U-Pack vs Movers? (Van to Bay Area)

[raptora 48]

Hi everyone,

 

Fiancee and I are moving our stuff from Vancouver to the Bay Area on a K-1 visa. We don't have a *ton* of stuff, but if possible we'd like to bring our couch, dresser, twin mattress, etc. and was wondering if anyone had experience with U-Pack? How was the experience? Were you able to fit your furniture in? 

 

Or if you used movers, did you have a good experience? What movers did you use? 

 

We've been considering a U-Haul, but it's quite a long drive, and I'm not sure it would be secure in a hotel parking lot.. 

 

Thanks for any advice/info you have! 

 

 

[gad33 47]

We used U-Pack 6 years ago. It was the second time of using them as we had used them to move some things from Oregon to Calgary when my MIL died. I decided to use them as we had had such a bad experience with our precious international move.

 

U-pack has different options and we went with the cubes as they could be left on our driveway and packed at our speed. They provide the dimensions so you can work out how many you need, but they don't charge you if you don't use them all. eg order 3 cubes and only use 2.

 

The up side is that you are in charge of packing and unpacking and it is at your speed, they will store your cubes until you are ready. The down side for us is that at the other end we knew nobody so it was just DH and myself carrying everything. There are other options than cubes which is all on their website and they have helpful people on the phone. You have to complete the paperwork but they deal with customs for you.

 

When our son moved he decided that renting a Uhaul was much cheaper than UPack but he already owned a big truck. He didn't have any problems but I also would be worried about leaving it overnight.