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About this time of year, frequent and infrequent travelers alike are faced with the hassle, uncertainty and expense of checking bags for trips home for the holidays.
Most frequent travelers reading this rarely check bags when on the road for business– and if they do, fees are likely waived due to elite status. But for holiday trips home, bag contents frequently expand to include winter coats, formal wear, gifts and plenty of other extraneous items– especially if kids are involved.
Shipping bags via FEDEX or UPS sounds like a great idea until you look at rates. Shipping luggage is not cheap– or fast. To get rates that meet or beat airline fees, you must ship via ground which can take four or five days to get across the country. And distance makes a big difference when it comes to rates. Plus there’s the time cost of schlepping bags to a FEDEX or UPS facility.
I checked with FEDEX to determine how much it would cost to ship a standard carry on-sized piece of luggage (10″x14″x22″) weighing 35 lbs. from the FEDEX store in Atlanta to New York City, Boulder, Colo. and San Francisco.
Atlanta to New York:
$198 each way – Standard overnight delivery
$106 each way – Two-day delivery
$28 each way — end of second day home delivery
Atlanta to Boulder, Colo.:
$213 each way – Standard overnight delivery
$167 each way – Two-day delivery
$35 each way – Three-day (ground) home delivery
Atlanta to San Francisco:
$228 each way – Standard overnight delivery
$182 each way – Two-day delivery
$48 each way- End of fourth day (ground) delivery
Keeping in mind most airlines charge $25 for the first checked bag (except Southwest and JetBlue) and $35 for the second, each way, would you pay to ship or just check it with the airline and hope for the best?
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