outlawed this a couple of years ago.

Gramps