General Cycling Discussion - Help: planning/shipping a bike

my family and i are taking our yearly extended family vacation to Stuart, FLA.

i hate to be off my bike for 8-9 days, so i want to bring along my bike. does anyone have any suggestions regarding shipping their bike or bringing it on the airplane? i am schlepping luggage for 5 people already (+ a baby) so shipping it seems like a smarter idea.
the bike shop already told me that they would hold a Cannondale box for me, as those are the best packing boxes for shipping bikes. i would take it to my LBS, which is a UPS site. all i would need is my pedal wrench, allen wrenches to reassemble...right? shipping is about $50 each way + $20 for the LBS to pack. should i run my open pro's and not ship my ksyrium's?

any horror or success stories on this front?

how long do you allow for UPS to ship a bike?

Last time I went to Naples I bought a bike, like you I couldn't face being without it fo a week especially since it was winter up here! :-)..... The shop I bought it at boxed it and shipped it back UPS. They used Plastic caps on the ends of the axles to keep them from poking holes in the box, a plastic spacer in the fork to keep the fork from bending. They removed the pedals, handlebar, and seat attched to the seatpost. All cables were left intact. All I had to do was remove the packaging material. Put the front wheel back on, reinstall the pedals and put the handle bars and seat on post back on. They didn't charge me anything to box the bike and volunteered to do so no charge when I was ready to head home. Best thing about it was, I road the morning I went to the airport and had a friend drop it at the bike shop maximizing my ride time.

It is WELL worth the $20 for the LBS to box the thing up. They unbox ALL the time, and box'em too. They know what could get damaged, and what to wrap with protection to prevent scratches to the paint job. Never saw the bill for the UPS return trip, but $50 sounds about right. Mailboxes Etc.. now UPS store wanted about $150 for boxing and shipping, and there is no way in he.. they would have boxed it as flawlessly as the shop did. UPS Charged me direct for the shipping so I paid cost not cost plus!!! Return trip took 3 days, but it was NASTY when I got home so I didn't mind the delay. You can pay a premium for faster if you are desperate though. I call mine a HUGE success story.

Friendly advice... install a piece of tape or your rear reflector bracket right where the seat post meets the frame so it will be adjusted correctly when you reinstall it.