Using a Luggage Shipping Service

Do you wish you could travel without dragging luggage with you? It may seem like an impossible dream, but travel without the added stress of taking suitcases along can be a reality. No, I’m not talking about some version of ultra-minimalist packing or wearing the same stinky clothes every day. I am referring to using a door-to-door luggage shipping service. These services offer delivery of your luggage from your home directly to your destination.

Travel can be stressful, and I’ve realized that a good portion of that travel stress comes from bringing your luggage along with you. I generally travel light, taking only a small carry-on suitcase when I travel. I’ve written several posts about packing light covering why you should do it, how to do it, and other tips and tricks to help you pack your one personal item carry-on efficiently. But even when traveling light, bringing luggage along can cause you to waste time and is the source of much stress and frustration. 

How Luggage Slows Down Travel 

Even if you travel light with only a small rolling bag and one personal item carry-on, there are still many points where bringing luggage along on your trip can cause delays and increase your wait time.  

• Getting to the airport with your suitcases makes transportation more difficult. You will need to be sure your ride has enough room for you and all your bags. This becomes a consideration when you are traveling with your whole family. The Uber you request for pickup will need to be bigger to accommodate all your luggage; this will cost you more and may cause a delay while waiting for the XL to be available.  
• When you get to the airport you will most likely need to wait in a line to check your luggage.  
• If you don’t check your bags but instead opt to carry them onto the plane, you are maneuvering through the airport with a suitcase, and TSA might decide they need a closer look in your bag. It happened to us on our way home from Newark last month. TSA saw something of concern in Kevin’s carry-on. They pulled him to the side where an agent proceeded to unpack his carefully packed carry-on. The offending item? Swim goggles inside of a coffee mug. He was eventually allowed to repack his suitcase and continue with the goggles and mug, but the whole ordeal delayed us about 20 minutes. Luckily we had plenty of time, but if you are running late, 20 minutes can be the difference between making your flight and missing your boarding zone. 
• Once you get to your gate, you will hear recurring announcements that “the aircraft is full” and be warned that you “may be required to check your bag at the gate.” If you are lucky enough to get onto the plane with your rolling carry-on, you now begin the hunt for open overhead bin space to stow your suitcase. Hopefully, you are strong enough to lift your full bag overhead and cram it into the overhead bin without injuring yourself or others around you. On my last flight, a young woman attempted to lift her bag into the overhead bin but accidentally dropped it onto the shoulder of the man already sitting in his seat. Ouch!
• After you land, you will need to get that bag out of the bin, through the narrow aisle, and again through the airport. Don’t forget the joys of trying to fit into a restroom stall with your suitcase, if you are traveling alone. 
• If you checked your suitcase, you now need to head to baggage claim and wait for the bags to appear, all the while praying that your bag made it safely.  Lost bags can take days to be delivered to your hotel.
• Luggage shipping services can also handle international deliveries, which would save you the hassle of dealing with luggage when passing through customs as you can breeze through with nothing to declare. 
• Taking public transportation to your destination is a great way to go, but it can be challenging with suitcases in tow. Even with small carry-on bags, most public transport is not designed to accommodate luggage. Forget about stopping to sightsee along the way. You cannot tour a museum or take a seaside walk with your suitcases in tow. You will need to head to your hotel or Airbnb to drop off your luggage before your vacation can begin.  
• Not taking public transportation, but having a family member pick you up? I hope they remembered to clear out their trunk or you may be riding home with your suitcase on your lap.

Whew! No wonder travel is exhausting! Even though it is a hassle, that is generally how most of us operate at the start of every trip — a “necessary evil” when beginning a vacation.  I recently fractured three ribs just days before I was about to embark on a solo trip. I realized that even my very light, small suitcase was heavier than the 5 pounds the doctor said I was allowed/able to lift. I begin researching options for traveling without luggage. I learned that there are services that ship luggage, door-to-door, enabling you to go to the airport luggage free! 

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Who Should use a Luggage Shipping Service

The idea is simple. Pack your bags as if you were going to take them to the airport, but instead of lugging the bags with, you a service shows up at your home, picks up your bags, and delivers them right to your destination! This sounded perfect. I didn’t use the service for that trip, but it got me thinking that this type of service could be useful for so many individuals in different situations, not just for those traveling with injuries.

• What came to mind first was families traveling with small children. I still remember the days of traveling with a toddler and an infant, struggling to carry the kids while trying to bring a stroller, suitcases for all four of us, diaper bags, and car seats. Just getting to the airplane was an adventure not for the faint of heart. How nice it would be to take a family trip and not need to wrestle all of that luggage along with trying to keep the kids safe and entertained.
• My next thought was that this would be a lovely way to start a dream vacation. No bags to hassle with. Just arrive at the airport, maybe stop in the lounge for a drink without needing to roll your suitcase along with you, then board the plane and be on your way.  When you arrive at your destination get straight to sightseeing, no need to drop off luggage at a hotel first. Your vacation can begin the moment the plane lands. Ultimate luxury!
• The series of injuries I have had lately has made me realize that my body might not keep up with my travel plans. My age may be catching up with me, but I do not intend to slow down or stop traveling. I will make accommodations that make traveling easier for me. A big step in that direction will be to let someone else take over the transportation of my luggage. Even if you are in good shape, traveling without your luggage in tow eliminates the possibility of straining your back or injuring yourself while maneuvering your bag in the airport and on the plane.  This is a benefit for anyone but especially helpful for older or mobility impaired individuals. 

Choosing a Luggage Shipping Service 

Once I was convinced that luggage delivery was what I needed, I turned to Google for a solution. My search for a quality luggage shipping service led me to a company called Luggage Free. As I always do, I checked the reviews and found an overwhelming majority of positive reviews for this company. They have an excellent, five-star rating with over 2,700 reviews. 

Specialty Shipping with Luggage Free

The friendly folks at Luggage Free generously offered me their services so that I could share the experience with you. We used the service on a recent domestic trip, and we were thrilled with all aspects of the luggage shipping and delivery. Read on for details of our experience.

Using the Luggage Free Luggage Shipping Service 

Make a reservation

Here’s how it works. It starts with either a phone call to their helpful operators, or you can complete an online quote request. Let them know when you need the service (they recommend at least one business day notice), what you will be sending (you can ship luggage of any size, golf bags, skis/snowboards, and bicycles), and what the pick up address and drop off the addresses are. Luggage Free will handle the rest. You can choose different speeds of delivery (next day, two-day, three-day or five-day) depending on your needs, budget, and timeline. 

White-Glove Service Option

We chose to use their premium option, “white-glove service,” which is the epitome of luxury travel. With the white-glove service, you choose a one-hour pickup window. The local agent will arrive at your home or office at the designated time and take your packed suitcases. That is all you need to do! We asked for a 9-10 am pickup. At 10 am, the driver showed up, took our bags, and gave me a receipt. That was it. The white-glove service costs an additional $100. 

Fast Delivery

The next day our Airbnb host texted me a photo to let me know that our bags had arrived safe and sound. Our suitcases made it to our destination before we did! Now, all we needed to do was catch our flight and meet up with our suitcases. As our bags were delivered to a private residence they were left on the front porch. This would not be an issue for delivery to a hotel or cruise ship but might be a consideration if you are concerned that your bags would not be safe if left unattended upon delivery. It is up to the delivery driver if the bags are left or if a note is left stating that delivery was attempted. If the location receiving your bags routinely gets packages delivered without a signature, then your bags will most likely be left without a signature as well. Note: As you see in the photo, on the outbound trip, our bags were wrapped in plastic when they arrived.  Luggage Free no longer wraps the bags in plastic, but route drivers who still have the plastic bags are using them until they use up their stock of bags. 

Self-Service Option

If you choose not to use white-glove service but instead opt for the “self-service” option, Luggage Free will mail you a welcome packet that includes all pre-printed shipping labels and supplies to securely attach the labels to your bag. They will include the zip ties and hanging tag holders for the shipping labels. You do not need to print anything, and you do not need to stick any stickers on your suitcases. For this pickup, FedEx will come to the door within a 4-hour window to retrieve your bags. This pickup service comes at no additional cost.

Return Shipping and Delivery

We enjoyed our trip, and on the day of our departure, we simply packed up our bags and the local Luggage Free agent arrived at our Airbnb to retrieve our suitcases at the beginning of our designated pick up window. Once again, it was super-simple. He took the bags, and we were free to go to the airport without any luggage to hassle with.  We returned home, and the next morning FedEx delivered our suitcases to our front door. 

On-Time Guarantee

Luggage Free guarantees your bags will arrive on time, or there will be no charge, and they will give you up to $500 per bag to make it right! That is a fantastic guarantee! In addition, each bag is automatically insured for $1,000.

Cost

Our suitcases arrived in perfect condition, no damage, and everything packed just as we had left it. The cost for the service varies depending on what you are sending, where you are sending it, how quickly you want it to arrive.   On their website, Luggage Free offers a no-obligation quote. With just a few clicks, you can calculate the price for shipping your suitcases so you can take advantage of the luxury and convenience of traveling without luggage on your next trip. At first glance, the service is not cheap, but when considering the cost, be sure to calculate in the time and money you are saving by not needing to pay to check your bags with the airline. In our case, we saved on the checked bag fees, and we traveled comfortably without the hassle of bringing luggage with us. In addition to all the usual time we saved by not checking bags a thunderstorm rolled in right after we landed. I later heard from other passengers on our flight that the airline was not able to start unloading the luggage for over an hour due to lightning in the area. Since we did not have any luggage, we were able to get right in the car and start our vacation as soon as we landed. Other passengers waited close to 1 and ½ hours for their luggage to begin to arrive in baggage claim. Time is money, and we saved ourselves hours by skipping baggage check-in and baggage claim hassles on this short trip.

Luxury for Some, Necessity for Others

Traveling without luggage might be considered a luxury allowing you to travel in style, and that is well worth the cost for a special trip.  However, there are times when a luggage delivery service is the key that allows you to take a trip that you might otherwise be prevented from taking due to circumstance, injury, or disability. 

Luggage Free is an efficient, hassle-free way to have your luggage delivered right to your destination. Whether it is a splurge for a luxury trip or a needed service that allows you to continue traveling, I recommend you give Luggage Free a try. 

Interested in trying Luggage Free for your next vacation? Luggage Free has generously provided a discount code for my readers. Visit their website, LuggageFree.com and use the code “Travel2019” to get $25 off your first order. 

Do you think a luggage delivery service would be helpful for your travel style?  What do you think would be the best benefit?

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