Shipments done by Travellers

Lufthansa at Intern Airport. Perfect Service. Excellent price.

Price/kg = 1,75 USD, plus 75 USD Tax etc.

Time of procedure incl everything: 1 Hour.

Crate or box: NO !!!

Disconect the battery. Empty tank. 2l could remain.

Payable at Frankfurt. Here collect fee of 50 Euros.

Get in contact with them by phone. They speak English and German.

I approched United Airlines direct in Auckland airport without the use of an agent. After getting an airwaybill from the airline was I able to get the carnet stamped, this took 20mins. Then back to united airlines to fill in the dangerous goods form myself. Having filled in a few prior to this I was confident to do as much of the paperwork myself in orded to keep cost down and speed up the process. I did not get any problems here. The whole task lasted less than two hours.

United don't fly direct to Canada,but to L.A, this was to be where the bike ended its flight and was put on a truck to Vancouver this took three days door to door. This was due to the recent events of sept 11, and dangerous goods, this was all in the price quoted. Paul was the guy at United and who gave me a great service and lots of coffee!

The cost as follows;

Bike weight 256kg
Price per kg nz$4.92 =nz$1259.52
Dangerous goods form nz$60.00
Airwaybill and dangerous goods form plus other charges came to nz$125.48
total of nz$1405.00

The bike was put into an ALN container supplied by the airline. Allthough this is realy a crate the cargo was charged on the bikes actual weight and not volumetric weight the latter being a lot more. I had to disconnect the battery and tape the terminals up,but was able to leave in the oil and no more than a quarter tank of fuel. The collection in Vancouver in less than one hour, allthough not needed I used my carnet to speed up the process, I gave this over to the customs only after he had asked if I had one. A carnet is not needed for Canada or the U.S.

Our bike is crated ready for shipment to Vancouver using Lucas Yap at Freight Logistics. His service, so far, has been first class and some fellow travellers put their bike on a boat to Rotterdam with Lucas a week before us at a cost of $25 cbm! But we shall see if everythings ok when we get to Vancouver early July The cost at the moment is 219 pounds sterling for everything except port charges in Van. Sea is better for us because (it should) take 27 days and we need time to 'backpack' Vietnam (no bikes allowed) whilst the bike is at sea.

The bikes were stored at the Transworld Cargo place in Windhoek for 6 months (no apparent charge) and the shipping arranged flawlessly with emails in April 2002.

Costs in Namibia( US Dollars );

2.28/kg volumetric weight....Air Freight
0.1/kg volumetric weight....Fuel surcharge
0.12/kg volumetric weight....Security surcharge
18.3....Dangerous Goods
20.3....Clearence (Namibia)
30.4....Cartage
4.1....AWB fee (dont know what this is)

There were no costs for crating as the bikes were just on a pallet and covered in plastic. (No damage)

Total cost for shipping at 300kg/volumetric weight;

824 US Dollars.

Costs in India came to 47 US Dollars for clearance, however this could be half the price as they charged at a special goods rate. I couldnt be bothered to argue the point at the time.

So the interesting part is clearence at Dehli airport:

If it wasnt for the customs,ie. the carnet, then it would be finished in an hour as the cargo handling system is efficiant and they have a bit of a fast track for travallers with bikes and everybody is willing to help.

However, after picking up the airway bill from the office at the cargo building (10.00 am starting time) I was sent to the New Customs House about 1km away ,out of the gate and turn left. You have to go to room 222 on the second floor.

A day later you should have the carnet signed, a customs agent having come to the cargo wharehouse to inspect frame nr. etc. and thats it.

To help you decide wether to clear the bikes yourself and spend nearly 2 days with the customs, here is the procedure at the New Customs Office;

Room 222, a man makes a file for the carnet.
Visit customs man nr 1.
Visit his boss next door.
Get the Joint Commisioner to sign the file.
Then the Commisioner has to sign.
Then the Deputy Commisioner.
And then back to the customs man nr 1.
And his boss, again.
Then go with the customs man nr.1 to see the bikes.
Back to his office, again to sign.
To his boss again.
And then the bikes are free to be cleared which takes about 1 hour back at the cargo centre.

The customs office staff start work anywhere between 10.30 and 11.30 and start winding down and talking about tommorrow at 16.00, 16.30. Lunch break is 13.30 till 14.00.

Most of the time is spent waiting for people to arrive and hoping they are not going to leave, but they are very helpfull and a continual supply of tea is served.

Enjoy. Andy

They were the only people that we could find to fly two bikes from Quito to Panama. The bikes were charged on a unit basis, irrespective of weight. We sent luggage with the bikes and the combined weight was about 550kg.

Transport was with Avianca to Bogota, and Copa Airlines to Panama City. Flights left a day early (?) and arrived a day late.

Costs were US$500 per bike, plus US$70 per bike as a "Dangerous Goods" levy. We also paid a US$50 agency fee to a third party as we did not have Ecuadorian entry stamps for the bikes.

We were told to drain all the fuel, disconnect the battery, and let the air out of the tires. In the end we kept our reserve tanks full, and only let a little air out. The bikes could be riden off the loading trays in Panama.

Be especially careful with the loading of the bikes. Insist on supervising as the packers were incredibly inept. They only offered two straps for the two bikes and when we solicited more they succeeded in hooking them around every cable and hose they could find. We used some of our own tension straps but we never saw them again after the bikes were inspected in Bogota.

Everything arrived unscathed in Panama but the bags had been searched. We did not pay any storage as we were at the Cargo Terminal to meet the bikes.

The aduana was located in the same complex so we paid $10 for a taxi, and (I think) $12 or $20 for documentation on the Panamanian side.

Our own flights cost $270 per person for the same routing. The return tickets were cheaper than one ways but if buying a oneway make sure that you can fly Colombia-Panama on such a ticket.

(If you have problems on the Ecuadorian side Ricardo Rocco continues to provide excellent assistance to bikers).