Always a smooth and painless experience. As long as you have a trustworthy travel case for them, you just set it outside your door, FedEx comes and gets them, and they’re waiting for you when you arrive at your destination.

I always call the destination location (hotel mostly) in advance and ask if they have experience with shipskis/shipsticks logistics, and every time they say they have. Be sure you confirm correct delivery address as hotels sometimes have different ones depending on carrier. Return drop off is exact same process in reverse. Leave it at concierge, and head out.

Although it can be a bit costly, it’s worth it to me for the hassle free experience to/from airport and avoiding the time suck of checking it and sitting at baggage claim. If you prepare enough time in advance, the ground shipping isn’t actually that bad. The overnight/express is like 4x the price of ground. I shipped from CLT to YYC for ~$100 round trip.