10-23-2015, 01:44 AM
When I travel with a lot of gear. I have had good luck using the air cargo services of whatever airline that I am flying. A 50 pound case of 24 cubic feet usually runs me $40-150, depending on the airline, and more importantly the destination. If I am on a non-stop, I can simply arrive extra early to drop it off before my flight, and it arrives with me, since I can book it to be the same plane. If I have to take connecting flights, it takes a bit more planning. I may have to drop it off several days in advance to ensure that it is waiting for me to pickup on my day of arrival. For a non-stop It adds an hour to each end of the trip. But it saves so much money and hassle over the alternatives. And, you don't have to be shipping to an address.
Alternatively, I know guys who just pay the oversize/overweight baggage fee and trust their gear to the baggage handlers. The upsides are that it normally arrives with you, even if you have multiple connections on multiple airlines, and that you don't have to add an hour or two at each end of the flight. However, The air cargo guys seem to be much nicer to the cases they handle verses the baggage handlers. So the way that I see it, they are paying more to have their delicate gear abused.
Back in the early 90s my uncle had to move to the mainland for a job. A few years later, when he came back, he sent everything, even his new car, via air cargo from DC to Honolulu. It cost him the roughly the same as what Matson had wanted. Granted that was back in the days of cheap Jet-A. I am not sure that the air cargo cost would meet or beat the multi-modal cost today. However, there is something to be said for simplicity. He drove to the airport in DC in his own car, boarded a plane, arrived at HNL, and drove home in his own car.
Alternatively, I know guys who just pay the oversize/overweight baggage fee and trust their gear to the baggage handlers. The upsides are that it normally arrives with you, even if you have multiple connections on multiple airlines, and that you don't have to add an hour or two at each end of the flight. However, The air cargo guys seem to be much nicer to the cases they handle verses the baggage handlers. So the way that I see it, they are paying more to have their delicate gear abused.
Back in the early 90s my uncle had to move to the mainland for a job. A few years later, when he came back, he sent everything, even his new car, via air cargo from DC to Honolulu. It cost him the roughly the same as what Matson had wanted. Granted that was back in the days of cheap Jet-A. I am not sure that the air cargo cost would meet or beat the multi-modal cost today. However, there is something to be said for simplicity. He drove to the airport in DC in his own car, boarded a plane, arrived at HNL, and drove home in his own car.