luggage advice

[Jeri Lynn]

Hi Everyone,
My daughter is going to college in San Bernardino Ca for this semester. I am making arrangements to fly her home in the beginning of December.

She will be fitting everything she brought into two duffle bags to check in. She bought a small flat screened tv for her room.

I'm trying to find the best way for her to get that home. Are there places that handle shipping something like that, should I have her take it as a carry on?

She will be by herself coming home so she will have to handle her duffle bags, her backpack with her laptop/ipad and then the TV which I believe is a 19 inch tv.

I told her ideally she should try and sell it but I doubt she will do that.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[SBETigg]

Selling it would be a good idea, I agree. But any place that ships things, like UPS, should be able to help her. They will also help pack it properly. If she was returning to the same school, they might have storage options on campus. But if it's just a one semester experience, shipping it would be a safer option than trying to carry it home herself, I think.

[NewDVCowner]

Just make sure that it's insured from where ever it gets shipped from. My mom shipped her pricey sewing machine to North Carolina to make my sisters wedding dress. When she shipped it back to California the box must have been run over by a truck there was so much damage. However UPS was very good about paying the cost of the new machine. Their policy may be written that it will only cover if they're the ones that packed it, so that's something she should look into.

[Jeri Lynn]

Thanks! I found a UPS store in San Bernadino and sent her the info.

Hopefully that will be one less thing to worry about!

[Ed]

I work around airline baggage handlers every day, and I can categorically say DO NOT put a TV in checked baggage! To put it as diplomatically as possible, those guys are less than gentle handling your baggage. :badpc:

Carryon is also not the best option. Airlines limit you to one carryon bag of limited size and one "personal item", such as a purse, laptop case, etc. A 19" TV would probably exceed the size limits.

I have shipped lots of items through our local UPS Store. They professionally and securely package everything, insure it, and deliver it quite promptly. Nothing I have shipped through them has ever been damaged or lost.