Who has shipped a bike to Europe using FedEx, UPS, or DHL?

[khg]

Depending on the airline, fees for taking your bike on the plane can be anything from pretty reasonable to insane. It depends on the airline. But looking around earlier this year, it seemed a little less insane/variable than a few years ago. Last year flying to Italy with my bike, I lucked out on a cheap Business Class fare on Condor. It wasn't that much more than a Coach fare once I took into account my bike flying for free--that was a pretty sweet experience!

From my research, a quick pros/cons--
Hard case--sturdier but heavier, expensive to buy, may be hard to keep box+bike under weight limits
Soft case--lighter but a little scary to trust your bike to something with soft sides, good ones are also expensive
Cardboard box--cheap and light! Least complicated disassembly/packing experience. Bulky and unwieldy as heck. Can be difficult to fit into smaller European cars.

I was going to say that if someone brings your bike on a flight with them, it better be someone who really loves you--but then I saw that your mom might be the one flying over Flying with a bike is definitely a pain--even the best luggage cases are bulky, heavy, annoying things to have to maneuver through an airport and transportation. But if your mom is willing to deal with the hassle, the cardboard box might be a good option. It's cheap, and actually a pretty sturdy way to pack a bike for a flight, especially with generous use of bubble wrap. And you can kind of push/slide it along the floor in the airport (stairs suck though).

FWIW, my husband and I both travel with the Pika Packworks EEP bag. I like it a lot (though it would be nice if it had wheels--on the other hand, it doesn't have wheels to be broken off, which seems to happen a lot with wheeled cases.) We've also traveled with his bike in a cardboard box.

Some good info in this article and the links in it: http://cyclingtips.com/2014/06/flyin...ggage-handler/

[shootingstar]

Guess it depends on also the cost of the bike, etc.

I shipped my folding Dahon bike via its soft case. Yes, you heard me. To Europe (Germany). I will be doing it again later this year....to France. Same bike.
My partner has shipped his folding Dahon bike via its soft case ..... 4 different trips to Europe. One time only, his derailleur got a little damaged. So he had to have it repaired there. So yes, it's a risk one takes. He has shipped his bike by cardboard bike box for other types of bikes on 1-2 other trips in the U.S. He has never used Fedex and most likely will not be using them.

I fly by Air Canada when I fly internationally. That's my starting airline preference. Their signage and procedures clearly state bikes....so bike shipment is not a rare thing for them.

[Hastent82]

With the increasing demand for time, many courier services often provide instant, fast and quick delivery facilities. I too needed to send an urgent package with some medication to my parents who live in another city. And my dad received his package in a very short time thanks to same day delivery Dallas.