mcallaghan

Dilemma here. I am going overseas to do a Tour, and am wondering if I should ship my bike ahead of time (to my Uncles house) or fly with it instead?

The only other overseas tour I did was supported etc and we all flew with our bikes in a box. This time around its unsupported so I am wondering what my best option might be in this case?

fietsbob

IDK, OP devoid of specifics [again] from where to where?

Accompanied Luggage ,
bikes with some airlines get a deal, others they nail you heavy..

international Air freight is never cheap.

pacificcyclist

Have you checked with the airline luggage policy yet? Some international airlines do not charge for a bike.

mcallaghan

From CO, USA to the UK.

Its expensive enough shipping a bike out here from the East Coast. The airlines out here...I would imagine they charge a fee. Its a Ski Resort town, though, so lots of oversized luggage.

DFleming

shipbikes.com

check and see if they help. It weighs the oversize fee, i payed 70 from florida to germany.

spinnaker

Almost always cheaper to fly with the bike. You will most likely have far less customs issues too.

markf

Which airline are you flying with? British Airways treats your bike as a piece of checked luggage- if everything else is carry-on, the bike is your one free piece of checked luggage (Economy Class). If the bike is your second piece of checked luggage, you pay the fee for a second piece, etc., etc. Go to the website of the airline you are flying with, find out what their rules are, and print out a copy of the rules for when you get to the check-in counter. FWIW, British Airways is about as bicycle friendly an airline as you are going to find IMHO, and they have non-stops from Denver to London.

I've done 3 bicycle tours in the last few years that involved using BA to get from Denver to the tour and back, and had no problems worth mentioning. PM me or post here if you want to pick my brains about getting from Colorado to the UK with a bike.

mcallaghan

I am contemplating flying directly from Denver and either finding some one to drive me to Denver (3+hrs from here) or pay ~$150 for the CME to drive me out there. It offsets/equals flying from the local airport to Denver, and avoids flying on one of the Express Routes (which would charge me extra for the bike due to luggage compartment). Would make flying much easier too (and less flight time) so might be the way to go. A lot of the flights go Local-LAX-Chicago/EastCoast-London...which is just way too much flying in the wrong direction, makes me wonder how its cheaper.

markf

Depending on how long you're going to be gone, it just might be worth your while to just pay the long term parking rate in one of the economy lots at DIA. DIA's shuttle lots charge $7/day, and there are private parking options outside the airport that charge even less. All of these lots have a shuttle to the terminal, and I've taken an unboxed bicycle on plenty of parking and rent-a-car shuttles.

A one way car rental can be a good option, depending on what kind of deal you can get. I would at least go to a few auto rental websites and get price quotes for your travel dates. coming back from my tour a few weeks ago, I rented a mini-van from Hertz, one way from DIA to Frisco, and paid just under $100 for the rental. A small car would have cost less, but getting my touring bike and my gear inside any of their small cars would have been close to impossible.

Does CME's price include the bicycle? The last I heard, their bicycle charge was equal to the cost of the passenger fare.

BA's non-stop from DIA to London is the way to go, IMHO. If nothing else, a non-stop gives the airlines fewer opportunities to lose your baggage.

mcallaghan

I don't own a car, and know for a fact that there are no car-rental places close-by. The CME pricing says $103-per-person, with an additional fee for a bike. I was assuming that wouldn't be anymore then $50. With a little luck, I can get a friend to drive me out there. I'll be gone for about a month. The less stops on my flight, the better - like you said, less chance of lost luggage plus less stress on day of flight. I do need to make the Irish Decision though - do I do my proposed Tour of Ireland (add on 18 days or so) or just stick with the UK.

cbike

Don't forget that it doesn't matter for which airline the ticket is printed (e-mailed). The fee is assessed by the carrier with whom you check in/fly at the beginning of your flight.

E.g. if you have a Lufthansa ticket and are leaving from an US airport most likely you will be checking in at the United counter (and flying a United airplane). Especially from smaller airports. The United Airline fees for bicycle (and any other luggage) will apply, not the Lufthansa fees.

Just keep in mind to check what company you are actually flying with when shopping for tickets. Also, if you are flying a small regional jet and have a full sized bicycle (not a folder), you may want to call the airline and ask them if the plane can take a boxed bike.

saddlesores

geeze, louise! methinks op has probably already finished his tour by now.

Trevtassie

Hah, I'm all like UK, Ireland, flights? How can this be? Checks date... ZOMBIE!!!

Tourist in MSN

Even if this was not an eight year old thread, not sure where someone in USA could fly to considering that most countries are blocking people with USA passports because of uncontroled Covid.