S. Africa-N. America options and questions
 

Hi,

I'm planning my journey have a choice of 3 quite different shipping options and I'd really appreciate some independent advice. I've had a search through existing threads and accumulated as much knowledge as possible.

The overall plan is to ride Africa, N and then S America. Starting and finishing in the UK.

So my options are

Option 1 - Ride from UK to S Africa then fly direct to North America. There are relatively few driects flights to N America, but I understand that S. Africa Airways flies to the US and will take a bike, but I believe US customs are really difficult and that it is best to fly to Canada...but there are no direct flights

Option 2 - Ride from UK to S Africa then fly via a European dog leg to Canada. This could work well for me as I need to come back for 7-10 days anyway for a Wedding.

Option 3 - Fly to S.Africa then ride back to UK, go to wedding, then fly to Canada

I've written to James Cargo and Motofreight for guidance, but I'd really appreciate your independent.advice on the questions I have below;
- Are US customs really a no go?
- Does shipping via a dog leg double the price as it's 2 flights or is it just a bit more expensive?
- Is it possible to leave S.Africa (just myself) a week before the bike does so I could come back for the UK wedding then meet the bike in N.America. Is this allowable / sensible?

Obviously if there is anything else I have overlooked then please shout.

Thanks

James

The two proposals to fly the bike from Europe to Canada might be the least expensive, as long as you are shipping it in the summer months.

Air Canada has been offering discount shipping between Europe & Canada (and vice-versa) in the summer for the past two years.

I've shipped my moto back and forth between Europe and Canada several times, it has generally been pretty a pretty simple and trouble-free procedure.

Michael

Thanks Michael - the Air Canada deal does sound great. If I was going N/America via Europe it would be in the summer and I'd definitely use the Fly Your Bike programme.

Do you think getting a flight from S.Africa to Europe and seperately rganising the Air Canada deal will be cheaper than either
a) Direct flight from S.Africa to US and deal with US customs
b) Flight via Europe booked in one go

Thanks

Hi James:

It's a tough question, and one that's difficult to provide 'general' answers to.

Air freight rates are heavily influenced by how much demand there is for freight on a particular route. By example, Air Canada's summer specials are offered because they have unsold cubic space on the North Atlantic route in the summer.

You'll have to make specific inquires about the routes / dates that you are interested in. It may well be that it is cheaper to ship direct JNB to JFK than to trans-ship via Europe. It all depends on what loads are like, what interline agreements carriers have, etc.

I suggest that in addition to contacting the cargo departments of the airlines who operate on the routes you are interested in, you also contact a few freight forwarders (for example, Panalpina) and see what they can offer you. The freight fowarders make their own deals with air carriers for bulk purchase of space, they might be able to make you a better offer than the airlines.

I am pretty sure that doing two separate transactions (JNB-Europe and then Europe-North America) would be the most expensive possible choice - you would only want to do that if you plan to ride the bike in Europe.

Michael

Hello James,

We can join forces by riding from South Africa to Europe starting summer of 2017......

Madeleine

All your given options seem to involve a lot of costly air freight.

I would start at your home and ride to S. Africa ship by cargoship or
air freight to Uruguay, best and cheapest customs fees, then do your ride
in S. America winding up in Colombia . Then ship to Panama by air or take one of the sail boats making the crossing and ride North America finishing with air freight out of Canada.

Easy, Max