Citibox Secure Mailboxes and International Courier

Why should you go to the expense of sending your luggage ahead by courier to Spain so it is already in your hotel when you arrive?  Simply, because it is no longer expensive and can even be cheaper than taking it with you.  Much cheaper if your suitcase weigh more than 15kg, and much more convenient. 

My father recently came to visit us in Spain.  Not knowing how people travel now, he had not sent his luggage on ahead by FedEx courier to Spain but brought his suitcases with him. 

He is well past 70 years old and has had a couple of operations on his heart, he arrived absolutely exhausted because a strike at Malaga Airport had resulted in there being no luggage trolleys.  Having paid extra to fly Thompson rather than Ryanair, because of the mean 15kg limit that Ryanair have on checked-in baggage, (A link to an excellent comparison on flights to Malaga) his suitcase was bulging.  The suitcase being elderly as well, it had no wheels and my poor father carried this thing through the now greatly extended distance that Arrivals at Malaga airport have to travel to the car hire booth where there was the inevitable 30 minute queue in 38º heat.

That interminable wait for the bags to appear.

It took him two days to recover from the ordeal and when I found out the premium he had paid for the inconvenience of lugging his suitcases to check-in (instead of checking in on-line); waiting by the baggage carousel for luggage that always seems to arrive last and then carrying it through the airport I was absolutely amazed.  Let´s just say you could have flown Madrid – New York return for that price.

Assuming that my parents had 35kg of luggage between them (thus the need to upgrade from Ryanair’s stingy limit) it would have cost them €77 to have had FedEx collect their bags from the comfort of their own home and deliver them to the hotel.  No check-in queue, no wait in Malaga and arrival at the front of the hire car queue, rather than the back.  Let´s face it, the same happens on the way back but most of what you are returning to the UK is dirty washing, the cost remains the same €77 and there is even leeway to add souveniers or a special bottle of olive oil to make your holiday more memorable. 

Let them take the strain, not you!

There is no doubt in my mind that my parents would have saved €77 each on their return journey by chosing a less expensive airline and sending their bags by courier, let alone the benefit of a less stressful and quicker journey.  Check out the courier price here but don’t forget that two or more bags to the same destination count as one so add all the weights together for an accurate price lowest cost luggage quote .

My Step-mother did say that the carry-on allowance of 10 bottles of liquid up to 100cc each was not sufficient for her requirements but when I look into my wife’s vanity case I see several extremely small and expensive bottles and then items such as shampoo which could either be decanted into something smaller or sent on ahead without a problem.  Maybe we could get some feedback from ladies on this subject?