Luggage Forward - Recent Experience and Early Pick Up Date?

[cpl100]

2 hours ago, ExArkie said:

From the Luggage Forward Web site, under FAQs:

"Can I lock my luggage?

 

Domestic Shipments

Bags traveling within a single country must be locked. Failure to lock Items will void your right to file a claim for lost or missing contents. 

 

International Shipments

Bags shipped between two countries must be unlocked as they may have to be opened as a normal part of the customs screening process. If bags are locked, including TSA approved locks, and customs cannot open an item then the lock or seal may have to be broken.  

Locking any item traveling internationally can cause extended delays and will void Luggage Forward’s industry leading on-time guarantee."

Thanks!  I don't like the answer but appreciate your help.  I mean... people want to safeguard their belongings, don't they?

[esrs]

3 hours ago, cpl100 said:

Thanks!  I don't like the answer but appreciate your help.  I mean... people want to safeguard their belongings, don't they?

Luggage Forward suggests you can use a zip tie, which customs can easily cut/remove. I found mine were not touched.

[LJS24]

I plan on using Luggage Forward when I cruise next year.  I hadn't thought about locking my case for domestic travel, so that is very good to know.  Like the tip about a zip tie as well as I'm one if those people who would use a key lock and forget the key lol

[Smokeyham]

On 8/7/2023 at 12:02 AM, Sarnia 432 said:

@jcgeorge thanks for your insight.  I hadn’t thought of sending to the hotel.  We will be arriving a day early in port, so having the bags at the hotel will reassure me, rather than worrying until I see the bags arrive in my cabin!

Sending the bag to the hotel is a great idea!  We will be in Southampton for two days prior to boarding, so this is a great solution.  As you say, then you know that you have your bag.

[Joe33472]

It's so reassuring to hear these reviews about Luggage Forward.   We're going to be shipping our luggage with them for a westbound TA in late June.  We're leaving from Florida in about a month, so we're going deposit our bag with a family member for pickup in early June, I would imagine.

 

Has anyone put an Air Tag in their luggage when using Luggage Forward?   I think I read some threads were lithium batteries are a no-no.   But it would be reassuring to me if I could track our bag.   If not, that's okay too.  

 

I'm also wondering if rather than ship directly to Southampton, if there is any benefit (besides piece of mind) of sending the luggage to our hotel in London.  We're going to be in London for about a week before the TA and it just seems like another piece of luggage to carry to Southampton.  The only other benefit I could see is if the bag doesn't show up in London, we could do some shopping there.  I booked a car service from the hotel to Southampton, so another bag isn't the end of the world.   But if it could be delivered to our stateroom, why not?

Edited March 20 by Joe33472

[esrs]

13 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Has anyone put an Air Tag in their luggage when using Luggage Forward?   I think I read some threads were lithium batteries are a no-no.   But it would be reassuring to me if I could track our bag.   If not, that's okay too.

Luggage forward provides updates as towhere your bag is located, you just have to log in and view your order.  I'd just have them send it to the ship, you don't need the hassle of transporting it from London.  I'd be far more worried about the bag sitting for days at a London hotel.

[TouchstoneFeste]

14 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

Has anyone put an Air Tag in their luggage when using Luggage Forward?   I think I read some threads were lithium batteries are a no-no.   But it would be reassuring to me if I could track our bag.   If not, that's okay too.  

As @esrs says, Luggage Forward has easy-to-use luggage tracking. However, putting an air tag in a shipped bag (which we've done a couple times) is no different from putting one in a checked bag at the airport - which is what they're for, after all.

 

The FAA rules (and I assume these are equivalent to other international rules) are a little complicated

https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/lithium-batteries-baggage

but you can ship or check devices with lithium batteries in them as long as they are secured from accidentally activating. Loose lithium batteries, no. The FAA seems to be trying to make a reasonable accommodation ...

 

[Joe33472]

1 hour ago, esrs said:

Luggage forward provides updates as towhere your bag is located, you just have to log in and view your order.  I'd just have them send it to the ship, you don't need the hassle of transporting it from London.  I'd be far more worried about the bag sitting for days at a London hotel.

 

32 minutes ago, TouchstoneFeste said:

As @esrs says, Luggage Forward has easy-to-use luggage tracking. However, putting an air tag in a shipped bag (which we've done a couple times) is no different from putting one in a checked bag at the airport - which is what they're for, after all.

 

 

 

Thank you both!  I'm just going ship the bag to the ship rather than the hotel.  Not sure what to do about the tracking.  I'll probably just rely on Luggage Forward's own tracking rather than push my luck with the AirTag.  Thanks again!   

[Smokeyham]

Original Poster here......

I just wanted to report back that we had an excellent experience with Luggage Forwarding.  

After making the reservation online we telephoned them to arrange for an alternate pick up date that was in advance of the date that was available on the website.  This was fine and they had really good communication with us, even calling to ask a day or so in advance if it would be OK if the time of pick up was changed.

One thing we learned is that (at least at Southampton for Cunard), they do not have difficulty storing the luggage a few days in advance of your ships arrival/embarkation.  This is coordinated with the Ship's Agent.

 

However, if you want to have your luggage delivered to a hotel then you must be present at the hotel or arrange for your hotel to store they luggage for you.  

Once the luggage tag arrived for us to apply to the luggage we Googled the delivery address in Southampton and it appeared to be a private residence.  Everything turned out fine, so just a reassurance in case you do the same thing!

 

[Joe33472]

5 hours ago, Smokeyham said:

Once the luggage tag arrived for us to apply to the luggage we Googled the delivery address in Southampton and it appeared to be a private residence.  Everything turned out fine, so just a reassurance in case you do the same thing!

 

 

Thanks for posting.   We have an upcoming cruise on 6/23 on the QM2 and left our bag with a family member because we left the US in late April.  So, it's great to to know that you had a good experience with Luggage Forward.    I also see our cabin # on the shipping tag.

 

I didn't even think about Googling the address, that was a great idea.  I'm a little surprised that the address is a private residence.  I was thinking it would be a warehouse or storefront, but whatever.  

 

Thanks again for the update!

 

[Winifred 22]

27 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Thanks for posting.   We have an upcoming cruise on 6/23 on the QM2 and left our bag with a family member because we left the US in late April.  So, it's great to to know that you had a good experience with Luggage Forward.    I also see our cabin # on the shipping tag.

 

I didn't even think about Googling the address, that was a great idea.  I'm a little surprised that the address is a private residence.  I was thinking it would be a warehouse or storefront, but whatever.  

 

Thanks again for the update!

 

Perhaps they don’t have enough luggage to justify the expense of hiring a warehouse so use this address as an alternative. Probably safer than a warehouse on a trading estate. 

[We_like_to_cruise]

You were looking for recent experience - we had our luggage delivered last week to our cruise ship!

 

We did leave prior to the pickup date and arranged to leave our bags with a neighbor where they were picked up by Luggage Forward.

 

The service was top notch and highly recommended.

 

I would definitely use them again !

 

 

 

 

[Smokeyham]

15 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Thanks for posting.   We have an upcoming cruise on 6/23 on the QM2 and left our bag with a family member because we left the US in late April.  So, it's great to to know that you had a good experience with Luggage Forward.    I also see our cabin # on the shipping tag.

 

I didn't even think about Googling the address, that was a great idea.  I'm a little surprised that the address is a private residence.  I was thinking it would be a warehouse or storefront, but whatever.  

 

Thanks again for the update!

 

 

We jokingly thought we would go to the address in Southampton and ask if our luggage had arrived!  🙂

We appreciated that we could arrange an earlier pick up date than the date which was shown online as we wanted to be sure the bag was collected before we left for our trip.

[IMNiles]

I know you were asking about ship-to-origin, but for anyone finding this thread later, we just used luggage forward a week or so ago to ship our bags home from Southampton to the states.  Dropping the bag with the well-signed representative just outside customs was quick and easy.  My only “concern” is that the bag arrived home a full week early and before I was even home from our subsequent travels, so we had to scramble to get somebody to fetch it from our doorstep before it was stolen (we landed May 30 in Southampton, and the bag was on my doorstep by June 3).  The tracking they provided was accurate, as confirmed by an AirTag I had in the bag.

 

 

 

[Daisymabel]

On 3/5/2024 at 12:22 PM, cpl100 said:

Any recent experience with Luggage Forward?   Thinking of sending one large suitcase home from Civitivecchia rather than hauling it to Lake Como and then home. 

We had an experience in January 2024 which was quite stressful. We needed our bags shipped from a UK address to Southampton where it would be delivered to the QM2. We were travelling from New York on the QM2 (complicated but we’d worked the problem). Unfortunately, luggage forward hadn’t paid their account so DHL picked up the luggage then 2 days later unceremoniously dumped them back at a neighbour’s house with no warning. We only knew as I had a tracker in both bags. While on the QM2 we were scrambling to get our bags picked up as we needed them to continue our voyage to Australia. We only managed with the help of friends to get our bags to Southampton and had to track them ourselves when a different courier collected them. Never again for us but I’m glad others have had more success. 

[Joe33472]

31 minutes ago, Daisymabel said:

We had an experience in January 2024 which was quite stressful. We needed our bags shipped from a UK address to Southampton where it would be delivered to the QM2. We were travelling from New York on the QM2 (complicated but we’d worked the problem). Unfortunately, luggage forward hadn’t paid their account so DHL picked up the luggage then 2 days later unceremoniously dumped them back at a neighbour’s house with no warning. We only knew as I had a tracker in both bags. While on the QM2 we were scrambling to get our bags picked up as we needed them to continue our voyage to Australia. We only managed with the help of friends to get our bags to Southampton and had to track them ourselves when a different courier collected them. Never again for us but I’m glad others have had more success. 

 

Sorry this happened to you!   Sounds terrible, but glad it worked out.  Luggage Forward just picked up our bag today from my SIL for our TA to NYC on 6/23.   Keeping our fingers crossed that all works out as we have no formal clothes with us.  We get to London a week from today, so worse case scenario we go on a shopping spree.  🤣

[NE John]

3 hours ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Sorry this happened to you!   Sounds terrible, but glad it worked out.  Luggage Forward just picked up our bag today from my SIL for our TA to NYC on 6/23.   Keeping our fingers crossed that all works out as we have no formal clothes with us.  We get to London a week from today, so worse case scenario we go on a shopping spree.  🤣

I hope you replicate our great Crossing from June 23 last year (minus the medical emergency detour to Halifax, of course). We’ll be in Alaska on QE at the same time. 
If you like wine, on day one, ask your sommelier if there are any fine wine tastings happening during the week. Also, I hear the Planetarium is down but you are not missing much. I hope Cunard is getting a new production and bringing the visuals to at least HD resolution. Try to disconnect and enjoy the week. 
Bon Voyage!

[Joe33472]

7 hours ago, NE John said:

I hope you replicate our great Crossing from June 23 last year (minus the medical emergency detour to Halifax, of course). We’ll be in Alaska on QE at the same time. 
If you like wine, on day one, ask your sommelier if there are any fine wine tastings happening during the week. Also, I hear the Planetarium is down but you are not missing much. I hope Cunard is getting a new production and bringing the visuals to at least HD resolution. Try to disconnect and enjoy the week. 
Bon Voyage!

 

Thanks!  We're very excited for our TA on QM2 and plan to do a "Live from" from thread.  Our first time on Cunard, so we will be looking at things for the first time.

 

Hope you have a great time in Alaska!  An Alaska cruise is definitely on our bucket list.  Safe travels!  

 

Our luggage (with our formal ware) left Boston last night on it's way to Soton, so things are progressing.  

[stan01]

Luggage Forward sent DHL to pick up our luggage yesterday for the 23 June crossing from SOU to NYC, including communicating our gate code which is always a concern with DHL (never our first choice).  Suitcase is sitting at the DHL Gateway at LAX per their tracking system so off to a good start. 

 

I did call LF twice with questions that were not answered in their materials.  First time the agent didn't know a whole lot, second time the agent told me exactly what to expect.  So if you call and don't get the expert -- call back again another time!