snowball

Now that my daughter has received her long awaited package from me, we are trying to figure out what to do with her luggage at the end of her semester abroad.

The family is going to travel to Italy after meeting daughter in Madrid. She left with two very full duffles when she went to Spain and I am sure she will have a good bit more before the end of the semester. I do not want to drag the extra suitcase (filled with winter clothes and gifts) around Europe with us. I have heard about the luggage shipping services and was wondering who has used any of them. It will be quite expensive, but as the suitcase will be over weight, I am thinking what we pay in overages on each plane or train might be close in price to the shipping.

While I know it is expensive to ship a package by FedEx and UPS from the US to Spain, I am wondering if it would be cheaper to send it by mail from Spain. Of course, there is the whole customs thing if I go through the mail or UPS; it looks like the luggage shipping companies take care of all that. So what would be the best way to handle getting her luggage back home?

The companies I have read about are Luggage Forward, Luggage Free, First Luggage, and Excess Baggage.

snowball

Bumping this up.

Someone here must have used one of these companies; I am looking for opinions.

IllinoisMom2006

Just giving you a bump since I am curious about these services also.

I did see that the minimum charge by LuggageFree was $325 on International inbound luggage. And LuggageForward cited a $560 charge for a large bag from Spain. Pretty pricey but, as you say, if you will be making multiple transfers on the remainder of your trip, the charges could be comparable or even less.

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

nyumom

We're in the same boat here. I was looking into the luggage shipping firms, and they are kind of expensive, but I guess that's to be expected. It might turn out to be cheaper for us to fly over there, help her with the luggage, and all come back together. Now all we have to do is actually get on the plane......

snowball

I did find that First Luggage, based in the UK, is cheaper that the US companies. From calling each of these companies, it seems customs should be painless. Each company has a form to fill out where you list the items in the suitcase. I did ask if we had to count each pair of socks and undergarments, and all the companies said no.

Luggage First is $375.35 for a 66lb. bag, which is more weight than some of the others offer. My daughter had a great idea to have the bag sent to our last destination in Europe and then we can fly with it from there. It would be much cheaper to send it from Spain to Italy, but then I have to deal with an overweight bag again. I am thinking sending it on home would relieve the stress of dragging the bag to the airport to find that it is overweight, and then having to take it through customs.

For those looking into this also, First Luggage also offers a "Smart Student" discount of 10%; the price above does include the discount, but I forgot to ask if that included the VAT tax.

LongPrime

As far as I know, S will be returning from India via France/Europe and will have one bag. At US$365, he may be inticed to bring an extra bag back.

rocketman08

Check with the airline for prices with an extra bag and then compare that with the major shipping companies (e.g. UPS, FedEx). Have your daughter visit one of those shipping outlet type places to get some quotes (those sorts of places exist in most countries overseas).

There is never an easy answer to these questions because the prices often fluctuate drastically depending on the size, amount and weight of the items being shipped. Sometimes an airline is best, sometimes UPS and sometimes sea shipping.

As for customs, most major shippers (including UPS) will take care of everything. There is a special customs code for Americans shipping their own belongings back into the country and thus it should all be able to pass through without any trouble.