<p>Background info: I'm from Southern California and currently attend Oxford College of Emory University, a 45 minute drive from the Atlanta airport. Because Emory doesn't offer my major (geology), I'll be transferring to the University of Oklahoma. In order to graduate in four years, I'm going to take summer session at OU which starts six days after my last final ends. That means I have to move into an apartment at least one day before I start my first class. </p>
<p>So here's my dilemma: I need to somehow ship all of my things to Oklahoma, and get myself to the school. Normally I'd just stuff everything but a few articles of clothing and some other essentials into a box and mail it over. However I won a bike at the start of school, so that's not feasible. I can't just donate the bike since I won't have a car and will need it to get around OU and the surrounding Norman area. </p>
<p>My mom offered to fly over to Atlanta and drive a rental car to Oklahoma and then fly back, but that's expensive and I know she hates driving long distances (I have absolutely no problem with driving 12 hours straight by myself, but because she's renting the car, she won't let me drive). I offered to just go to a rental car agency and rent a vehicle, but she reminded me that you need to be 25 to rent a car. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any ideas about what to do?</p>
<p>I’ve never shipped a bike before but some ideas to check out.
Check out collegeboxes.com to see if they will do shipping and the cost for shipping.
Check out some airlines and see if you can bring bike as an odd shaped luggage onto the plane and the cost. Check out moving companies to see the cost of shipping the bike.</p>
<p>If so, go to a local bike shop, ask them how they ship bikes. They may even pack it for you for a small fee. Then use UPS or FedEx Ground. I’m sure the total cost will be less than the plane ticket for your mom and car rental.</p>
<p>Let me tell you my story: a while back, I was working for a consulting company. The company sent me to a customer in Oregon (my home office was in Boston) for a project that was supposed to take 4 weeks. The hotel I stayed at was 4 miles from the customer’s office, too far to walk. I found a bike that I liked that cost about $500 at a bike shop near the hotel. I called my boss and asked if the company was willing to pay for the bike for me, instead of renting a car. My boss told me that it would be an accounting nightmare. Car rental was not a problem because the accounting system had been set up for that kind of expense.</p>
<p>So he came up with a solution: I rent the bike from the bike shop for $499. On my expense report, just put down “vehicle rental.” When the project completed, I paid $1 to buy the bike from the shop.</p>
<p>But I had to arrange shipping the bike to Boston.</p>
<p>Great that your boss could think “outside the box.” My S would probably consider selling the bike and buying another in your destination if shipping is prohibitive. Agree bike shops should have good suggestions.</p>
<p>I agree that shipping the bike would probably be the easiest solutions. Bikes can be disassembled for shipment.</p>
<p>
Not true. Many car rental companies will rent to younger adults if you pay an underage-driver surcharge. For example, Hertz rents to 20-year-olds for an additional $15 to $25 a day, depending on the model of the car. Your current university might have a deal with a local car rental company as well. For example, Stanford has a deal with Enterprise that allows students as young as 18 to rent a car.</p>
<p>Thanks! Tomorrow I’ll go to the bike shop and inquire about shipping. Also it doesn’t look like Emory offers a rental car discount, but thanks for the heads up about under 25s renting a car.</p>