From Santiago, Chile to Seattle, United States - June, 2012

It was my first motorcycle trip and the first time I ever shipped a bike. It seems like most people ship out of Argentina but it seemed easy enough to ship out of Chile, especially Santiago. I originally contacted the cargo departments directly and they referred me to various "agents." I contacted a few shippers and got three of four quotes and these guys were the least expensive and were also the nicest and most professional out of the bunch. The transaction took just a day once I told them I wanted to use their services.

We used a metal structure and we did everything the day I flew out, in the morning, and my bike was in Seattle three days later ready for pick up. The process was identical to other shipping process described on this website (showed up at the cargo, disassembled the front of the bike to reduce volume and put it in a structure), the only difference was that instead of using a pallet we used a metallic structure which created a frame around the bike which was then wrapped with plastic.

Originally I thought $2000 (USD) was a bit steep, but again it was the least expensive air freight I found and everything (documents, enclosure, etc) was included - they even gave me a ride back to the hotel to pick up my stuff and go catch my flight. The only thing that was not included was a $40 warehouse fee which I had to pay here in Seattle upon pick up.

Once I picked up the bike in Seattle I was handed all the relevant documentation and saw that CTS paid American Airlines Cargo $1119.60 so I was correct about the price being a bit steep; however, it was the cheapest and the cargo departments I contacted (LAN and AA) did not accept shipments directly from individuals so it leaves the consumer little choice.

The only critique I have is I think CTS can use more practice shipping bikes and maximize the use of volume because on my shipment I felt like there was some wasted volume on the top of the shipment (in between the top of the bike and the top of the structure) - I ended up having to pay for volume and not weight. Maybe if you have shipped bikes before, and know how to pack one, you can get a better price and get charged for weight. Both the owner, Hernan, and the guy I dealt with, Rodrigo, were awesome though and that makes up for any critiques I have.

Overall I am very satisfied with them and would use them again if I had to do it over - it was easy, fast and what I expected to pay for air freight. This is definitely an alternative worth exploring for those of you thinking of finishing trips in Chile. The price was a bit dear but if you choose this option maybe you can bargain the price down a bit since they have an pretty wide profit margin. By the way, I shipped a 2007 KLR 650 with all the boxes but no gear - just riding jacket, pants and boots inside panniers.