My daughter is spending 8 weeks in London for her junior project, and then will need to send her large-ish suitcase full of ‘business-attire’ clothes back home before taking off an a vacation with just a small carry-on. Does anyone have experience/ideas as to the best way to do this?
It might be better/cheaper to pick the suitcase up on the way back, and bring it back as checked luggage, especially if the vacation is relatively short and she is connecting through London for her flight back to the US. You can leave items in left luggage at Heathrow for up to 3 months (and there shouldn’t be a problem exiting through passport control, collecting the suitcase and checking it in for the transatlantic leg if you have a few hours between flights).
Use Luggage Forward. You can book online. She should book it at least 2 weeks in advance.
Any chance there is another student who would be able to bring the suitcase back here, with you paying the cost for the extra bag?
@thumper1: Not returning home via London. I’m flying over to meet her and then we’ll be visiting several countries; returning to US eventually from Switzerland. None of the students in her group will be returning to the US after program ends… one staying in London, others headed to Asia.
It might have been cheaper to have her buy the buis casual clothes in the UK and just leave them there. No suitcase involved. Cheap clothing is cheap in the UK like it is cheap in the US. Luggage forward looks like $275 for a normal bag. My kid would make that $ work for her LOL. Even UK parcel post assuming you have no case and use a box would cost $$.
Thanks @Sybylla… she’ll just have a day or two after arriving before beginning work in a somewhat formal environment. All of the lovely outfits she bought (months ago, as we knew we had to plan way ahead) had to be tailored, because she is quite petite and not an easy fit when buying off the rack items. She leaves for London 36 hours after her last final exam next week… barely enough time to come home and pack to leave. Sigh. We might have to drag that pesky bag with us all over Europe! LOL