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PERSONAL FINANCE AT WALLETPOP

SMALL BUSINESS

Can't Travel Light? Ship, Don't Schlep

By JOE BRANCATELLI,

Portfolio.com

Posted: 2008-02-08 18:09:37

My father, a shoe retailer who never took an out-of-town business trip, nevertheless taught me a practical lesson about life on the road: You get what you pay forand anything a supplier throws in for free probably isnt worth buying when it charges for it.

More from Seat 2B on Portfolio.com: The 2008 Travel Agenda | Why Mergers Are No Good For Customers | Debunking Urban Travel Myths

The old man pretty much nailed the airlines on their current strategy of checked luggage.

As we discussed last fall, the government says that airlines are mishandling checked bags at a record clip. Thats bad enough when they throw in the service for free. But along with their luggage-handling inefficiency comes a barrage of niggling new rules and fees: They have reduced the free allowance to two bags from three; slashed the maximum weight of the bags to 50 pounds from 70; begun charging for curbside check-in; and have imposed hefty surcharges of as much as $100 whenever you check an extra (or extra-heavy) bag. On Monday, United Airlines went even further: Most travelers on the nations second-largest airline will now be permitted only one free checked bag, not two. And some carriers (most notably, Spirit and Skybus) have reached the final frontier: They have unbundled luggage handling from the ticket price and charge for any bag you deign to transport inside the bellies of their aircraft.

Is there an alternative to paying the airlines to do a lousy job of handing checked bags? Sure. You can pay a third party to do it. They will charge moreokay, a lot morebut they also are a lot more reliable and offer a lot more service.

The new-wave, boutique-style luggage shippersand old reliables like FedEx and U.P.S.also offer something that the airlines never could: freedom from the schlep. Theyll come to your home or office, gather your bags, and make them appear at your final destination. You go to the airport without having to maneuver your gear into a car or a cab. You bypass the long lines at baggage check-in. You skip the even longer wait at the baggage carousel. And you arrive at your hotel or resort like a visiting head of state, blissfully free of physical encumbrance.

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Its the best thing Ive ever experienced on the road. Moving from place to place without checked bags or even a carry-on stuffed with clothes is sybaritic. And once you run through airports and hotel lobbies without bags, youll never want to go back to carrying those leaden weights.

Who Does It
You have two stark choices when you want to free yourself from your bags: Give them to U.P.S., FedEx, and other traditional shippers, or put yourself in the hands of the new generation of specialty services such as Luggage Forward, Sports Express, Luggage Concierge, and the Luggage Club.

The traditional courier services have the benefit of familiarity. We all know them, we have their paperwork around our offices, and their pick-up and delivery people visit several times a day. And we trust them because they have a better track record than the airlines.

The drawback: They really dont want to be in the luggage-shipping business. We prefer people ship their bags through the luggage firms, a U.P.S. spokesman told me recently. And the luggage-shipping components of their businesses are so smallU.P.S. is a $47 billion company, for examplethat the courier firms dont offer any special services or tracking facilities for travelers who are sending bags, not boxes.

By contrast, the luggage specialists have built businesses around shipping baggage, golf clubs, skis, and other accoutrements of a travelers life. They have concierges to hold your hand telephonically throughout the entire process. They are big on personal service, advice, and guidance. Their websites are specifically designed to explain and expedite the baggage-shipping process. And the luggage specialists are as reliable as the courier servicesbecause they use U.P.S. and FedEx to ship your bags.

What It Costs
Heres where youll have to swallow hard and remember my fathers advice, because shipping bags aint cheap. Lets consider a 40-pound piece of luggage traveling between Los Angeles and New York. The larger airlines will still carry that bag for free on your flight. But depending on the shipper you use and the speed of delivery requested, youll pay as much as $260 to have it picked up at your home or office and shipped to your hotel.

Using FedExs cheapest published rate for five-day service, the 40-pound bag will cost about $33. Luggage Forward, probably the largest and best-known of the boutique shippers, will charge $123 for the same 5-day service. The spread narrows considerably for three-day service. FedEx quotes $114, and Luggage Forward charges $162. Standard overnight service will set you back $188 via FedEx and $262 with Luggage Forward. (Many of us get corporate discounts with U.P.S. and FedEx, and that gives the courier firms an added price advantage.)

How to Choose
If youve committed to shipping bags instead of trusting them to the airlines, the obvious question arises: Should you go naked and ship directly with the couriers or pay more for the extra services offered by the luggage shippers? Theres no consensus among business travelers.

Doug Jensen, a Boston-based computer specialist, is convinced that FedEx or U.P.S. is the logical choice. He cites the price advantage and prefers handing his luggage over to his normal package-delivery person. He also likes the fact that U.P.S. and FedEx do not require any special notice, whereas you have to make advance arrangements for a pick-up when you use a luggage shipper.

But Andy Abramson, the chief executive of Communicano, a communications agency based in Southern California, is a Luggage Forward fan. He cites a recent on-the-fly international itinerary change that was simplified by having a Luggage Forward staffer involved. With one call, they changed the pick-up details, sent new paperwork, worked with the hotel concierge, and coordinated everything. There were no hassles with customs, and they made it effortless and easy, he told me.

The Fine Print
Whats a nascent industryluggage shippers mostly began appearing after 9/11without a juicy scandal? An early player called Universal Express, which owned the Virtual Bellhop and Luggage Express services, collapsed last year after its founder drained the company of assets. A court-appointed receiver reported that Richard Altomare spent more than $500,000 of company funds on jewelry, then hocked it and pocketed the money. The Securities and Exchange Commission claims he sold billions of unregistered Universal Express shares on the penny market, and a judge characterizes him as a repeated and remorseless violator of securities regulations.

2008-02-07 10:38:28

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46 comments

Cearralyn 08:41:30 PM Feb 10 2008

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I think what the airlines are doing is garbage! Very poor service and they are charging for every little thing...pretty soon they will get idea to have pay toilets on board at the rate they are going, or a seat fee, since, technically, passengers have only paid to get on a plane. Now that American Airlines has shown itself to be overboard greedy, are they now going to charge for a purse and try to say it is a second piece of luggage? I flew several times last year and most of my flights were with American Airlines, but they won't be now.

Sooner1660 05:05:05 PM Feb 10 2008

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Just a thought? I am limited to a 40 # bag and weigh 130#s.
The woman sitting next to me is limited to 1 40# bag and weighs 300#s. She takes half my seat, insists that the armrest is up and because my bag weighs 43 pounds I had to pay an extra $50 to get my things to my destination 5 hours away. In addition to this I have a seat mate who had a crochet addiction and elbowed me for 5 hours and the flight attendant refused to move me.Why is this allowed.Didn't she have additional baggage?

Dscmpnv 07:31:55 AM Feb 10 2008

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i travel internationly a lot, to asia 4 times a year and i've never had a baggage problem in 40 trips, of course i do not fly a US carrier. i would never fly a US airline if i didn't have to. as far as facts in the article the domestic baggage wt has always been 50lbs as far as i know, 70 lbs on international travel.

JoanKlinzmann 07:23:58 AM Feb 10 2008

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Try Shipping through the United States Postal Service. Not only are they less expensive than UPS or FedEX but there is a Post Office in every town, they deliver to every address 6 days a week and if you send it Express Mail to larger cities it will be delivered on Sunday. Check the Postal Service prices. You will be amazed at how much less expensive they are. Check out usps.com to get prices. Remember to check large size and put in your measurments to get an accurate quote.

JHMc 06:24:32 AM Feb 10 2008

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DON'T USE LUGGAGE FREE
I recently used this service and a 40 lb bag between Daytona Beach and New York City cost me over $300, more than my airfare. The company had hidden charges and although I fought it with my credit card company, I wound up having to pay it because I had no documentation. This company is a big rip-off and I would advise everybody not to use it.

SusanMaeR 06:04:36 AM Feb 10 2008

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If you fly to visit the same place a lot, like to see your mother or brother or best friend, why not leave a suitcase of clothes there at your destination. Then you never have to pack--just take your purse and get on a plane, and know that you will have clothes and other stuff when you get there.

Shadow4186 05:21:26 AM Feb 10 2008

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fedex does not mind if you ship your luggage with us. i worked there 26 yrs. people have been shipping their luggage with us forever. and not just domestically. and, when the airlines do lose your luggage, guess who they ship it with when they find it??? you got it....fedex. can't tell you the numbere of times i've delivered "found" luggage.

AJM33771 05:17:12 AM Feb 10 2008

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wear is my suitcase? when will it arrive at my hotel?

Salomedamon 04:45:32 AM Feb 10 2008

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I am planning a trip to see my family in South Africa. What is a light way to travel, because all these stories are spooking me now! Soon I'll emigrate and what advice can anyone give me, very seriously please. Mail everything that I want to take for living there? USPS canceled their non-priority mail, so I can no longer send anything on a slow boat! Very high postage fees.

Lau7599 04:20:20 AM Feb 10 2008

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Your news has been most helpful. Rail or more likely, greyhound then. Also one may wear 3 shirts and buy pants on arrival. wear old clothes and discard them on your return. .Wash your laundry in the sink. I'm very serious. Remember advice about bedbugs, but I have stayed at scary dumps and been lucky so far.

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46 comments