Planning a big shopping spree during your holiday? Don’t get caught by hefty airline charges for excess baggage – check out our top five tips on excess baggage . We’ll help you experience the best the world has to offer, save money – and get those souvenirs home safely.

1. Know your limits

Serious shoppers take a half empty suitcase, with an extra foldable bag inside. Check your luggage weight before you leave, so you can estimate how much more you can carry. And remember, when you travel to and from the US you can usually take two suitcases per person – so if you start with one empty one, you can stock up on some outlet mall bargains!

2. Unexpected treasures

You may not have planned on it, but that tribal mask or unusual Spanish paella dish just has to come home with you. And it will certainly bring back wonderful memories in years to come – but not if it ends up broken in the aircraft hold. For bulky or fragile items, it’s worth asking the shop or dealer if they can arrange direct shipping for you. Wine is another good purchase to ship separately – you can’t take liquids on board when flying around the US or Europe, and you don’t want to open up your suitcase and find everything soaked in merlot.

3. The true cost of your purchase

With rising fuel costs, airlines are less likely to grant you any grace on your measly 20kg economy limit. So, if you are trying to bring home an extra 20kg bag, you could pay up to $960 in excess baggage. Ouch! You can choose to ship that from the airport as unaccompanied baggage, but it won’t be priority, and you’ll have to pay extra handling and customs charges.

4. So how can I get it all home?

There are many air cargo companies that specialise in excess baggage. And you’ll pay around $4-$10 per kilo to most destinations, including all the clearance fees. If you’re sending less than 100kg, it’s usually cheaper to send it by air and it should only take 3-5 days. Your hotel may be able to help you arrange a pick-up – just make sure the carrier is fully bonded, like any removalist.

5. And don’t forget the paperwork

If you send anything separately, you’ll need to complete customs paperwork declaring that it is for your personal use. Any wooden items, such as furniture from Bali, may be quarantined on arrival. And make sure your goods are covered by shipping insurance if your own travel flight insurance doesn’t cover unaccompanied luggage.

It’s always exciting to pick up unusual souvenirs and gifts when you travel – just make sure you don’t end up paying a lot more than you bargained for!

More helpful information:

• Looking after your luggage
• Airport security, customs & baggage
• What luggage to pack for long flights

Tags: Excess Baggage

This entry was posted on Monday, May 31st, 2010 at 7:46 am and is filed under Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.