When Aaron and I embarked on our 3-month adventure to Italy following our marriage, we knew two things:
1) Light travelers, we would not be.
2) We love to stroll local markets and shops, intentionally choosing items that will evoke memories from our travels.
Because of this, we hemmed and hawed over how to best navigate our luggage situation.
We were hopping around while abroad, so we had to be mindful of the number of suitcases we carried. We would often have to haul our luggage up steps, so filling a bag to the brim wouldn’t be in our best interest. We researched shipping costs and debated how it’d feel to walk around cobblestone streets sans sneakers, but ultimately found a gem: Send My Bag.
What Is Send My Bag?
Send My Bag is a luggage delivery service that can send your baggage to or from locations around the world. Their current roster of places boasts the UK, the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and beyond. Their drivers (who we always found incredibly trustworthy and kind upon speaking with) collect your baggage from your Airbnb doorstep or hotel and deliver it to your location of choice within a few days.
What Containers Can I Ship Using Send My Bag?
Send My Bag is super flexible about what you can ship, which made our travels immensely easier!
You can ship suitcases, cardboard boxes, ski gear, bicycles, and even golf bags. You cannot ship carriers like laundry bags or plastic boxes.
How Does Send My Bag Work Exactly?
First things first, you’ll generate a quote for what you want to send using their easy quote tool here.
Then, you’ll have the option to book Standard shipping (this typically ranges between 4-10 working days based on locations, but ours always arrived earlier than the ETA!) or Express shipping (usually 2-4 working days).
Once you’ve selected which option you’d like, get to packing!
A Hot Tip for You: If your bag has to go through customs, they’ll send you a list to itemize the contents of your baggage. Fill out this mandatory packing list as you go so you’re not trying to remember everything you packed away at the end.
Following packing, weigh your bag! We use this $8 digital luggage scale, and it has never failed us! This ensures your bag doesn’t exceed the weight option you chose at checkout.
Before sending your contents off, firmly secure your tracking label (you’ll place one inside of your bag and one on the outside). They suggested using their free label holders, but we didn’t have time to receive ours. We taped ours (and taped + taped some more for good measure) to our bags with packing tape, and it got the job done!
Don’t lock up your bag. This could result in the driver refusing your bag due to inspections that may happen throughout the shipping process. Instead, the Send My Bag team recommends securing your bag with a cuttable cable tie.
On the dedicated pick-up day, a driver will arrive, grab your luggage, and you’ll go off on your next excursion, knowing your possessions are in good hands!
How Much Does Send My Bag Cost?
The cost of using Send My Bag varies depending on where your bag is being shipped to and from. But like any amenity that’s pay-for-comfort, it’s a treat. For us, it ranged between $100 and $250 per bag. It allowed us to send home clothes as the season changed from Spring to Summer, ship goodies we picked up back to the US, and offload some other items we needed at specific locations (like hiking boots for our truffle hunt expedition and books I had gone through but wanted to keep).
You can get a quote for what you want to send here.
Is There Anything I Can’t Send Using Send My Bag?
Yes! Aerosols (like hairspray), flammable items, food items (sigh), toiletries, and select other items are all prohibited.
FYI: I know it’s enticing to ship back that bottle of wine you found, but you’re charged a fee and have to pick up your luggage from local government officials if any prohibited items are discovered on the x-ray, which sounds like a total vacation bummer.
Other Send My Bag Noteables…
- Their customer service team was amazing. When we had to reschedule one of our days, they did so with clear communication and ease.
- Our luggage arrived on time each time. We used their services four times, which made us customers for life!
- If you’re staying at a rental, make sure you’ll be around on the day of pick-up. It’s not fun to stay put on vacation, but even less so is wasting another day because you chose to sneak off to the beach instead!
- Hotels will often hand off luggage for you if you explain the situation and give the bag to the front desk. We did this for our last leg, and it went seamlessly.
- Yes, we used it for the reasons I stated above, but this service would also be magical for study abroad, ski trips, golf trips where you just have to use your own clubs, or even long-term relocations!
- You’re responsible for printing the labels and itemized sheets, so make sure you have access to a printer or arrange access ahead of time.
- Make sure you’re able to physically be at your next location when your shipment is ready for drop-off. You don’t want your bag left for anyone to grab off the doorstep! In our case, our (incredible) sister and brother-in-law agreed to be home for our goods.
All in all, using Send My Bag was an incredible experience. In fact, this post wasn’t at all sponsored. I just decided to whip up a blog post on it because we’re contemplating using them again ahead of a trip we’re taking this summer, and I recently recommended it to a person inquiring about getting home brocante items. EDIT: Send My Bag saw this post was kind enough to give me an affiliate link for you all for 5% off!
You can learn more or send your bag + receive your 5% discount by clicking here.
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