Hi,
We want to ship our bicycles from Los Angeles to Europe. Any suggestions? Thank you for responding,
Bob
shipping bicycles from Los Angeles to Europe
Wed, 2017-07-05 10:14
#1
WS Member
shipping bicycles from Los Angeles to Europe
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I hope you have deep pockets. Cost should be somewhere around $600. Then you have to hassle with immigration.
1. Fly with your bike.
2. Rent a bike there.
3. Buy a cheap bike there then either sell it or donate it after your tour.
https://www.bikeflights.com/
If you are flying and you have not booked your tickets yet, review the costs of various non-US airlines to see the costs for a bike. Some airlines, I "think" British Airways for one, do not charge for a bicycle. As the previous person said, a bike can easily cost $200 each way overseas so it is always best to know what the bicycle and luggage policies/costs are. For instance, some airlines might allow 2 pieces of luggage for free and the bike is one piece and your touring stuff is in another box. Others charge for everything. It really can vary widely so do your research. When determining how much luggage you need, remember the maximum "regular" size is 62 liner inches (L+W+H) before you get into being charged extra for over-sized luggage. This is why a lot of tourists use S&S couplings to save on shipping costs.
If you have a friend who owns a company that ships a lot of stuff, you might see if you can have him ship a bike box for you as some time they get steeply discounted rates or restrictions removed.
Finally, check out bike shipping sites like BikeFlights (there are several and they too can vary widely in price) but that is likely to be very very very high ($5,000+ per bike RT) for an overseas trip.
Sorry to say it but good luck. My best guess is you will spend at least $200 total minimum unless you tour with very little.
Hi there Ellen & Bob - we have wallowed through this dilemma too. One thing we also fussed about is what to do with the bike case while we were riding. It's expensive to store and with "9.11" hotels are leary about storing it for you. In the end we used cardboard boxes, packed like the devil to ensure it's safe arrival, and then threw away the boxes in the airport (LGW). They actually were used to people doing this and there was another guy also doing the same thing when we were unpacking and assembling ours in the airport. The airport told us where we could put our garbage when we were finished unpacking too. Then, when we cycled back to the airport, we had pre-confirmed with the airline and they had large clear plastic bags that we put our bikes into once they were prepared for shipping. Some say this is good because the handlers can see what's inside. Others have horror stories. Our bikes thankfully survived both over and back flights. Imagine landing at Gatwick ready to ride to your first night's accommodation only to find your bike not ride able! Yikes! That would be a real dilemma. One thing I was glad we did was the night before our flight home, we stayed right at Gatwick so we could talk with the airline the night before, then head down early in the morning to prepare and check the bikes - gave us lots of time to get organized.
Another time we rented bikes in our destination, and brought our own panniers, shoes, pedals, gloves, mirrors, tools, (in a large duffle bag we could squish up and carry with us in the pannier) and used the bike shop's helmet and seat. It wasn't optimum, but we found the balance between cost and comfort.
Good luck!