racing out of state

So, in light of all that I am left wondering why you decided not to rent.  For me, for "just for fun" races, I rent.   I haven't done this myself, but if I were considering a half iron or longer then it's worth the money to ship and I would pay for the premium service.

Or, you could buy an inexpensive roadie at Target or Wal-mart and donate it when done.  That might cost your $200, just a thought. If you bought through Wal-mart.com have it shipped to the local store for pick-up.

That aside...

I read a lot of blogs written by triathletes about this and have heard many experiences.   I would find out what the airline fee is for taking the bike on as luggage.  Ideally you box the bike in a manner that doesn't appear to be a bike and it goes as oversize luggage.   Call it "sporting equipment" or something else entirely.  Maybe equipment for work.  Some airlines charge a premium for bikes, like $250 each way.  Some do not, and then taking it on the plane is really the best deal.

You can borrow a bike box.  I'd ask around, and the Twin Cities Tri Club used to lend boxes to members.  Might be worth the membership fee?  The downside is it looks like a bike in a box, so you only use this on the nice affordable airlines. 

Those are my thoughts.  Good luck!

Also, I did send a bike one time via UPS to a friend in another state. I got a discarded cardboard box from a bike shipment, at the local bike shop, and disassembled and taped it up myself.   It was a smallish bike so I made i under a certain threshold of size/weight and the cost was $75 I believe (one way).