Luggage allowances are decreasing and excess luggage fees increasing. Some travelers cannot physically manage their luggage, in particular some senior travelers and travelers with disabilities.
The advantages of luggage delivery services are:
- You can travel with just your hand luggage
- Reduce the queues at check-in. Traveling with hand luggage only means you can check-in at the hand-luggage only counter and avoid the prolonged luggage check-in queues.
- If you check-in online, it means you can bypass the traditional check-in desk altogether, also meaning that you can arrive at the airport closer to the departure time of your flight.
- Avoid the wait at the baggage carousel at your destination airport.
- Eliminate incidents of airline lost, delayed or damaged luggage.
- Avoid having to tip airport and hotel staff to handle your luggage.
- Can ship surfboards and other oddly-shaped items that airlines may not accept as checked luggage.
But there are disadvantages too:
- Luggage delivery costs money, while checked bags are either free or nearly so. A suitcase for a US transcontinental return flight (say, NY to LA) will cost around $100, while a 20 kg (44 lb) pound bag return from US to Asia could set you back over $300. And in some cases there are additional pick up fees, fuel surcharges, etc.
- Luggage delivery is slow. Typical delivery time is 5 business days, or even more for international flights. Express services are available, but they can easily double or triple the cost.
- Luggage delivery as international unaccompanied baggage may cause Customs hassles and charges. Unaccompanied baggage is not subject to the usual duty-free exemptions that apply to accompanied baggage.
 |