Shipping bike to Kona

Thanks for the well wishes and responses.

It looks like Fed X is well over the $100 mark one way. I've shipped a bike to the main island and it was less than $60 bucks with UPS.

I'm not sure who has the highest percentage of lost/damaged packages between the airlines and the freight companies but here are my reasons for opting for the freight carriers. We are traveling non rev (space available for airline employees) from Las Vegas and will be taking two different airlines to get to Kona, the other option would be taking NorthWest from LV to Minneapolis then a flight back to the west coast then to Kona. That would entail either or both of the bike being handled more and me having to take it to and from the airports with 4 other bags as well. We are staying in Kona for a couple of weeks and doing some scuba divning so we are not traveling light to say the least.

I got the bike box yesterday and will contact the carriers to get firm prices for getting the bike to Kona, I'll let you know what I find out.

Have a great weekend!

I've found DHL to be the cheapest shipping-wise for a bike.  Of course, going to/from Hawaii is a unique situation as there is no 'ground' option.  It has to go by air at some point ( or a really slooooow boat ).

-C 

OK, the most stresfull part, at this point anyway is completed. I shipped the bike today FED X with my sweeties airline discount it came to $96.  UPS would have been $140, and the rep said when I took it in I had to have a check, no cc and it could not be a personal check, wasn't sure if cash was OK..... whatever....... My box was a bit heavy. When I got the bike broke down and into the carton the top tupe when the seat post goes was sticking out an inch out. I remedied this by getting another bike box and basically double boxing the bike and I put some old towels into the box and around the stuff inside. I am glad I did that should almost make it bullet proff..... I hope I don't eat those words.

My main reason for not wanting to take the bike on the plane is, ok 2 reasons, I don't want to carry it along with our other 4 bags to the airport plus carry on luggage, it would also require us to go to Minneapolis on the red eye Monday night instead of leaving here and flying straight to Seattle.

My final thoughts on this: If you are traveling by air to a triathlon and planning on an extended stay it's a PITA.

If you are going to pack a bike in a bike box here is a good resource.

http://bicyclehabitat.com/page.cfm?PageID=370

An update, my bike made it to Kona and back no problems, Fed-X both ways. Total cost about $180.  US that includes $20 for the Kona Bike shop to accept it.

A friend of mine took her bike on the plane with her, they inspected it at the airport on the way out of town and damaged her derailier, she was able to use it in the race. When she got back to Vegas, her bike was unaccounted for.  I think the airline caps lugage @ $1,600 US, I don't know if that holds true for bikes since they charge like $80 each way.

Have a good season!