Getting a bike to/from New Zealand

Can anyone – esp people with experience – suggest the best/cheapest way to get a bike to New Zealand, and back again, for a trip which is too long for rental to be economical, but too short for buy/resell to be particularly feasible?

(paging esp. @matt_outandabout and @tracey because I think they’ve seen this happen recently but anyone’s help v welcome…)

Are there any regs about making sure the bike was spotless before it came into the country – a work colleague took a bike with him to Australia and had to completely clean the bike, and decided new tyres were easier than cleaning any possibility of mud on them – to do with bringing in alien species of bugs and stuff.  Not sure if that’s a thing in NZ.

When Abigale flew out last year Air Canada were by far the cheapest overall including taking  bikes, flying via Vancouver . Think she paid £69 per bike for it.

She is back home for a month but has left the bikes in NZ so don’t have any latest info.

We flew BA with our tandem a few years ago. 2 PAX, tandem, 4 panniers all within the 23kg p/p weight limit. I resisted the urge to fly Business but maybe consider it for the 32kg p/p limit if your in the excess baggage territory.

If you’re going as well, take it as checked baggage. We still fly the tandem in a plastic bag with pipe lagging to protect the paint.

Clean your bike thoroughly – even in the tyre treads a they are (were) very, very meticulous in checking our bike into the Country.

Last week en route to Spain:

I flew to Australia a couple of years ago with United via LA on the way out and San Francisco on the way back. Bike went in my BikeBoxAlan along with a load of clothing etc, no issues at all, United just treated it as normal hold luggage so there was no extra to pay.

Only issue was that US Customs wanted to look in it both times which was OK cos it was in a proper case but would have been a nightmare if it had been a cardboard box secured with tape so worth bearing in mind. Transit at LA was super efficient – passengers for Australia and NZ got whisked through some kind of fast-track system.

No issues arriving in Australia with it (other than filling out the standard declaration to say you’re not carrying anything you shouldn’t), not sure what rules NZ have on checking bike tyres etc.

You can avoid the hassle of collecting and rechecking baggage if you don’t go via the States. Obviously if you do go that way, you’ll need a Transit Visa which you can do online.

I put my bike in a bike box that I got from a bike shop. Did the same for the return.

Be sure to clean your bike throughly, including around the suspension links, steerer tube and under the saddle. It will be less stressful when you arrive.

This is all v helpful thank you

I forgot to say:  I can’t take it with me as excess baggage, emirates want £££ (Tracey’s Air Canada cost is making me cry)

I had similar experience to people here. It counted as part of my normal baggage allowance, so I didn’t pay anything extra. Was allowed x2 20kg bags from memory. Took it in a repurposed cardboard bike box. I think I flew with Emirates and Air Philippines, both of which it was included in ticket.

But yeah make sure it’s clean! They will check thoroughly.

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A friend put his tyres through the washing machine before going to NZ because he’d heard how fussy they can be!

During one of the UK foot & mouth outbreaks, I flew to France. I’d been warned they were being strict on cleaning tyres so I packed a brand new pair right at the top of my bike box.

At the airport, sure enough, an instruction for everyone to open the boxes, get the wheels out and roll the tyres through a tray of disinfectant. I pulled out the two brand new tyres, showed them and they waved me straight through.

Everyone else also flying with bikes on the flight had to unpack everything, extract the wheels and roll them up and down in this mat then repack the whole lot.

My sons bike came back from NZ to UK on a boat as he was heading to Aus to walk for a good few weeks.
It left NZ in late March and is due into UK in the next week.
That one-way shipping was nz$550+
https://www.sevenseasworldwide.com/

Flying with a bike is really the only solution IMO.

And +1 on it needs to be IMMACULATE to get past NZ Biosecurity….

If you have a look here I think you get 30kg weight limit to/from NZ:

https://www.emirates.com/uk/english/before-you-fly/baggage/checked-baggage/

I’m wondering if the cheapest option might be to take your bike on the plane and if you need more stuff then ship that separately. A smaller, denser package of clothing will prob be cheaper to ship than a big ol’ bike.

As others have said clean the living heck out of your bike. It should look essentailly new, which might mean new tyres/grips/bar tape.

Best tip I had was to fit new tyres, jet wash everything else and rag down with a Detol soaked rag, leave the soaked rag in the box, my understanding is that it’s random seeds they are more concerned about, specially those that get stuck in Velcro straps (check your shoes/boots etc) rather than bugs, either way they are thorough and check everything.

I paid extra for the bike bag ten years ago, it was about £300 each way, was stressful with having to change planes etc but wasn’t actually a problem, next time I went I bought a bike and a tent/camping gear etc there but am fortunate that I have a daughter living there who can store it for me (that’s not really that helpful for you OP !)

If taking a bike is pushing you into excess baggage territory, take a look at Premium Economy or even Business. Sometimes if you buy a Y ticket, it’s not that much more and can be comparable to the Excess Baggage charges. You get more baggage allowance and if you go Business (or heaven forfend – First) more fawning. So not all bad 🙃

Just to echo others, I’ve taken bikes to NZ and Australia on Emirates and also had stuff shipped with Seven Seas. Adding extra baggage (I get away with 5kg) in economy or upgrading to Premium are the only reasonable options. Yes, it’s a three-figure fee. But if you’re worried about that, wait until you see NZ prices for everything else…

Although to add about the biosecurity thing: i didn’t actually know about it when arrived there so hadn’t really cleaned the bike or tent. They just cleaned it at the airport and I didn’t get charged anything for that

If you fly with Air NZ then your bike just counts as a bag – you just pay for one extra bag which isn’t too expensive. Last time I did it was about 75GBP per one way trip. I’m flying back to the UK in a couple of weeks and am flying Emirates but I have enough airports that I get a 42kg baggage allowance in economy which will be enough for it to be free, so that could be an option worth checking

They are very tight with biosecurity here so make sure that your bike is clean as others have said. However, just make sure that you declare it on your form and they’ll have a look when you come through security and if it isn’t clean enough, will give it another clean.

Take it as checked luggage.

As for bringing a bike into NZ, they aren’t that anal about how clean it is.  Just make sure there isn’t mud all over it and tell them you cleaned it.  I just pack it in a bike box and open it for the agricultural inspectors and they have a quick look at the tyres and under the seat.  They won’t be pulling it out and checking it.  This is my experience on the 20 times I have bought a bike back to nz