flying w/ your bike, vs. shipping them ahead

[Bob Ross]

My wife & a friend & I are planning a cycling vacation to Tuscon this coming winter, and unlike previous trips we want to bring our own bikes (rather than rent there). We're trying to weigh the pros & cons of packing the bikes as checked luggage on our flight, versus packing them in advance & shipping them via a freight carrier (UPS or FedEx, I suppose?) to our Tuscon destination.

One obvious advantage of the latter is that we don't have to worry about getting 3 crated bikes to & from the airports.

Anyone have any first hand experience with either method (or perhaps an alternative method) that would sway us one way or the other? Thanks.

 

[alienator]

My wife & a friend & I are planning a cycling vacation to Tuscon this coming winter, and unlike previous trips we want to bring our own bikes (rather than rent there). We're trying to weigh the pros & cons of packing the bikes as checked luggage on our flight, versus packing them in advance & shipping them via a freight carrier (UPS or FedEx, I suppose?) to our Tuscon destination.

One obvious advantage of the latter is that we don't have to worry about getting 3 crated bikes to & from the airports.

Anyone have any first hand experience with either method (or perhaps an alternative method) that would sway us one way or the other? Thanks.

I bought a soft sided travel case (SciCon Aero53 Plus) for my steed, and it has worked well flying out of and back into Tucson. I prefer my bike be with me than sending it via a shipper. It's a karma thing, I think.