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Bike Flights To The Rescue

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I have been travelling with my bike for over 5 years now and it used to be great. Being a million miler flier my preferred airline was always kind enough to waive any fee. Per my rewards, I was allowed to check up to 5 bags and the Airlines allowed the bike bag to count as two at no extra fee. As the times got a little tighter with the Airlines, they all of a sudden waived my waiver. The fees started at $50/one way and eventually continued to rise until it was $200 per leg. Price became a concern, but the bigger issue tended to be TSA checking out the bag. Having bubble wrapped my bike very carefully to ensure no damage, TSA always managed to mess something up, whether it was loose head set, breaking the handle on the carrier case, parts taken out of the wheel bag and then left to rattle around the bike bag. They even did that with my pump, but fortunately for the bubble wrap, there was no real damage. Needless to say I never found the bike the way I had packed it and it was only a matter of time, before some damage would occur. Thanks TSA.

Enter Bike Flights. bikeflights-logoI stumbled upon Bikeflights.com and figured I would try it out. It worked like a charm. I arranged the pick-off and return delivery very easily from their website and within a few minutes, my shipping labels were available for download and print. During the setup, I elected to have a pickup by FedEx.  Once my bike was packed all I had to do was attach the label to the bike case and I was all set to go. The next morning, FedEx was to arrive within a convenient window, which they did and off went my bike. I felt like I was watching a child go off to college or something like that. 3 days later I was notified by my son that my bike had arrived. When I arrived in Phoenix, I was excited for several reasons. One, not having to look for my bike bag at the airport, which was always an adventure and secondly lugging the bike case on the Rental bus and dealing with the stares from other passengers wondering what was in that bag. Finally, when I arrived at my son’s house, the bike case was sitting there and I quickly unpacked, put the loose parts back together and off I went for an initial ride. The best part was when I was building the bike back up, you could tell that everything looked just like it had been when I packed it. All in all, it is a great way to go and I will continue to use BikeFlights in the future. The price was right (almost 60% cheaper than the airline), the convenience was beyond belief and the fact that I now know with confidence that BikeFlights takes great care with my bike. I encourage all to check it out their website for a superior bike transport option. Visit their website here.