Can anyone recommend a company that will ship bikes to events for a competitive price with the airlines?
I have only used them once. It was better than the quote I had received from FedEx directly and MUCH cheaper than what Delta would have charged. Bike was ultimately shipped by FedEx but through sportsexpress as 3rd party. Don’t know what else is out there…
HTH
Christina
Try FedEx GROUND service. They will ask for all of the case dimensions, the weight, and the value of the item. They typically are the cheapest, although they insure only to $100 automatically (you purchase additional insurance in $100 increments for a small fee).
1-800-gofedex
We have had good and bad experiences with all shippers. I think maybe it is just the nature of moving a bike box size container. There is some risk.
I prefer to take my on the aircraft with me. That way I have at least some vague notion of where it is in my journey.
Also, our experience has been that the insurance of any carrier- airline, UPS, Fedex, etc. is of minimal if any utility. I’ve never seen a claim paid, and I see several attempts per year among our customers.
Basically, pack it like someone is trying to damage it and hope for the best.
Somebody at UPS once drove over a Kestrel fork I shipped and they did indeed pay up the full insured amount (a reasonable thing to do, given the fork was in 2 pieces). Just one experience…