Most economical way to move stuff to US?

[Cenobite30 4]

Bottom Line: What are some safe and economical ways to get your stuff from one country to another?

 

My wife will be moving to the US from Russia in a few months. Most of her stuff she will be selling or giving away. But she has a whole bunch of stuff (probably 90% clothes) that she wants to keep. If I had to guess, I'd say it is about 8-10 large suitcases worth. Obviously this is too much to carry over on a flight, and would be crazy expensive for how much airlines charge for bags. Does anyone know of any ways to get her stuff from there to here which are not prohibitively expensive and have a pretty decent chance of arriving without being lost/stolen?

 

Please forgive me if this is in the wrong forum. There are probably two or three where this topic could go, but I thought it would be rude to make the topic in each.

[Boiler 45,522]

I brought stuff over every time I visited, she may be in for a sticker shock if she wants to bring all that with her.

[SalishSea 17,833]

Its almost always going to be way cheaper to pay for additional bags on flights than to ship things.

[Cenobite30 4]

4 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

Its almost always going to be way cheaper to pay for additional bags on flights than to ship things.

You really think so? I don't know if they still do it like this, but I remember an airline wanted to charge me 10 Euro for every kilogram over the baggage allowance. Do they not do it like that anymore?

 

Thanks for the response.

[SalishSea 17,833]

Just now, Cenobite30 said:

You really think so? I don't know if they still do it like this, but I remember an airline wanted to charge me 10 Euro for every kilogram over the baggage allowance. Do they not do it like that anymore?

 

Thanks for the response.

I think most airlines charge per bag over the allotted one or two, rather than by weight (as long as all bags are within the weight limits). But I would check with your particular airline.

 

When we looked into shipping container rates from NZ, it was much more expensive than extra bag fees.

[Cenobite30 4]

1 minute ago, Jorgedig said:

I think most airlines charge per bag over the allotted one or two, rather than by weight (as long as all bags are within the weight limits). But I would check with your particular airline.

 

When we looked into shipping container rates from NZ, it was much more expensive than extra bag fees.

Hmm. Very well. Maybe I'm just old. 😄

 

Did US Customs give you any trouble over having more than a typical amount of bags?

[SalishSea 17,833]

30 minutes ago, Cenobite30 said:

Hmm. Very well. Maybe I'm just old. 😄

 

Did US Customs give you any trouble over having more than a typical amount of bags?

I'm probably even older 😉

 

Its really just up to the airlines.  Customs doesn't care about the volume of stuff you bring, just the content.  I will say that nearly every time Alec has been to the US since 2015 (~6 or 7), TSA has searched his bags and left their calling card!

[Cenobite30 4]

4 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

I'm probably even older 😉

 

Its really just up to the airlines.  Customs doesn't care about the volume of stuff you bring, just the content.  I will say that nearly every time Alec has been to the US since 2015 (~6 or 7), TSA has searched his bags and left their calling card!

I was always under the (probably mistaken) impression that Customs objects to bringing stuff above a certain dollar value. But maybe that was just for business.

 

Full Disclosure: I'm only 33. But I work for an organization which ages people prematurely, so I feel quite older. Guys who are 33 usually look 53. Their bones often feel that way, too. 😄

 

Thank you very much for your advice.

[TBoneTX 45,303]

Country-specific thread is moved from the "Moving to the US" forum to the Russia/Ukraine/Belarus regional forum, for first-person insights.

[DaveAndAnastasia 2,092]

I think Aeroflot charges 100 Euros for the first additional checked bag on Economy (so the second) for a flight to the US from Russia, and more than that for additional bags.

 

But my fiancee says she's not bringing much, since the climate in San Diego is just a bit different than she's got back at home and anything she brought she'd have to carry herself on the train from her hometown to Moscow and from the train station to the airport ...

[Cenobite30 4]

3 hours ago, DaveAndAnastasia said:

I think Aeroflot charges 100 Euros for the first additional checked bag on Economy (so the second) for a flight to the US from Russia, and more than that for additional bags.

 

But my fiancee says she's not bringing much, since the climate in San Diego is just a bit different than she's got back at home and anything she brought she'd have to carry herself on the train from her hometown to Moscow and from the train station to the airport ...

I was afraid of something like that. I remember when I lived there I used the Russian post to send three or four large boxes to the US. I asked for the cheapest shipping, and I think it was something like $15 per box to transport them on a ship. It took maybe a month and a half for everything to arrive, but it got there.

 

What makes me hesitate with that is my wife's thought that the Russian post is terribly unreliable, that things regularly go missing or get stolen. I don't know if that is some kind of unfair prejudice on her part. I just know she would be very sad if a whole box of her shoes went missing. 😄

[Shiran 1,134]

On 8/31/2018 at 12:32 PM, DaveAndAnastasia said:

I think Aeroflot charges 100 Euros for the first additional checked bag on Economy (so the second) for a flight to the US from Russia, and more than that for additional bags.

 

But my fiancee says she's not bringing much, since the climate in San Diego is just a bit different than she's got back at home and anything she brought she'd have to carry herself on the train from her hometown to Moscow and from the train station to the airport ...

When my family moved from USSR to San Diego, we brought virtually nothing as far as clothes. Weren't allowed to bring old silverware due to it being old enough to not have a proper stamp. We shipped some of the books ahead of us, and brought a lot of cooking utensils and porcelain plates and the like. We were told it is impossible to find good cast iron pots "kazans" Those are still in use to this day.

 

Also this 

 

Edited September 1, 2018 by Shiran

[Dashinka 24,505]

My wife has made several trips back to visit her mother and brought back possessions (mostly clothes) each time.  As to books and heavy stuff, we did use the Russian post and everything did eventually arrive intact although one package took almost six weeks.

 

Good Luck!