I agree, but when you have little choice, you take what you can get... this is the route I wanted, when I wanted, and arranged last minute when my previous shipper (who I thought it was all arranged with) let me down regarding the new TSA changes...

For info, when my bike come over, it was in the hold of the Virgin Atlantic plane I was on (a coincidence, as it had left from Manchester originally, and went via Gatwick where I was flying from) - I told them which day I wanted to pick the bike up in Vegas, and they simply put it on the most appropriate (direct) flight the day before... painless, and I was able to collect it customs cleared the day after it/I landed. That cost me $1800 USD, which with the exchange rate at the time, was around £1000 GBP - landed and customs cleared.

However, both times I have shipped a bike out of the US, they have told me it cannot go on a passenger plane (and certainly not the one I am booked on) for 'security reasons', that it is 'unknown cargo' and a handful of other spurious notions... they are a bit precious about airline cargo and security in the US these days as you might imagine...

I agree the price I was quoted is shocking, but when Motocycle Express charge $2000 from the west coast (remember that doesn't include getting my bike to LA from Las Vegas - renting a U-haul, fuel, motel if I was going to take my own crate and luggage would cost pretty much that extra $500 it cost for at the door pick up), then the price would seem to be what the market is charging right now? Coupled with the fact we are now barely getting $1.50 to the pound, the balance between price and convenience ain't so attractive any more...

As I said before, I'm sure there are cheaper ways - particularly if you know the industry, but it seems the bargains just aren't out there for your average punter? I got three or four quotes, and they were all the same (in fact two were closer to $3000!!!) - only sea freight was considerably cheaper, and the logistics of that just didn't work out for me at this time...

xxx