Originally Posted by
mrveloman
Tourist in MSN - I flew with southwest last year and it was $75 for a boxed bike. Was not included as one of my free baggage pieces, though my gear bag was. I have had REI ship a bike for me from one store to another. At the time, maybe 10 years ago it was $100. Last time I checked it was much more - there is a charge for packing the bike plus shipping - was going to be around $200.
Good to know about SW not including the bike as one of your two bags, although I can't see checking a boxed bike and two checked bags and still expecting to get everything on the bike. I try to limit my checked bags to one bike and one duffle that I can empty, fold up, and stash on the bike for the trip.
I don't have numbers on the REI thing, but I remember something similar. If I remember correctly, REI wants to disassemble, pack, ship, and reassemble the bike, so you have shop fees at both ends, plus you pay shipping. It was not cheap, but it is probably handy if you really don't want to do your own maintenance. Dropping a bike off at REI and picking it up across the country, ready-to-go, could be a valuable service. But I can reassemble my bike in less than an hour, considerably less for a non-coupled bike that ships in an oversize box, and I'd rather hit the ground running by loading up the bike at the airport and moving on directly from there.