Closing Distance Started! Now....How to ship?! (Florida-UK)

[Jamibu]

OK so I joined this site long long ago when I first started dating my now fiancée, as we were so daunted by the idea of being in an LDR (but so determined to make it work....so far so good!) But I never posted.....no particular reason I guess...was just cheating and reading people's experiences.

Well now I realise I could do with some advice. We've started the fiancée visa application process (oh the joys of bureaucracy), and once that completes she'll be moving here and we'll be getting married as soon as we can (we'll have a 6 month window under the visa terms).

Which means she's now having to work out packing. She's begun the process of clearing out as much as possible, but there are still going to be far more to ship than would come with her on the airplane. Mainly books, clothes and sentimentals.

Obviously this can't come on the plane, and the usual mailing methods of UPS or USPS would be insanely expensive I assume....so what is the best approach? Who do we contact to ship this kind of scale of belongings over (not sure exactly how much yet, but it'll probably be several boxes still)? How do the prices look?

All the sites I've seen said things like "oh we brought this with us on the plane and had the rest shipped" but without saying HOW they were shipped or with who.....

Any help or advice out there?

James

[London-FortCollins]

Depends on how much stuff she has. You definitely can take books, etc on the plane. you just have to be smart about the packing and weight restrictions. If its not a ton of stuff, I would just pack them into suitcases and pay the extra baggage charges. (Normally about £40 per bag)

Maximise the bubble wrap and have the really sentimental or breakable stuff in your hand luggage. Most airlines will allow a small suitcase and one personal item - that normally equates to a smaller rucksack. So put the stuff you need for the flight in the rucksack and you have a whole other suitcase for stuff.

Google "International move" or "International shipping" and it'll bring up a ton of companies, make sure you get a wide variety of quotes and compare exactly what services are offered in return for the price. Remember cheapest doesn't mean best value for money.

[Jamibu]

Well we don't know exactly how much stuff, but it's definitely going to be more than is feasible for the additional luggage on a plane, we're talking several boxes (unknown number, size or weight).

Was hoping someone with experience could advise on how the process works for these moving/shipping companies, and what we should look for.

[lucybelle]

I'm pretty sure you can pack up boxes and have those shipped on the plane with you. You should call the airline to ask about that.

Also, I know people to have rented huge containers and ship a ton of shit. A 20ft container will cost you about $5000. I'm not sure where to get these, but if that's something you're interested in, I can find out.

I actually started a thread about "what could you not live without?" after I read about people bringing all sorts of crap on their move. I know objects have sentimental value, but sometimes it's okay to just LET GO. I had to leave a lot of things behind that I love and mean so much to me. But that's how it is. What I did manage to bring with me was my sewing machine which I packed very carefully into a checked luggage. She's moving to start a new life. She can leave her old things behind her.

[Jamibu]

Well we definitely don't need a full 20ft cargo container! I'd heard about people using part containers and stuff, but never enough to work research on. And I figured shipping by sea would be cheaper than plane, and we're more than willing to wait the extra time needed (we'll have low space to start with anyway)

[YorkshireLass]

Hi,

I might be able to offer some advice, if you still need it... I moved from London to California last year (and am looking into moving back again at the end of this month) and used a specialist shipping company to send over a few boxes of clothes, books and other bits 'n' bobs. The options for this amount of stuff are basically:
1. Use a part container on a ship, like you mentioned (called LCL - less than container load), where they'll keep your stuff until they have enough little loads to make one big one and send it over.
2. Use air freight, which is much faster, and oddly enough turned out to be the cheapest option for me last year!

It's still really expensive (I paid around £800 for 30 cubic feet - fortunately, my employer covered the costs), but decent shipping company should be able to give you free (no obligation) quotes for both methods; they can even send someone round to take a look if you're not sure of the weight/volume of the items. You can try searching for "international relocation" or "international movers", or if you PM me I can send you some company names.

You could also try looking at the britishexpats.com forum for more info on the practical aspects of relocating.

Hope this helps!

[Jamibu]

That's wonderful! Thank you so much! I'll send you a PM now to get some more info ;-)