As the Christmas holidays approach, many of you will be traveling abroad, either heading back home to visit family and friends with bags full of presents, or returning from university carrying rucksacks laden with heavy bags. Some of you may just be taking a well-earned break in the sun!
The chances are that some of you will have excess baggage or oversized luggage that will need shipping to your destination. With some flight operators, the cost of placing this luggage in the hold can be so prohibitive that you end up having to leave many of your belongings behind.
One organization that is becoming increasingly popular over here, particularly amongst expats who tend to be frequent travelers, is SendMyBag. Launched internationally in 2012 by founder and CEO, Adam Ewart, SendMyBag is a fast door-to-door delivery service, bookable online, which will ensure your bags and boxes reach your chosen destination at a price you can afford!
Asked why he decided to set up SendMyBag, Adam told knowitall.ch that it all started when he was helping his then-girlfriend (now-wife) get her belongings to and from university. Having hauled various suitcases up and down Oxford’s cobbled streets, and spent 2.5 hours on a coach before reaching the airport, they were then slammed with an excess baggage charge of £60 at check-in due to one of the suitcases being 3kg over the airline’s limit!
Once home with their bags, Adam realized there had to be another solution. However, after scouring the internet to no avail, he decided to solve the problem himself. He set about starting a company that would see irritating fees, long queues and negotiating public transport with bulky and heavy bags become a thing of the past.
Once StartMyBag was launched, Adam soon realized that it wasn’t just impoverished students who were looking for an easier solution to traveling with bags. With a reputation for innovation, SendMyBag has gone on to serve clients in many different traveling situations worldwide, and has now become one of the leading delivery companies in its sector.
So how does it work? The following 6-steps summarise the process for you:
1. Get a quote
Sendmybag’s quick quote tool will give you a price for your delivery within seconds – so you know exactly what to expect right from the beginning. Simply enter the country you’d like your bag to be collected from, where you’d like it sent to, along with the date, and press go. SendMyBag will then provide you with their best rate as well as an estimated date for delivery. At the time of writing, the cost of delivering a bag from France and Swizerland to the UK for addresses that we entered was as follows:
France to UK (Standard service, 3-4 working days)
Up to 20 kg: 39 €
Up to 30 kg: 40 €
40 € + 3 € per kg over 30kg
Switzerland to the UK
Up to 20 kg: 51 €
Up to 30 kg: 52 €
52 € + 3.5 € per kg over 30kg
2. Book online
If you’re happy with the price being quoted, you can then go ahead and book your unaccompanied luggage delivery online using SendMyBag's easy booking system. When choosing a collection day (which can be any working day of the week), remember to book at least 24hrs in advance for domestic shipments, 48 hours in advance for non-EU collections and 72 in very remote areas.
3. Prepare your bag
Once the booking has been made, SendMyBag’s destination pages will give you information on which items you can and can’t transport to certain destinations. In general, you are not allowed to pack aerosols, flammable liquids, or glass in unaccompanied bags.
A few days before your collection, a booking confirmation email will be sent to you, which includes a tracking number and links where you can download your labels. You will need to print these and attach them to your bag as they are compulsory for shipping excess luggage on all SendMyBag’s services. If you book a week or more in advance, you’ll be given the option during checkout to have labels printed and sent to you. It’s also recommended to put a spare copy inside each bag. You are advised to attach labels using an official SendMyBag label holder, which can be ordered free of charge during checkout.
Bags outside the EU will need customs clearance information - you will receive notification by email to complete this. These will also need to be printed and attached in a separate wallet.
4. Collection
SendMyBag collections usually take place between 9am and 6pm, but they cannot guarantee a specific time or telephone you when the driver has arrived. However, the sender is not required to hand the luggage over to the driver, so you can leave luggage with a neighbour or take it to your place of work if you can’t be at home during the day. Bear in mind that items will need to be collected at the main point of access, so they will need to be brought to the ground floor, reception or porter’s office if you are in student halls.
5. Track Your Bags
It is easy to keep track of your bag. Just log into your account and select your delivery to see how far it has traveled. It is possible to track it through both local and international couriers.
6. Delivery
More than 95% of StandMyBag’s standard deliveries and 99.5% of express deliveries of unaccompanied luggage arrive “on time”. However, you are advised to leave a little time to spare for any unexpected disruptions. If you're sending within Europe on an Express Service, you are covered by SendMyBag’s on time guarantee. As with collection, the named recipient or sender does not need to sign for the item; it can be anyone at the delivery address. For example, a concierge or the reception desk at your hotel may receive it for you, but do ensure that you have notified them in advance.
In conclusion, the SendMyBag service can certainly save you money whilst traveling with lots of luggage. However, one of the biggest advantages for solo travelers, especially students traveling to and from university, or elderly relatives traveling over Christmas, has to be the reduction in stress associated with hauling lots of baggage around, especially if the journey involves more than one means of transport!
SendMyBag
www.sendmybag.com
