How to Mail a Suitcase

With more airlines joining the crowd and charging for baggage on a plane, more people are looking at the option of mailing their things home instead of taking them on the plane with them.

If you are one of these people, mailing a suitcase can be something that saves you money, time, hassle and headaches at the traveling ends of your trip.

Many different companies offer the option of mailing suitcases, and some even have special boxes for the exact purpose of mailing a suitcase.

If this is something that you are interested in, then check the website very carefully for measurements and restrictions on the luggage. It can be a big disappointment to arrange for a suitcase to be mailed only to discover that it will not fit into the cardboard box that a shipping company sent for you.

When measuring the suitcase, pack it as full as you can, then measure it. A full suitcase can grow several inches.

Make sure that you do not pack anything that is essential, such as original documents, medications or other items that you will need between now and the actual day that you arrive at your destination.

Don't do like a friend of mine did and have your suitcase sent to the wrong hotel, either. Her cost in cab fare to get her suitcase was several hundred dollars as the hotel she sent it to was many miles away.

Call the hotel ahead of time, or where you will be staying and ask if it is okay to receive mail and luggage there. Explain what you are doing and why you are doing it. Most hotels are completely okay with the idea, but some of them will decline because of the lack of storage space that they have available to them.

I did not really need another suitcase where I was, but the large suitcase I saw was less than one third of the price of the ones that I had been pricing back home, and it would be perfect for my European trip back home.

I did not have souvenirs or anything else that needed to get packed into the suitcase, but I did not want it to collapse inflight and get damaged.

I asked the suitcase seller what to do and they advised that I get large trash bags and stuff them full of newspaper and then put the bags into the suitcase. This would add very little weight to the suitcase itself.

I did that, it took me two Sunday newspapers to get it done, but then when I stuffed the bags full, my suitcase was unable to be compressed.

Finally, I put into the suitcase a business card, my home address and my telephone number. If the box tore open, they would still be able to unite me with my suitcase.

The place where I shipped it from made sure that it was labeled properly and it cost less than $25.00 to mail it home.

Waiting for it to get to me was the hard part, I was really worried about the suitcase making it to my destination.

Yes, we all know what our luggage looks like. Don't we?

I sent a few bags ahead of me to a hotel in Europe. I sent them 3 weeks ahead of me. When shown to the luggage room, all of the brown boxes looked the same. Except mine. I was so mad when my young niece drew all over the back of the box I was shipping, but there was no time to get another box.

Never was I so grateful as when I saw the doodles of her marker magic. I was the only one in and out of luggage pickup in less than 30 minutes. Make the box memorable, take a photo, and also of the luggage inside in case the box is damaged.

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