Moving from Canada back to Australia, Freight Advice/ Experience?

[brad353]

Hi, I'll be moving from Vancouver back to Brisbane in a couple of months and was after some advice and suggestions on freighting a couple of bike boxes. I know it's best to take them on the plane with you, but the problem is I came over here with one bike and now I have 3, as well as a snowboard and boarding gear, riding gear, bike tool kits, and a bunch of other stuff like clothing and other various this and that. I'm thinking I might be able to take the snowboard and one bike box on the plane, but the remaining two bikes and other gear I'll have to cram into a couple of bike boxes and freight home I think.

Any experience or suggestions on which freight company I should use, and how much it cost you roughly? I'll be doing some research myself but any advice or experiences would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[captainmorgan]

I did that a couple of years ago, except I moved the contents of a house. I used Tippet-Richardson http://www.trwestcan.com/

 

[valium]

I recently moved from Vans to Melbourne. I ended up selling everything and just going the plane route - I figured I wont be needing powder skis, ice axes etc.

The cost of shipping was prohibitively expensive - equal or more than excess baggage on the flight.

 

[JBR]

Just sell your bikes. You will go for one ride in Aus, realize how average it is compared to BC and never ride them again anyway.

 

[Reubs]

I used these guys when i moved back home in 2012. I had a dh bike, a hardtail and a metric shittonne of gear jammed in 2 bike boxes. I think it was around 500 bucks for about 60kgs- They were the cheapest at the time and were easy to deal with. easy walk from the skytrain.
They ship as air freight whenever there is free space, my gear arrived in sydney 2 days after i dropped it off.

http://www.worldcargovancouver.com

 

[brad353]

Just sell your bikes. You will go for one ride in Aus, realize how average it is compared to BC and never ride them again anyway.

that would make sense however in my case i've been working in the bike industry and have been lucky enough to score some extremely good deals on my bikes that i've purchased. i won't be in that industry when i return home so if it costs me a few hundred to get the bikes home it will still be worth it. thanks though, it would make sense otherwise.

I used these guys when i moved back home in 2012. I had a dh bike, a hardtail and a metric shittonne of gear jammed in 2 bike boxes. I think it was around 500 bucks for about 60kgs- They were the cheapest at the time and were easy to deal with. easy walk from the skytrain.
They ship as air freight whenever there is free space, my gear arrived in sydney 2 days after i dropped it off.

http://www.worldcargovancouver.com

thank you! this is exactly the kind of response i was hoping to hear. did the boxes arrive without much damage? i'm in a similar situation, i think i'll pack two bikes into two bike boxes along with as much other stuff as i can fit, and try to take the rest on my flight. i will contact these guys, thanks again.

anyone else used any other carriers for similar situations?

 

[jazza_wil]

I shipped 2 bikes from whistler to Melbourne. Last min fuckup meant I couldn't fly with them so a week later i got them picked up from my old house. Went with worldcargo. They were easy to deal with and was the cheapest I could find. The only problem I had was on the aus side...
I knew what plane it was on so tracked the plane when it landed, waited 2 days and then went to qantas freight to pick it up. They said I needed an appointment to pick it up, made one, went back the next day. Then they said customs had to clear it so go talk to them. Went and waited 2hours and spoke with a customs agent, then went back to freight and they said customs wanted to inspect it because it might have dirt on it, so back to customs to make an appointment. Next day went back waited another 2hrs then had had my bikes 'inspected' which was customs guy opened the top of the box peaked inside and closed it took 1min. Then back to wait in line for an hour to pay for the inspection. Qantas fright was nice enough not to charge me for storage fees because i didnt pick it up straight away...
about 2 weeks later i got a letter saying my bikes had arived and to go pick them up from qantas....
All up cost an extra couple of hundred extra and a lot of time so be warned customs might screw you

 

[zoidberg]

I shipped 2 bikes from whistler to Melbourne. Last min fuckup meant I couldn't fly with them so a week later i got them picked up from my old house. Went with worldcargo. They were easy to deal with and was the cheapest I could find. The only problem I had was on the aus side...
I knew what plane it was on so tracked the plane when it landed, waited 2 days and then went to qantas freight to pick it up. They said I needed an appointment to pick it up, made one, went back the next day. Then they said customs had to clear it so go talk to them. Went and waited 2hours and spoke with a customs agent, then went back to freight and they said customs wanted to inspect it because it might have dirt on it, so back to customs to make an appointment. Next day went back waited another 2hrs then had had my bikes 'inspected' which was customs guy opened the top of the box peaked inside and closed it took 1min. Then back to wait in line for an hour to pay for the inspection. Qantas fright was nice enough not to charge me for storage fees because i didnt pick it up straight away...
about 2 weeks later i got a letter saying my bikes had arived and to go pick them up from qantas....
All up cost an extra couple of hundred extra and a lot of time so be warned customs might screw you

Funny, I paid them off to cavity search you, not your bikeboxes...

 

[Reubs]

No damage at all. In fact it was in better condition then most times I've actually flown on the same plane with as bike.