Sending stuff ahead.
 

Since we're going to be in London for an extended period, I don't think a suitcase each, even with the addition of a carry-on each, is going to be enough especially since we'll need some winter clothes.

What are your suggestions for the best way to send stuff ahead (Toronto to London)? I've never done this before so I have lots of questions. Do we get boxes from the shipping company? I assume we drop them off somewhere at this end but do they get delivered at the other end or do we pick them up? Is it outrageously expensive? Does it take a long time (ie how much in advance should I do it)? And finally (unless you think I've forgotten to ask something), any recommendations for a shipping company?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi gtg,
We moved in the opposite direction (London to Massachusetts) and the company paid so I can't help with rates but we used an air freight company.
(We also shipped a container with furniture)

The air freight company provided the boxes and they packed for us. We were allowed up to 300 pounds so I kept adding stuff to the pile until we'd reached our maximum. The stuff arrived within 10 days (delivered) but the container took 6 weeks so air freight was for 'essentials' like clothing, kitchen equipment, etc. I also included my photo albums.

The air freight company dealt with all the paperwork for customs etc. It was easy and worked well for us but might have cost a fortune!! Try googling air freight. Good luck with your move.

Thanks, sass. I'll definitely google air freight and I'm glad I'm getting an early start on shopping around.

How much stuff are you talking about? If you're just looking at a box or two, you can go to your local UPS or FedEx retail office and look into various options. They will have everything you need, boxes & packing materials. Ground shipment will be cheapest, next day air the most expensive.

Have you thought of doing this just oneway? Buy what you need when there and if its good enough to keep - ship it home.
Take crappy stuff to start off with and buy when there.
Ditch the crap and go home with lots of new stuff!

If you find a reasonable way to ship one or two extra boxes or cases, please post your "find" on here. I can't buy clothes to fit in France (wonder why?) and would like to do online shopping care of my sister, then have her re-pack and send over.

You may find that a combination of Tod's suggestion and paying the extra charge to check a second piece of luggage on your flight is the best way to go.

BTW, there's no charge that I know of on to carry your winter coat on board--even if it may look a bit odd in August.

Have a wonderful time on your extended trip.

"that I know of to carry.."

The stuff we're going to ship is the bulkier stuff that takes up a lot of room in a suitcase -- sweaters, shoes/boots, heavier jacket (I'll be wearing the 'good' coat), a sportsjacket or two for my SO. I'm not much of a shopper and I don't really want to spend any time in London doing that though, of course, if I find I absolutely need something, I'll go out and get it. Plus, it's too expensive to shop there. If you love shopping, that would certainly be the way to go but it's not for me.

Yes, it would be just a box or two so I'm going to check with UPS and Fedex, thanks.

Will somebody keep the boxes for you in London and will they charge you for that? Just a thought...

Do you mean so we can ship stuff back? We'll be staying in an apartment. I'm hoping we can fold the boxes flat and stick them under the bed or something but it's a good thought, Dayenu. I hadn't even thought about shipping back and I would have forgotten to ask about that, so thanks.

The advantage of taking extra suitcases even with the airline's fee is that the stuff arrives at the same time you do (or the next day if something goes amiss). If you ship separately, you might have to wait for the packages, or if you send them well in advance, arrange for someone to accept and hold them until you arrive. Just a thought, as you compare costs.

I, too think the extra suitcase route might work for you. I don't know the cost of shipping from Canada but it's expensive from the US to the UK. Another option...Will you return to visit family back in Canada or have visitors from home during your time in London? Maybe someone else can bring your extra case at a later date.

Ha, I wouldn't shop in London either.

No, I meant, are you sending them in advance of your trip? Or to yourself, let's say you are there from June 1, you ship them to arrive on June 5 so you will receive them in London?

Or you ship them to arrive on May 25 to make sure they'd arrive, who will hold them for you till June 1?

I've sent things both ways in steamer trunks -- protected my clothes much better, I think, than a cardboard box, but had no problems with those either. It also doubled to stow things in my apartment. It is the cheapest shipping by ship -- that takes anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks to arrive, but the cost is almost nothing, and the package is delivered to your door.

Oh, well, that was one of my questions, Dayenu. How long will Fedex or UPS or whomever hold on to them for me? I have no one there to get them for me.

I hadn't thought about extra suitcases. Maybe that will work. Will have to borrow extra suitcases though.

I certainly could send things by ship since there's plenty of time but I'd have to make sure our rentor was there to receive it and that seems like a bit of an imposition.

Hmmm...thinking about extra suitcases now.

gtg check the cost of extra suitcases with the airline and compare to shipping costs. If you do decide to ship then pack the stuff but don't send it until a day or two before you leave... then no way will they arrive before you do.

Let's say if you leave this summer then your winter clothes can arrive their well after yourself, months later?

> It is the cheapest shipping by ship -- that takes anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks to arrive, but the cost is almost nothing...

I wonder what is "almost nothing" but suppose cheaper than an extra suite case when you fly.

I think the extra suitcases may be the way to go but I will check shipping costs. If we do ship, I'll try to time it so that we get our boxes within a week or so after arriving. Of course, then I have to count the cost of cab fare to bring the boxes back to the apartment and I have no idea where the fedex place would be in relation to that.

Still, this has gotten me thinking about lots of options, so thanks for that, friendly posters!

For the quantity you are talking about I would use extra suitcases and just pay the airline the extra bag fee. I find that large nylon/canvas duffel bags are a great thing to use. They can also squish into a taxi (or on your lap), whereas an extra rigid suitcase might not fit as well, and once empty you can stash them inside your suitcase in a closet.

Walmart carries them, as do camping and sporting goods stores.

Now I'm sorry I gave away my extra old suitcases!

I'm with J62. If only an extra bag. an army duffle ( or similar) full of clothes is less hassle than the shipping, IMO.

actually, i think you are looking at $50 per second suitcase per person..

GTG, can you buy something really cheap, vaccuum-pack, open in London, and leave there, don't bring home?

Well everyone's different in their requirements of course, but last year DH and I moved to Amsterdam for a year taking 1 carry-on and 2 larger suitcases each. DD did the same thing for her study-abroad year in Paris. We brought computers, routers, summer clothes, winter clothes, paperwork we needed to have access to during the year (for taxes back home and so on). With just 2 regular-sized checked pieces and 1 carry-on per person, we didn't even have extra luggage charges.

To tell the truth the one-time (or two-time) possible extra luggage charges were not the biggest deterrent to bringing a bunch of stuff - the living and storage space in Amsterdam was! I will say there was never a time I said, "Oh, I wish we brought ... something or other" and there were things we took with us that we never needed. Since the apartment and its storage space were very small, we were glad we hadn't brought any more than we did. So my advice would be to think about not just getting it over there, but where you're going to keep stuff while you're there. You may have more room and storage space than we did. It would be hard to have less. ;->

We were living in a furnished apartment over there, so didn't need to bring household stuff

Have fun!

$50/suitcase seems like it would be cheaper and more efficient than sending. Dayenu, I can't leave things there -- these are my clothes, I have to bring them home.

We'll be living in a furnished apartment too and I've checked with the owner about storage space. I know it's going to be limited but we do need clothes, coats, shoes, etc. I might be able to manage with a couple of suitcases and a carry on. I'm not even bringing a hair dryer or an umbrella because the owner has them!

> $50/suitcase

Really that cheap? Then that's the way to go. I was asked to pay €70 for only extra 2 kilos last month for an intercontinental flight. (I chose to move a few things from the check-in to hand luggge to avoid it).

The basic extra bag fee applies to a bag up to a certain weight. Heavier bags have a higher fee; and you may have to pay for the first checked bag if it is over the allowed weight. Consult your airline for the details. A nylon duffel might be the answer -- all the weight would be contents, none wasted on the bag.

Goddess,

Don't know where you plan to travel outside London and not sure of your exact dates but it usually isn't very cold in London through Nov. and Dec. I admit I don't get cold but a heavy raincoat and gloves would suffice for me. Now, if you're going north.....

I was thinking of taking my better coat which will be suitable for going out to decent places, which I'll probably travel in. It's unlined and fairly light but I do wear it through the winter here because I'm mostly in the car. If it's cold, a sweater underneath will do. For more casual wear, I thought I'd take my wool pea jacket. It's warm enough for a chilly fall day and more suited to jeans, pants, etc. My heaviest winter coat is a big furry job and it's staying here!

I hope the weather gods are kind and that you don't miss your heavy furry winter coat. Layers are good for London in the winter and the rain is often worse than the cold.

I vividly remember our week in London in November 2003 when it poured relentlessly. I've never seen such bitterly cold AND wet weather in London before or since! I brought my new Gortex down coat and kept warm and dry but my family decided they didn't need their winter coats. ;)
I have many photos of bedraggled blue people.

Sassy we'd love to see your photos :))

I'll force myself to shop if I must!

Hey, listen, I'm from Canada and no stranger to cold. Besides, what do you do if you're out and it's freezing? You stop in for a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. Or you go to a movie in the middle of the afternoon. Life is a lot more flexible when you're on a leave of absence!

Small 12 x 12 box at least $100 to mail, trust me I have done in regularly for parents/parents in law!
Extra suitcase is far better cost wise as long as you have thought through arrival logistics and how to manage multiple suitcases for your onward journey.

The airline's website will spell the charges out clearly . The THIRD suitcase is $150, I think.

Cathinjoetown

I assume French clothes are too small (sorry if it's something else and I just insulted you) but have you tried Evans?

www.evans.co.uk

They go up to a size 32 and delivery to the EU is £5.00

I can't imagine we'd need more than two checked suitcases and a carry-on each. In fact, if it doesn't get into those suitcases, it's not coming. We don't have air tickets yet so I can't check the airline regs but I will before I make any decision about this.

I like the idea of having our stuff with us. Not that it can't get lost en route but it feels a little more 'present' this way.

The cost comparison will be this, I think:

shipping costs + cab to get us back from the pick-up place to the apartment

baggage costs + cab to get us from airport to apartment (as opposed to public transportation which we could manage with fewer bags)

In my experience the second suitcase is the way to go. I had my son ship us our hiking boots and some maps guides during our three month trip last year in Europe. The box weighed just under 17 lbs and cost $112 to ship Fedex to us in Paris. On top of that we had to pay customs charges of $25 for our own used clothing! So that was a total of $137, more than a second suitcase would cost I believe.
Michele

I've compared shipping via FedEx and UPS to the extra bag fees in the past and, trust me, it will not be cheaper to ship. For example, sending a 50 pound box with FedEx from Massachusetts to London costs between $368 and $488. UPS is similar. In other words, FedEx and UPS often end up charging more to ship the box as the airline charges to fly you and your bags to London.

There are some companies that specialize in shipping bags that are cheaper, but I doubt that they would beat the pricing for an extra bag, at least not by much.

Holy cats! I think we'll opt for the second suitcase suggestion.

Shipping a smallish (20lb?) box from London to California was going to be 60GBP (about $120 back then). We were at the post office and trying to go as cheap as we could.