HELP! Bike Shipping Problem
 

I am flying from Albany, NY to London via a connector in Toronto for a nice little summer tour. The Problem: Albany-Toronto airplane is too small to handle bikes. I wanted to ship my bike to Toronto with FedEx to catch the main flight. I haven't had too much luck speaking with travel agents with the airline...I need to find a place to ship the bike to so that it catches the flight to London. To compound the dilemma, my layover is under an hour making this quite a task.

Does anyone know of any shipping services, airline services, solutions or suggestions?

How About something like this? http://www.shipbikes.com/

Different flight reservations?

I can't see any way for you to pick up a FedEx package and get it on your flight within an hour. Not going to happen. I doubt seriously that there is any way to get the package transferred by FedEx to your aircraft. I believe that you have to physically check it in.

Assuming you cannot change your flights to something that uses an appropriate sized aircraft, your only option is going to be to ship your bike from Albany to a hotel or bike shop in London and pick it up when you arrive. You'll probably need to do the same on the return. This does seem risky as your bike might be held up clearing customs. FedEx/UPS/etc. could probably give you some advice here and if you pursue this, you should call them up and enquire about cost and lead time.

I really think you should change your flight to one that either uses larger aircraft from Albany or leaves from a location within a closer drive from Albany than Toronto.

Why not drive to TO or NYC from Albany?

This brings up a very good subject that perhaps should be a another thread. How do people that live in smaller markets catch aircraft that are large enough to ship your bike?

Thank you all very much for your assistance