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BTarnay wrote:

I'm heading back for a visit to the States. On the return to CR, is it pretty easy to just check 4-5 file-box size - and pay the $25 each as checked baggage? Nothing is all that new.. mainly kitchen supplies and clothes. Thanks for your help!

Hola BTarnay,

Welcome to ´ó¿§¸£ÀûÓ°Ôº!

NO, you cannot bring boxes period.  You can add items to luggage but not "boxes."  The only way to bring boxes is to ship them through an airline approved carrier - too expensive, a big hassle and you WILL be taxed on it.

Each airline charges differently for their luggage fees.  Check with who you'll be flying with.  No one is $25 per bag that I'm aware of.  It averages about $25 for the first checked bag, $50 for the second and then $125+ for the third bag.  This is why if I find an inexpensive flight, I review their baggage fees before booking.  Their fees might be cheap but the baggage fees might make up for the difference.

I fly to Orlando for my shopping trips using Jet Blue.  They have direct flights, only three hours long, and their baggage fees are reasonable.  Taking a shopping and "eat good food" trip in a few weeks myself.   

- Expat Dave
´ó¿§¸£ÀûÓ°Ôº Team Member

Boxes are accepted on airlines, as luggage. I just did it in August. The boxes must be no greater than 62 linear inches, same size as luggage.
Just call the airline you are using.

Southwest allows two bags (under 62 linear inches and 50 lbs ea) for free. A box 62 - 80 linear inches is oversized and costs $75. If over weight also, that is an additional $75.

A box 62 linear inches is not oversized:
from SWA
Maximum weight is 50 pounds and maximum size is 62 inches (length + width + height) per check piece of luggage. Overweight items from 51 to 100 pounds and oversized items in excess of 62 inches but not more than 80 inches will be accepted for an overweight and oversize baggage fee of $75 per item.




Baggage Policies - Southwest Airlines

lafdbuf wrote:

Boxes are accepted on airlines, as luggage. I just did it in August. The boxes must be no greater than 62 linear inches, same size as luggage.
Just call the airline you are using.

Thanks for that info.   I guess they must have changed the rules back since I tried to ship boxes back from Florida.

- Expat Dave

What I did was buy Samsonite duffel bags at amazon - they have great reviews and we've since used them 4-5 times and not one has broken or opened up yet during travel. We do cinch the zippers good with extra fasteners...
Anyway so you can probably fit 1 or 2 boxes in the middle of each one then put clothes or blankets or other packing material around the boxes. They hold a huge amount of stuff! Get an extra one and carry it with you and if one is overweight or oversize, take some stuff out and put it in the empty one which will fit in a purse or bag when it's new/empty.

Then pay the extra baggage for each bag. Choose your airline carefully. We found that Delta was one of the best for this. Cost of extra bags and size of bags vary from airline to airline. A cheapo airline often has very stringent limits. I found Delta to be the most accommodating and wiling to help us out when one was a little heavy. The cheapo airlines are the worst, wanting to charge for looking at them the wrong way or because the phase of the moon is wrong. LOL.

We have brought stuff from the US and from MX several times using these duffel bags. Twice we had 3-4 of them and though we were afraid of being hassled at customs upon entering we never have been. They dont' even look inside (though they certainly CAN and MIGHT.)

This is much cheaper than a shipping container and much less hassle as well. if you bring any new stuff take it out of it's packaging and if you need info from the packaging carry it in a purse or carry on, separately.

The nice thing about these duffel bags is they are a size that is allowed unless you really really over-stuff them. The weight is the one thing that might go over so just be careful not to pack too many HEAVY things.

One more tip:
if you have access to a curbside Concierge or whatever they are called at the International flight area for your airline (such as Delta does in some airports) use one and give him $5-10 tip and he can probably get your duffel bags through even if they're a little overweight. They didn't even weigh mine! Best $10 I ever spent. Easier to deal with too.

We divided stuff we need now vs stuff we want in the future, stored the stuff we want in the future at a friend's house and will bring it down bit by bit as we travel to the US and back. On our first trip I think we had 2 regular suitcases and 4 duffel bags. They never checked inside any of them other than with the xray machine.