My elderly parents are flying into London for a few weeks then taking a Baltic cruise. They would like to ship their luggage ahead to London, can anyone recommend a service to do this?

Why? They'd be better off taking it with them, having a skycap/porter help them on both ends, and save all sorts of fees and dangers of losing their stuff.

If they fly and say they need assistance, the airline can give them a hand with getting someone to help them with their bags, if that's the issue...Every bag that gets on an airplane has to have a person associated with that bag on the same plane, so maybe FEDEX a box?

Jules

Jules, why? Well, they go to Europe a few times a year, but for my dad, at 83, it is getting harder for my him to get around, and he's planning to haul one of those 4 wheel walkers along with him, the one that also has a seat, and with the luggage, we thought it might be easier to try to ship a few bags ahead of time. They porters are always very helpful, but we're just trying to think of ways we can make it easier for them to travel. Has anyone used one of the services which ship the luggage ahead of time?

Don;t have specifics on luggage shipping services. But have done this with FedEx. Be sure to allow time for the packages to clear customs - which should not be too difficult in London - but we have had things take 6/7 days.

Also - you need to be sure the hotel (I assume) will accept and hold it - and deal with the expediter if necessary.

Definitely Fed Ex. A good friend of mine works for Fed Ex and says that people do this all the time. As someone previously mentioned, make sure you let the hotel know that the luggage is coming.

While you are looking into this, be certain and check the cost both ways. For some reason, it seems to cost twice as much to ship a bag from Europe to the USA, than from the USA to Europe, at least that was my experience with Switzerland.

I think many hotels provide luggage holding services. I assume they will be spending a night at a hotel before boarding.

I talked to Virtual Bellhop and Fed Ex. Fed Ex says they can do it in 2 days, virtual bell hop needs 6 or 7 days. I asked them both for prices of 2 suitcases, total 100 lbs. Fed Ex was about $550 (one way)and I think VB was about $100 more. VB mentioned it costs about $100 more to ship to London, as opposed to say, France (taxes and duty). VP also said you couldn't ship to Italy, but you could ship home from there. She also said there were restrictions in the Netherlands and Greece. I think we may go the Fed Ex route, at least getting there, though I imagine you could tip your way from airport to hotel for less than $500. Thanks for your input.