Suitcase debacle

September 12, 2006 3:25 PM

How do I ship a 65+ lb suitcase from Cairo to New York?

Here's the skinny: I arrived late to the Cairo airport for my flight with over-stuffed suitcases. While checking in, I was told one was overweight. However, the airline would not accept credit cards (sketchy I know, but that's another story) and so I was forced to leave it with a friend. The bag is still with my friend but I'm back in NY.

What is the best way (i.e. most economical) to get it back? DHL quoted me some astronomical figure (much more than the cost of a ticket back) so I'm looking for alternatives.

Has anyone ever done cargo shipping with an airline? How does this work? Can I pay from here? Can I even arrange shipping from here? And what will be required of my friend? Will he have to purport to have packed the bag himself?

Please don't tell me to abandon my stuff. It's imperative I recover the suitcase - a lot of overdue library books are packed in there (as well as some much beloved items of clothing).

posted by anonymous78 to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

You might want to try Allied International or you may have you friend fedex it in smaller packages. Give Excess Baggage a go, request a quote.

I would offer to bring the bags back to you, but I'm not going to Cairo until the end of October, and I'm in California so I'd have to ship it from here. If things get too difficult, hit me up, I've been in the same situation and willing to help :)
posted by wilde at 4:30 PM on September 12, 2006

Do not use Luggage Forward.com. I tried to use their service for travel to Europe; my luggage was held up in customs for the duration of my travel and I had to wait weeks after I returned home before they could even get it back to me in the states.

It sounds like FedExing the important things in smaller packages would be the way to go.

Are the replacement fees at the library more or less than the cost to ship?
posted by saffron at 6:08 PM on September 12, 2006

Another vote for Excess Baggage. I used them to ship six footlockers from SF to Auckland (by sea freight, because of the quantity/poundage), and was pleased with the service. It cost me about $3 per pound, including warehousing and customs fees.
posted by toxic at 6:34 PM on September 12, 2006

3 bucks per pound for sea freight? LOL! You were had!
posted by Goofyy at 7:19 AM on September 14, 2006

Goofyy...

You have clearly not priced small sea freight shipments to Auckland recently, or the logistics costs on both sides of the pacific. $3 (NZ... closer to $2 US) a pound is quite reasonable for a DOOR-TO-DOOR, fully insured shipment in the 200 lb range, with all customs, trucking, MAF/USDA, and warehouse fees included.

It would've cost me the same $600 or so for up to about 500 pounds, I'm told.
posted by toxic at 10:58 PM on September 16, 2006