Taking parts home in luggage

[ViperPict]

I need to tak 110kg of parts back to the UK with me from the US. FedEx are quoting me $1400 - no! So I'm thinking I'm going to try and take it on the plane as luggage, paying the extra for 4 over-sized bags (not cheap but less than $1400!). Has anyone any experience of doing this sort of thing? Cheers.

[Ginja]

Might be worth contacting the airline to see what their rules and costs are? I've brought mountain bikes back on planes (reasonably heavy and large) and sometimes you get away with it as sporting equipment but mostly its a fairly substantial overweight cost. I haven't done this for a while though so it may have changed...

[ViperDave]

I have brought parts back but not on that scale. We nearly always have service parts in the cases such as belts, plugs, Mobil 1, oil filters, air filters etc, Probably the biggest and most odd looking on the scanners were the roe cats or toms 40mm brake calipers. If you bring this stuff back expect the TSA to open your case and make a big mess of all your lovely packing, we have noticed a serious downturn in the TSA's care of out possessions in the last 12 months, ie on our last trip they cut off the TSA lock (the one they have a master key for) by cutting through the zipper thereby ruining the case, they then managed to tare open a packet of powdered drink which was then scattered throughout our case. So if any of it is fragile you may be lucky to get it home in one piece nowadays.

Did i mention they are so stupid they cant even recognise a set of skis in a ski bag, they had to open the bag, unwrap them from the protective blanket which they didn't put them back in before they sent them on their merry way.

Its got so bad now they we are seriously looking at alternate destinations and anyone that knows us will realise, that is serious, as it is we are going to Canada next and USA has what may be their last chance in the summer.

[ViperDave]

what are the parts? Have you spoken to the post office, USPS do fixed rate boxes, they are not cheap internationally but are size based so you could fill one with lead and it would be the same price as one with feathers in it, there are limits on the size though. Even so i have never found fedex to be the cheapest option, only useful if you need it somewhere tomorrow

[Viper]

speak to Mich, he brought some oversized, heavy Ram parts back from Chuck on the plane

[ViperPict]

ViperDave said:

I have brought parts back but not on that scale. We nearly always have service parts in the cases such as belts, plugs, Mobil 1, oil filters, air filters etc, Probably the biggest and most odd looking on the scanners were the roe cats or toms 40mm brake calipers. If you bring this stuff back expect the TSA to open your case and make a big mess of all your lovely packing, we have noticed a serious downturn in the TSA's care of out possessions in the last 12 months, ie on our last trip they cut off the TSA lock (the one they have a master key for) by cutting through the zipper thereby ruining the case, they then managed to tare open a packet of powdered drink which was then scattered throughout our case. So if any of it is fragile you may be lucky to get it home in one piece nowadays.

Did i mention they are so stupid they cant even recognise a set of skis in a ski bag, they had to open the bag, unwrap them from the protective blanket which they didn't put them back in before they sent them on their merry way.

Its got so bad now they we are seriously looking at alternate destinations and anyone that knows us will realise, that is serious, as it is we are going to Canada next and USA has what may be their last chance in the summer.

Not liking that story! Main reason for not wanting to mail is C+E getting their grubby mits on the bits. I bought them second-hand for a VERY good price but I've heard horror stories of the powers that be whacking on charges based on the original cost of the items (prohibitive!). Cheers.

[ViperDave]

What is it you are trying to get home?

[ViperPict]

ViperDave said:

What is it you are trying to get home?

Unitrax half-shafts, uprated clutch, high flow cats, other 'odds and ends' ;-)

[Viper]

weekend flight with no luggage going out,
i once got a return flight in June to FL for £140, bargain

[ViperPict]

Viper said:

weekend flight with no luggage going out,
i once got a return flight in June to FL for £140, bargain

Yes, but I'm in California right now and leaving for home tomorrow!

[acrman]

I have a container leaving Long Beach in early Jan if your not in a hurry for the stuff.

[ViperDave]

ViperPict said:

ViperDave said:

What is it you are trying to get home?

Unitrax half-shafts, uprated clutch, high flow cats, other 'odds and ends' ;-)

I wouldn't worry to much about that lot, There isn't anything in that list that is likely to break, even at the hands of the TSA, pack them so they can inspect and swab them easily, maybe box each one(not sealed) to keep them protected from each other, hopefully they will still be in the boxes at the other end, put them in a case without too much other stuff for them to make a mess with or break with the heavy bits, (clothes etc, not the mobil 1 or anything fragile), expect your case to be opened and don't over stuff it.

MFU your ticket to business so you get more baggage allowance, you get a better seat for your excess weight fees!

[Viper]

ah were slowly getting there, dont see you've got a lot to choose from then, sticking it all on sea freight with USPS could be cheapest carrier route

As mentioned you want to check your airline regs before you get to the airport incase they wont let you take it all. Baggage allowances has decreased with the major airlines recently

where you flying to most of the UK airports are having major problems with the snow, and lots of flights have been cancelled

http://www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/air/

Edited by Viper on Wednesday 22 December 20:13

Edited by Viper on Wednesday 22 December 20:15

[ViperDave]

ViperPict said:

Viper said:

weekend flight with no luggage going out,
i once got a return flight in June to FL for £140, bargain

Yes, but I'm in California right now and leaving for home tomorrow!

LAX or SFO, it was SFO that had to unpack the skis, They did go through the other cases also and were not great at re-packing but not as bad as MIA that caused the mess above. To be fair to SFO our cases were pretty stuffed as we had loads of stuff coming back from skiing. plus snow chains, a speaker for the camaro, no doubt an oil filter or two, some BBQ sauce, a bottle of wine from the hotel. It all made it back in one piece just not how we packed it in the case.

What airline are you on. BA have bigger allowance's than they advertise for elites and club if you qualify for either.

Edited by ViperDave on Wednesday 22 December 20:21

[ViperPict]

I'm flying out of SMF actually. A smaller airport so maybe they might be more careful? I go with Delta/KLM and am an Elite member.

[ViperDave]

ViperPict said:

I'm flying out of SMF actually. A smaller airport so maybe they might be more careful? I go with Delta/KLM and am an Elite member.

delta baggage exceptions said:

SkyMiles Medallion® members traveling in Economy may check up to two bags up to 70 lbs each at no charge on Delta and Delta Connection operated flights.
http://www.delta.com/traveling_checkin/baggage/che...

looks like you have 2 x 70lb allowance rather than the 2x50lbs then unless your up front, third+ bag is $200 not sure if that gets you 50 or 70lbs, if its 50lbs then its another $150 for the extra 20lbs, don't go over 70lbs though.

Delta don't say anything about hand baggage weight restrictions but make sure it doesn't look like a weapon to the warped sense of a TSA man.

Good luck

Check airline rules for yourself, this is not advice and the poster will not bail you out of jail after getting in a punch up (or slightly raised your voice) with tetchy airport staff

Edited by ViperDave on Wednesday 22 December 21:34

[neilsfishing]

ViperDave said:

ViperPict said:

I'm flying out of SMF actually. A smaller airport so maybe they might be more careful? I go with Delta/KLM and am an Elite member.

delta baggage exceptions said:

SkyMiles Medallion® members traveling in Economy may check up to two bags up to 70 lbs each at no charge on Delta and Delta Connection operated flights.
http://www.delta.com/traveling_checkin/baggage/che...

looks like you have 2 x 70lb allowance rather than the 2x50lbs then unless your up front, third+ bag is $200 not sure if that gets you 50 or 70lbs, if its 50lbs then its another $150 for the extra 20lbs, don't go over 70lbs though.

Delta don't say anything about hand baggage weight restrictions but make sure it doesn't look like a weapon to the warped sense of a TSA man.

Good luck

Check airline rules for yourself, this is not advice and the poster will not bail you out of jail after getting in a punch up (or slightly raised your voice) with tetchy airport staff

Edited by ViperDave on Wednesday 22 December 21:34

What did the ACR weight

[ViperDave]

neilsfishing said:

What did the ACR weight

you jest, but our lounge suite was purchased in Florida after wondering around JC pennies on holiday, and flown here on BA, air freight though rather than excess baggage!

[fatboy18]

ViperDave said:

neilsfishing said:

What did the ACR weight

you jest, but our lounge suite was purchased in Florida after wondering around JC pennies on holiday, and flown here on BA, air freight though rather than excess baggage!

So did that work out a lot cheaper or was it the case of you just liked what was on offer? Did you have to still pay all the duties etc?

[ViperDave]

fatboy18 said:

ViperDave said:

neilsfishing said:

What did the ACR weight

you jest, but our lounge suite was purchased in Florida after wondering around JC pennies on holiday, and flown here on BA, air freight though rather than excess baggage!

So did that work out a lot cheaper or was it the case of you just liked what was on offer? Did you have to still pay all the duties etc?

We liked what was on offer and hadn't found anything in our search in the UK in the previous few months. Yes duty was paid and by the time it arrived at our door a couple of week later it was probably no more expensive than anything we could have brought in the UK. Of course it helped that the exchange rate at the time was a lot better and pennies had a 50% off sale. Airfreight was only couple of hundred more than sea freight and took only a couple of days door to door.