Packing your UK life away ?

[MmmBlondie 8]

Does anyone know or have experience with taking just a lot of luggage?

I will not be taking any furniture etc just clothes and personal items. I'm hoping to pack everything up in luggage that I will take with me on my flight over but I know all airlines these day charge a fortune for extra luggage. Is it best to call the airline I will be flying with to see if I can arrange something before hand??

I don't think il need a shipping company or courier for a few luggage bags.

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

Does anyone know or have experience with taking just a lot of luggage?

I will not be taking any furniture etc just clothes and personal items. I'm hoping to pack everything up in luggage that I will take with me on my flight over but I know all airlines these day charge a fortune for extra luggage. Is it best to call the airline I will be flying with to see if I can arrange something before hand??

I don't think il need a shipping company or courier for a few luggage bags.

Obviously we flew US to DK, but the rates are the same DK to US for extra luggage. We flew Icelandair, not only was it really affordable but each person got 2 big suitcases and extra suitcases were cheaper than shipping. They also charged us less than $60 to bring a full bike just wrapped in plastic over. I can't recommend them enough.

[MmmBlondie 8]

Obviously we flew US to DK, but the rates are the same DK to US for extra luggage. We flew Icelandair, not only was it really affordable but each person got 2 big suitcases and extra suitcases were cheaper than shipping. They also charged us less than $60 to bring a full bike just wrapped in plastic over. I can't recommend them enough.

My only issue is my fiance lives at the top of Florida near his Air Force base so our nearest airport is Pensacola...which isn't a hub and is tiny! I have to have connecting flights and I don't know how many airlines actually fly there since I've only ever flown with BA and American Airlines. I might have to look into which airlines give me the best allowance and hope when i transfer flights it will all go through smoothly!

By the way...does NOLA stand for New Orleans Louisiana?? Nola is what we call New Orleans and its only 3hours from our place in the US

[rjm_cmyk 75]

I took my bike over on my last trip (VA to SFO) and left it there. VA don't charge for one oversize item which is a bit of a bonus. My SO is coming over twice this spring so she'll be going back with more than she brought

[lynndy38 64]

I'm being REALLY ruthless, all my family photo's are coming out of their frames,I'll buy new in NC. I have already got rid of most of my furniture and alot of my clothes. My husband has said I can buy new gear once over there

Our wedding presents are an issue,even though nothings big we did get a few nice photo frames,scented candles,cook books photo albumns. So I'm trying to figure out how to get them over......the 20kg you get sucks. I just don't think I could manage 2 suitcases of that size on my own. I have a handful of CDs that I just cant part with,the rest Im going to sell to one of those new high st places that sell second hand and buy.

I think if you're really sentimental is must be a nightmare.

What I will have trouble parting with is my son and my parents,family and friends. They're irreplaceable.......all my other stuff is

Jeez the things we do for love!!!

Edited January 22, 2013 by lynndy38

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

My parents brought over a few English cookbooks and I can say that we've never used them more than once or twice on account of how different things turn out when you can't get the ingredients quite as they are called for in the recipes. That might just be English cookbooks from the 80s though. We are lucky that our wedding gifts came in the form of cash and plane tickets and we told people not to buy us anything too big or heavy to bring back.

Mmmblondie - Not from New Orleans, just picked the name randomly. You might just have to pick an airport a little farther away. We do JFK or Boston even though they are a far drive because getting want to you want to fly in local is a pain. We usually only transfer in Reykjavik or Amsterdam (but that is rather out of the way on the way to FL). I love transferring in Reykjavik.

Maybe we are awful and picky, but when the little one and I moved over to DK, we only brought the 4 suitcases, a bicycle, and trailer. Now, moving back - each person gets 2 suitcases, a carry on, and that is it.

I'm bringing back about half of my clothes (maybe less as there are plenty of places to buy new clothes) and 2 pairs of shoes, which was already halved when I moved over here. I'm bring back maybe a fifth of the clothes we brought over for my daughter. Many of the things I brought over aren't going back - measuring devices with Imperial units (you can get Metric and Imperial in America), the bicycle and trailer (which I can sell here used for more than they cost new in America), and English flashcards or many of the toys.

[Izu&Abbey 1]

My fiancee and I started moving my stuff (books & less used stuff) during visits while waiting for the NOA2 to come through, and sometimes would pay for an extra luggage, most airlines don't charge so much for 1st extra luggage (check the airline website the pricing is all there), you can sell stuff especially furniture on a site 'www.preloved.co.uk', it's amazing how quickly things sell off there especially when you don't peg prices too high. Virgin Atlantic are real nice & will not charge you if your suitcase is up to 26kg,and charge £32 (if you pay online) for 1st extra suitcase... I had an extra carry on after my hand luggage, just of books & CDs, which they let me take on for free though I needed a massage on arrival,lol.

It's wise to start on the papers on time, you have no idea how tasking it is to go through years worth of documents to be sure you're not shredding important stuff. Overall it's always better to start on time so that at that last stretch you're not swamped with stuff you thought you had already sorted out

[Izu&Abbey 1]

My only issue is my fiance lives at the top of Florida near his Air Force base so our nearest airport is Pensacola...which isn't a hub and is tiny! I have to have connecting flights and I don't know how many airlines actually fly there since I've only ever flown with BA and American Airlines. I might have to look into which airlines give me the best allowance and hope when i transfer flights it will all go through smoothly!

You might want to check the airlines that fly to any of the airports around your fiance's in Florida & be open to driving a few more miles if need be.

Once when I flew to Pittsburgh with Delta, which is a smaller airport, I checked in at Heathrow & though I had to pick my luggage & recheck it in for Immigration & Customs at JFK as well as use a partner connecting airline, the connection & cost were already all covered from Heathrow.

[Amanda Lynn 3]

I think its not too eatly to do this. My husband is a procrastinator and did nothing to preapre. He didnt even bring a jumper here and its like 30 degrees F He did last minute packing the day before his plane and he left a lot of stuff. He says he'll get it mum to ship it but i doubt its even worth the shipping cost. He left most of his stuff in his room. I guess mum will sort it out or whatever. >.<

Man I feel so bad for people who have furniture and houses to sell! What a #######.

[david'sgirl 134]

Does anyone know or have experience with taking just a lot of luggage?

I will not be taking any furniture etc just clothes and personal items. I'm hoping to pack everything up in luggage that I will take with me on my flight over but I know all airlines these day charge a fortune for extra luggage. Is it best to call the airline I will be flying with to see if I can arrange something before hand??

I don't think il need a shipping company or courier for a few luggage bags.

It was not much my hubby thinks it was 30 pound for extra bag on BA. We also checked oversize bag on KLM on another trip. When we visit I take all my stuff in carry on and check a bag for him that way he can have two checked bags going back. We also take books in carry on so they don't make the checked bags too heavy.

[MmmBlondie 8]

You might want to check the airlines that fly to any of the airports around your fiance's in Florida & be open to driving a few more miles if need be.

Once when I flew to Pittsburgh with Delta, which is a smaller airport, I checked in at Heathrow & though I had to pick my luggage & recheck it in for Immigration & Customs at JFK as well as use a partner connecting airline, the connection & cost were already all covered from Heathrow.

This might be a possibility but then again every other airport is miles out! Id normally have to fly to Miami, Atlanta or Dallas in order to get to Pensacola. New Orleans is only 3 hours away so its closer than any of the other airports even in FL! Orlando is 7hours drive etc and ATL is 6hours. I'll start checking with BA about extra luggage and maybe instead of suitcases il get big bags

Luckily when me and my fiance go on vacation together we can put up to 3 bags through in his name....for free! Because he is in the milatary he gets 3 bags, one up to 99lbs! Where is his luggage allowance when I need it haha

[Tim42 0]

Well, I'm going next week and I've got a very large bag and a large plastic box (maximum dimensions permitted) to take with me. We did a shipment (part container only) of things like garden ornaments that have been in the family for decades (stone lions anyone?), books, rocks! (I'm a geologist) and other things that have taken a long time to get together and which I still use for reference.

The house is selling and completing this morning, the furniture went to eBay and the like, as did most electronics. A house clearance company did the remnants.

And that's it - after a very long time owning a house, I won't again (we're moving back to Janice's house which is in the name of a trust) and I have very few responsibilities left. Feels like freedom in a way, but I'm intending to start off doing the same sort of things I've been doing for a long time - just with a different perspective - and I suspect a new environment will bring new opportunities, challenges and friendships.

[rjm_cmyk 75]

And that's it - after a very long time owning a house, I won't again (we're moving back to Janice's house which is in the name of a trust) and I have very few responsibilities left. Feels like freedom in a way, but I'm intending to start off doing the same sort of things I've been doing for a long time - just with a different perspective - and I suspect a new environment will bring new opportunities, challenges and friendships.

That's very much my perspective on the move. Yes I'll have responsibilities but I see it as a great opportunity to strike out in a different direction. At 55 you don't get many chances to do that. It helps having the house equity as a cushion of course....

Quickie - how much the did the container share cost if you don't mind me asking. I don't think I'll need one but I'm curious.

[fcat 79]

That's very much my perspective on the move. Yes I'll have responsibilities but I see it as a great opportunity to strike out in a different direction. At 55 you don't get many chances to do that. It helps having the house equity as a cushion of course....

Quickie - how much the did the container share cost if you don't mind me asking. I don't think I'll need one but I'm curious.

This place may be of interest, i know a couple of people on here have used them.

They've just started a new service, the "move cube". (watch the video on the link below)

The move cube

It doesn't list the US as a destination but they do do door to door via sea freight from the Uk to the USA, takes 60 days and the small cube is £499 and medium is £799.

Their regular box shipping is very reasonable too, 4 large boxes sent air freight is approx £200!

Edited January 24, 2013 by fcat