 Poster: A snowHead
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Here's the scenario. We live in Surrey and will be at our place in the far north of Scotland the week before Christmas. We are skiing in Italy from Boxing day and will fly from Inverness to Milan (probably) via Gatwick
I am trying to avoid having to take all our skiing stuff with us to Scotland and then back again to LGW as we have everything we need in Scotland for our week there and never take anything other than small hand luggage. I looked at Gatwick left luggage but it's probably going to be £70 per item (3 items) if we leave it there when we fly up to Inverness and even if we do take it all up to Inverness there's the cost of the luggage on the plane (and having to get a much bigger car to fit the ski bag in as we normally get the smallest car available)
Additionally for logistical reasons our first night in Italy will be in an airport hotel as we arrive too late to do a transfer.
Anyone been in a similar situation ?
I found https://www.sendmybag.com
Anyone used them (or a similar service) ? Bear in mind that when we send it we must be able to guarantee it arrives before we do ! Are hotels amenable to this sort of behaviour ?
BTW, we would just bring it back on the plane from Italy to our Surrey home
Any hints tips etc welcome !
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I have used sendmybag. Thought they were good, very reasonable compared to other quotes and informative at all stages if the transaction. But this was for a simple suitcase goong from Belfast to London when we were there at the other end to receive it.
Make sure its well labelled and done as they dictate. Carefully check dimensions.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@dsoutar, Taxi meets you at Gatwick with your bags, friends/ neighbours load taxi up at your house in Surrey?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@Markymark29, that sounds like a good plan for@dsoutar,
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Used sendmybag in the UK but never going abroad. I don't think that you can guarantee a delivery date with it.
And what's wrong with Edinburgh - Milan. Dunno what counts as the far North for you, but Edinburgh's about 3 hrs south of Inverness.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Actually having read this again I would just leave in left luggage at. Gatwick if you are going to be flyi ng that way. Or why not have the luggage in your car there. Friends of ours son and family had two weeks in Thailand , back to Gatwick, they did a quick swap of clothes in the car park picked up the ski bags and were off to Tignes a few hours later.
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I looked into this and felt it was a bit stressful , you know what couriers are like , id be paranoid they would be late or you'd miss the time slot and struggle to find the depot etc and converse in Italian to sort it all out.
I gave it a miss but its a good idea in theory
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@Pamski, That's the one! Expensive but it'd work...probably no more cost than a taxi though.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I wouldn't take the risk of trying to collect stuff at LGW on the way through. What if... flights delayed, or you end up being diverted somewhere else from INV... suddenly big problem to collect bags at LGW from left-luggage or a taxi. Far too big a risk IMHO.
Definitely a courier to final destination in Italy. No experience of sendmybag, I'm afraid. But I have often arranged to send packages to hotels in advance of arrival in the past, in various EU countries. Usually no problem to sort out with hotel reception. I'd be wary of sending to the airport hotel, though - better to aim to have the stuff in resort.
However, I'd seriously consider having ski kit in the Highlands at that time of year - the snow might just be lovely 
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Drive to Scotland and back
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Bear in mind that when we send it we must be able to guarantee it arrives before we do ! Are hotels amenable to this sort of behaviour ?
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If it's a proper hotel, I can't imagine them NOT amenable to receive luggage.
But as others suggest, I'd sent the luggage to your final destination in resort, not at the airport hotel.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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If you went skiing in Switzerland you could check them in en route to Scotland and they'd be delivered to your hotel. For a remarkably small fee.
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Have used "carry my luggage" previously - was impressed at the service and communication through the process. They have an online quote and book system - looks like a large suitcase will cost £70 one way.
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You know it makes sense.
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I used sendmybags last winter to send our skis to the Dolomites and was happy with their sevice, we were staying in a chalet which I contacted directly to make sure that it was OK with them, the bags arrived a day early which could have been a problem but fortunately someone was there to take delivery, I would hope that a hotel would be better for a delivery as someone would normally be at reception. One thing I was unhappy about was that they wanted to charge extra for remote pickup/delivery for our address, we are not remote and just used our sons Edinburgh address instead. Incidentally they used DHL for delivery.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Has anyone used www.skis2you.com ? I'm considering it but it would be nice to hear that somebody had a good experience.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I've used Piste of Mind before (Jan 2014) and it was a disaster - skis picked up from Surrey a day later than originally advised and then completely lost somewhere en route. Their customer "service" was a painful experience. I had thought they were on the brink of closing (the only office admin left during my experience with them) and a search for their website brings up page cannot be displayed. They used to be on here @pisteofmindltd
www.skis2u.com looks to have closed down and Valet Alpin (a 2013/14 start-up) looks not to have made it to the end of the season. Seems it's difficult to turn a profit on this type of venture - but there are so many moving parts and other service providers to rely on to get it right for the customer it's probably not that surprising a price for good service that turns a profit is too much for most people who would rather pay airline costs if there's little difference.
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