Shipping Luggage

Has anyone shipped luggage through some carrier instead of paying the
airlines fees?

We're going a transatlantic and are thinking of doing that from New York
to home.

Do you have to box the luggage or will carriers take it as is?


Barbara

On Jun 6, 5:10*pm, Barbara Brown wrote:
Has anyone shipped luggage through some carrier instead of paying the
airlines fees?

We're going a transatlantic and are thinking of doing that from New York
to home.

Do you have to box the luggage or will carriers take it as is?

Barbara

I've done that fairly often. Especially to go home when my luggage is
heavy. Mostly the carrier just takes the luggage as it is, but in one
case, I still had the original box and put it in that.

Thanks for the response. What carrier did you use?

On 6/7/2010 12:28 PM, Rosalie wrote:
On Jun 6, 5:10 pm, Barbara wrote:
Has anyone shipped luggage through some carrier instead of paying the
airlines fees?

We're going a transatlantic and are thinking of doing that from New York
to home.

Do you have to box the luggage or will carriers take it as is?

Barbara

I've done that fairly often. Especially to go home when my luggage is
heavy. Mostly the carrier just takes the luggage as it is, but in one
case, I still had the original box and put it in that.

On Jun 6, 3:10*pm, Barbara Brown wrote:
Has anyone shipped luggage through some carrier instead of paying the
airlines fees?

We're going a transatlantic and are thinking of doing that from New York
to home.

Do you have to box the luggage or will carriers take it as is?

Barbara

We've done it a couple of times and I'm in the middle of dealng with
it again. We've used "Luggage Forward" successfully.
Right now (literally), I'm working with Luggage Concierge and having
some problems getting my packet sent. (from them to me - contains
labels and stuff) - We selected them because they have a promotion
with Crystal for 2-for-1 pricing, Based upon things right now, I can't
recommend them.

They send labels that you attach to the outside of the suitcase.

Warning - so not use zip-ties to secure your luggage, if you're
shipping to Italy. The authorities will not cut them and will hold
them. It caused some problems for us a couple of years ago.

Mark

Barbara Brown wrote:

Thanks for the response. What carrier did you use?

I just went down to MailBoxes Etc. or the equivalent and handed them
the packed luggage and they shipped it. You just have to be sure that
you will get there before it does, or that someone will be there to
receive it. A smaller suitcase they will sometimes pack into another
box. A large suitcase they shouldn't have to.

The trip I'm on right now, I mailed three packages to my grandson's
home. One had mostly travel literature plus a book I was giving to my
daughter, one had a few clothes and a pair of shoes in it along with
the birthday presents for daughter and granddaughter, and one was just
a box with my snorkel mask, dive skin, power strip, half of my
medications (the other half I brought on the plane), small travel
mouthwash (but bigger than allowed in a carryon) and other odds and
ends. And I forgot the bum bag with my wallet in it in the car when
my husband dropped me off yesterday, so he's expressing it to me (in a
box) and I should get it tomorrow. The only problem he had was - I
have the address book and he didn't have my daughter's number in his
phone.

I will sometimes mail stuff home to myself while ON a trip - if I use
the post office and I am having my mail held, I don't have to worry
about whether I'm there to get it. I have been in Spain and mailed
back some of the heavier clothes that I wasn't going to need because I
was going south, along with travel literature. And I would regularly
mail back textbooks from work-related classes.

Mailing stuff to the start of a cruise is a bit more tricky. I
haven't done that unless I was starting from a relative's house rather
than a hotel.


On 6/7/2010 12:28 PM, Rosalie wrote:
On Jun 6, 5:10 pm, Barbara wrote:
Has anyone shipped luggage through some carrier instead of paying the
airlines fees?

We're going a transatlantic and are thinking of doing that from New York
to home.

Do you have to box the luggage or will carriers take it as is?

Barbara

I've done that fairly often. Especially to go home when my luggage is
heavy. Mostly the carrier just takes the luggage as it is, but in one
case, I still had the original box and put it in that.

On Jun 7, 2:12*pm, Rosalie B. wrote:

Mailing stuff to the start of a cruise is a bit more tricky. *I
haven't done that unless I was starting from a relative's house rather
than a hotel.

The luggage shipping services like Luggage Forward will handle "ship
shipping" - although I'm sure that if you contacted the port agents
for NY or NJ, you could find out how to send it, if you use a generic
"PO Plus" type local shipper.

Mark

Thanks for all the info. We're doing transatlantic and get free luggage
going to Europe. But we're flying home from NY and would have to pay for
the domestic luggage. We're spending a day in NYC so we wouldn't mail it
from the cruise port, I'm sure we can find a Mail Boxes Etc or UPS Store
in Manhattan.

I actually just did an interview with the President of Luggage
Forward, for use on my community sites. No it isn't ready yet. But I
learned that presently his is the only such company that does work
directly with the cruise lines.

The very short version of his companies history, is that it began
doing the same thing for other types of travel, especially
international. He has agents in all major cities, who actually show-
up at your home, handle the costs and charges, and take the items
away. They interface with the lines much the same as the airlines
do. Most hotels likewise work well with his service if you want items
to show-up prior to the cruise. The real thing for most people, has
been the fact that you can basically ship and forget the stuff, and it
shows-up in your stateroom just as it does when you check-it at the
airport. Fewer tips to pay also.

His people are at the ports to pick-up luggage as well, at the port,
after the cruise. So you don't have to roll the dice with stuffing
bags, or worrying about fixed shipping, etc.

Evidently he got into working with the cruise lines by way of a
contact with whom he was doing the same business up in Washington.

Suffice to say I was impressed, and his remains the only one that
really does interface with the lines at this point.

As soon as I get the article ready to publish I'll pass word on. I've
got a battery of interviews I'm prepping for mid-summer roll-out.

Nathan

In
NWLB wrote:

I actually just did an interview with the President of Luggage
Forward, for use on my community sites. No it isn't ready yet. But I
learned that presently his is the only such company that does work
directly with the cruise lines.

Have you verified this, or are you just taking his word for it?

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

On Jun 8, 1:02*pm, NWLB wrote:
I actually just did an interview with the President of Luggage
Forward, for use on my community sites. *No it isn't ready yet. *But I
learned that presently his is the only such company that does work
directly with the cruise lines.

Like I mentioned, I had worked with Luggage Forward and was impressed.
As I mentioned, we had a problem with Italian Customs. There was
someone available on the phone whenever I called (weekend, Europe
time) and they someone local(ish) talking to the Italian authorities.
Luggage Concierge is impressing me less - for instance, after hours NY
time, they send all their calls to an answering service with hold
music (but their promo with Crystal is unbeatable)

Like the previous poster, I'm a bit suspeicious of his claim to be the
only company that works with cruise lines.
- Luggage Concierge is working with Crystal
- A couple of years ago, I shipped from the QM2 with whoever Cunard
had contracted for their "White Star Luggage Service" (I never learned
their name, but I'm certain that it wasn't Cunard, wasn't a shipping
company, and I'm sure was not Luggage Forward (diferent shipping
labels and slightly different procedures).

Mark