Taking a Bicycle Over

I would like to take my bike with me when I move to London. I'm wondering about the cost difference between carrying a bike as a piece of luggage vs. shipping it.

I've seen people checking in with those special bike boxes, and have read on airline websites that you can check a bike as 1 piece of your baggage allowance, but I'm wondering if anyone has does this, and what was the extra charge was?

I'm also wondering if people have any experience with shipping a bike, and what the price was. If there is not much difference, I think shipping would be much easier.

I looked into this a while back because I want to bring both of my bikes over.   had decided to ship them.  I first looked into using the mover that will ship the rest of my things and they were included in the cubic feet of the shipment and total cost was going to be around $1000.  I then decided to ship them overseas with a vendor I work with for a small fee.

Those bike boxes aren't cheap!  The ones I looked at were close to $500 and that was through my local bike shop with their discount. 

I'm reconsidering all this now and may just get new bikes once I settle.

Thanks mekaw! I suppose just selling it and buying a new one is the other option, but I'm hoping to find a relatively cheap way of bringing this one over.

I think I confused the issue with the "special bike box." I meant that to bring a bike over as airline baggage, you can get a special cardboard box from the airline that fits their dimension requirements. I spoke to the people at my local bike shop about having them take the bike apart, and pack it in that box. Yet another cost to consider!

Oh yes - those cardboard boxes!  This is just me, but I personally wouldn't use them for my bikes.  I'd prefer to have a harder shell around the frames, especially on my road bike.

I know how you feel about the selling and buying new.  I'm really attached to my road bike and it fits me better than any bike I've ever owned - plus the thought of spending that much$$$ - just not appealing!

Good luck!

we've shipped bikes tons of times, in many different ways (DH used to be an amateur racer - he has 5 bikes)

We have always shipped them in cardboard bike boxes that are discards from bike shops.  Find out when they have deliveries, then they'll have boxes and generally, they'll give them to you for free because they'll be going in the bin anyway.  They shouldn't charge too much to pack the bike because it just involves rotating the handlebars, removing seat, wheels and pedals and padding the bike so there is no rubbing. 

If you can take it on the airline as baggage, then do that.  Last time I shipped a bike on the airlines it was about $80 - but that was quite a long time ago and I don't know what the deal is now.

we've always shipped our bikes in our moving shipment.  We've never had any problems doing it in the cardboard bike boxes.  If you have a really expensive bike and ship it frequently, then i'd suggest a good bike carrier.  Those are the ones that cost $500.  Otherwise a well packed bike is fine in a box.  DH always puts in old blankets and stuff (once he used his pillows) to pad the bike.  There is lots of room for other little stuff too once the bike is packed.  It is always a surprise what we'll find in the bike boxes when we finally unpack them!   

DH took mine as luggage last time in a box he got from UPS store.  They did not charge him extra!  United just let him use it as one of his pieces of checked luggage.