From the UK.
Anyone have any experience?
It's looking like £120 each if I want to fly with them. Any other options?
I took 3 bikes when I moved there
Took 3 months to arrive and no idea how much as it was part of the whole deal - as they went in bike boxed I filled up the rest of the boxes with other stuff
I flew mine over on WestJet, crappy flight but they only charged me for an extra bag and it arrived in one piece.
They recently got some dreamliners so maybe the comfort has improved.
Go business class. You get 3x32kg bags free.
Plus it’s comfier.
I'd be surprised if the cheapest option isn't to fly with them yourself - shipping ain't cheap and you may have to d*ck about with Canadian customs if you do it.
Check different airlines; off the top of my head BA, Air Canada, Transat, WestJet (but not if you need to be there on time) - and as on another thread, try calling them up as you may have more luck.
Are you going on holiday? If so, flying with them is probably the only practical way.
If going for a longer period, then shipping them with a removals company would be an alternative but a very slow and frustrating one. Probably not much cheaper than taking them with you on the plane.
Have you checked parcelmonkey, parcel2go, and the like? They are often far cheaper. Although I don't know how that would work if you are going on holiday, as you'd need a Canadian address to send to. You cna self-clear at customs although I don't know what the mechanism would be for items that are leaving again with you, at the end of your holiday. If you do ship, be warned that shipping back will be far more expensive, as they don't have the resellers that the UK and US have.
Is the 120 your worst case scenario if paying for an extra baggage item with BA both ways?
BA allows you to take a boxed bike as a replacement primary checked bag for no additional cost up to ~23kg I think.
I'd be planning to box your bike up with riding gear to as close to 23kg as possible. Max out a piece of cabin luggage and then you also get a personal carry on..backpack/laptop bag.
Shipping them freight on the airline might be cheaper than the extra bag fee but no guarantees they arrive on these same flight.
Not flying? Parcelmonkey as above for convenience of organising the shipping
Took mine to Vancouver with klm. £120 didn’t pre book it in on the way there but no charge on the way back as I did book it in a few days before return flight. Customs had opened the bike bag for inspection on arrival but no issues otherwise.
Fly with Transat; £20 per bike each way, no limit on number as far as I recall.
BearBack
Member
Is the 120 your worst case scenario if paying for an extra baggage item with BA both ways?
BA allows you to take a boxed bike as a replacement primary checked bag for no additional cost up to ~23kg I think.
I’d be planning to box your bike up with riding gear to as close to 23kg as possible. Max out a piece of cabin luggage and then you also get a personal carry on..backpack/laptop bag.
Shipping them freight on the airline might be cheaper than the extra bag fee but no guarantees they arrive on these same flight.
Not flying? Parcelmonkey as above for convenience of organising the shipping
It's a lightweight-ish emigration (with BA). I'm going to be maxing out my laptop bag, carry on and two 23kg checked suitcases. Then it's £120 each for the bikes. It's not the end of the world, but if I can save some money...
Given ^^ I'd be wary about shipping. Is that all you're bringing in or just what's not going in the shipment? Customs are going to look at you a bit more intently if you've not got a return ticket.
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/mrc-drc-eng.html
It’s a lightweight-ish emigration (with BA)
Oh, if you're moving, then shipping's a reasonable option, especially if you have other clobber to ship with it. But you may still find it's not much cheaper, and there will be some faff with customs when it gets here (having to release it from Canadian customs by showing you own it, etc).
Sorry - brain fade from me. Shipping would be fine if you're emigrating but be wary of customs clearance time frames etc and if you're flying in with everything they still might take a bit of extra interest.
When you emigrate you will get to declare everything that is following you over that's not with you at the point of entry. So, if your bikes are being shipped then you itemise these in your list and there should be no concern for customs. You only get to do this once though so if you plan on shipping your late great grandmother's piano at some point..or the contents of your house if you're going to.makenit permanent then think hard.
We emigrated with 3 bikes split in 2 boxes loaded with all our stuff. Checked baggage as well as carry on. Although we'd already spent 6 or so years amassing other stuff that we were returning to in Canada.
Canada customs are an absolute pain in the arse. If you can avoid shipping stuff I would.
JP
Well, if it is one way, I would think you could do better than $120 per bike by using parcelfoece/monkey/2go. I got quotes around £60-ish for a bike but that was a little while ago.I think that was FedEx via parcel2go.
Of course it depends exactly where in Canada you are going, it is as far across as it is from UK.
Never had much trouble with any customs. No duty on stuff you bring as long as it is used. Bring receipts. You can self clear (you don't need a broker).