[Alex]

Hi Everyone,

I have been reading the posts here for a week or so now and am getting a really good insight into emigrating and all the small things that you may forget, but that are really important. I wanted to get your opinions on shipping to NZ and what you have done / intend to do?

We're intending coming over from the UK next August / September and were wondering whether people just started from scratch - i.e. sold up everything before leaving, or whether you shipped your stuff over. It's just dawning on us the amount of things we own ("Do we need all this stuff?!" is a regular expression in our house!), so were thinking maybe we should take the opportunity for a clear out?! If you had to do it all over again, would you bring all your things over, or leave them behind? And how do the costs compare to shipping - which seems to be around £3,000 - to buying posessions in NZ?

Thought the thread on what people brought in their luggage was excellent, plenty of good info in there! From looking on airline websites, am I right that flying from the UK, the allowance is 22kgs / person...or have you been able to negotiate a more generous quota?

Cheers,
Alex and Sarah

[Tanya]

Thought the thread on what people brought in their luggage was excellent, plenty of good info in there! From looking on airline websites, am I right that flying from the UK, the allowance is 22kgs / person...or have you been able to negotiate a more generous quota?

Cheers,
Alex and Sarah

If you come on Air NZ and fly via LA (Some people say the LA transit is hell - but it is okay really!) then you are allowed 2 suitcases each not exceeding 32kg each (Total 64kg per person!) It is their standard allowance - nothing to do with immigrating. For that reason alone - LA is worth it!

Tanya

[tigerlily]

Alex-

Welcome and on the topic of what to take...

With a few exceptions I would hazard to say that quite a few people on this forum have reccomended bringing it all with you. Well, all of it that you would end up replacing when you got to NZ. It seems from what I've read that many house holds can make their belongings fit into a 20 ft container. In a perfect world, you would have an employer to pay for that container. But quotes were reasonable enough so many people here seem to have paid for it themselves and still found it to be worth it.

I'm still finding it a wonderful excuse to dispose of many items that I've been collecting in my basement and closets for years now. I just got back from two trips to the donation center and I'm feeling like progress has been made.

The psychology aspect of having your own belongings around you seems to come up here a lot. It's really home when that rug arrives/painting is hung/your comfy bed is set up. When I first came to this site, I was more in the chuck it all frame of mind. I'm a turtle at heart and the idea of going with 2 suitcases and starting all over was very exciting. But I've heeded the advice of those who go before and am now planning to ship more. A lot of it depends on where you are in your life. I've got kids and a housefull of furniture. If I was just married and starting a new life with only dorm furniture to leave behind that would be different. So the answer is not the same for everyone.

Best of luck!

[Singel]

Hello Alex and Sarah, welcome to the forum.

If you tell the airlines that you are emigrating, they will increase your luggage allowance to something like 64 kg for each person.

Good luck with your move :nice1

[jubjub]

We bought everything apart from the cars, from a small 4 bed house it all fitted in a 20ft!

We survivied here for about 8 weeks or so with a small amount of rented furniture/white goods until ours arrived. In answer to what would we have left behind? Nothing, somehow its all found a home!

[Alex]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I am think that we will probably end up bringing all of our things over, the only concerns now are storing it this end and maybe in NZ, while we find somewhere to live!


If you tell the airlines that you are emigrating, they will increase your luggage allowance to something like 64 kg for each person.


On flying over and the luggage allowance - is the 64 Kg allowance available flying east, or is it just flying via LAX? I've seen a few prices via LAX and they seem to be really expensive - £5k, as opposed to ~£650 flying via Dubai or Singapore (on expedia)...am I missing the cheaper fares?

[jo b]

Alex

your shippers might be able to store stuff for you free in the UK and if you time your shipment right it will give you a few weeks to find a rental before your container arrives.

Jo

[Tanya]

On flying over and the luggage allowance - is the 64 Kg allowance available flying east, or is it just flying via LAX?

Flying via America only I believe

Tanya

[Tanya]

I've seen a few prices via LAX and they seem to be really expensive - £5k, as opposed to ~£650 flying via Dubai or Singapore (on expedia)...am I missing the cheaper fares?


Just put a date on the website for flight next August - £644 per person - flying via LA one way - pretty good considering it is cheaper than flying via dubai and the baggage allowance!

Tanya

[Tara Sage]

We came via LA the allowance maybe great but we found the airport a total nightmare! wouldn't come that way again but thats just because of our bad experience.

[Tanya]

Like I said earlier up the thread, some people think LA is hell! We have done it a few times now with 2 children. If you get up and move when they ask you to wait if you are only transiting, you get through quickly and have a good hour or so to clean your self up, have a free coffee/coke etc.

Its a couple of hours to sacrifice out of your life for so much extra baggage allowance. Each to their own!

Many other carriers have a changeover which they try to include a few hours in their country in the hope you will spend money there - personally I prefer to get the journey over with!

Tanya

[Miffy]

Ship as much stuff over as you can!
Take everything!
By all means have a clear out and get rid of unwanted toot / clutter (do you really need all your schools books from age 5? if so bring 'em or store them in the folks loft ;) )
Ian (the bloke) wanted to e-bay most / all of our possiones and get new once we arrived. I managed to convience him to ship everything (due to recommendations / stories on here) and thank god I did! White goods for example are more expensive here. In the UK you can get a microwave for under 35 quid, here the cheapest is around the $100 also down here in the south of the south island there is not as much choice / variety of stuff - might be different up north in the 'big' cities.

As for flying over we went to trail finders and flew via LA. 64 kg of luggage! It even worked out cheper than the cheapest flights going the other way, although we did loose a day (I'll never have a 28th April 2005 :( )

LA was okay. bit confusing as we went with our mountain bikes. These bike bags had to be checked in at the actual check in desk where as our regular hold luggage was checked in 'air side'. So we had to lug our bike bags around the airport. Could have got a trolly but didn't have a dollar coin ...
We still had enough time to get a drink / go to the loo and have a wash etc.

[Alex]

Ship as much stuff over as you can!
Take everything!
White goods for example are more expensive here. In the UK you can get a microwave for under 35 quid, here the cheapest is around the $100 also down here in the south of the south island there is not as much choice / variety of stuff - might be different up north in the 'big' cities.


Thanks everyone for the advice. I think we'll have to brave LAX...it may turn out to the be only time we fly that way, but like you've said 64Kg makes it worth it (I'll pack a book on zen-thinking). I'd also heard that white goods were more expensive, and so armed with the posts here I will try and convince the missus of the need to ship our things! She will then say that most of our white goods were second hand from friends! :laugh

Did anyone ship their car over too? Would anyone recommend shipping their car over? Are there any known issues with this - tax, CO2 emissions etc?

Thanks once again.

[baboonworld]

White goods for example are more expensive here. In the UK you can get a microwave for under 35 quid, here the cheapest is around the $100 also down here in the south of the south island there is not as much choice / variety of stuff - might be different up north in the 'big' cities.



Miffy ! $100 is £38! You have been down under too long!

But can you tell me how much a dishwasher / washaing machine would cost - and also can you buy Dysons???

[UktoKiwi]

I just cannot understand why so many people advocate taking all their stuff, unless you have sentimental or other special reasons such as you have very expensive furniture or belongings. It is extremely difficult to justify doing so when you take into account:-
A) The cost of the shipping
B) The time spent organising, worrying and the aggravation including problems of storage and delivery etc.
C) The amount of money you can raise selling some of your belongings on the likes of ebay.
D) The satisfaction you can get giving some of your stuff to charities or friends and family.
E) Being able to have lots of new furniture, electrical items and effects.

The only items we are considering sending by sea and then only if we can justify the cost (except for some paintings) is the following:-
Ski Equipment (if we cannot take in luggage allowance on plane)
Quite a few paintings that we like so much.
Some books and Manuals we want to keep.
Some sporting & cycling accessories.
Maybe a Computer CCU (but not the monitor) (again may go in luggage)
A nice leather sofa & chair & maybe some other large sports equipment such as bicycles.
And maybe some clothes and a few childrens toys.
Except for the paintings all will have to justify itself cost wise.

[ShakerMike]

Just a word of warning to those thinking of flying LAX. As far as I can tell, the US now insists that everyone has a machine readable passport (barcode), and the amnesty for Brits on this has now expired.

I am trying to check whether this applies to only to people travellling to the US or whether it applies to everyone, including those in transit to other destinations.

Will let you know when I get an update

[tigerlily]

I just cannot understand why so many people advocate taking all their stuff, unless you have sentimental or other special reasons such as you have very expensive furniture or belongings. It is extremely difficult to justify doing so when you take into account:-
A) The cost of the shipping
...

I agree that there is a lot of cost with sending things. But the only options that I've seen are to ship a 20 ft container, a 40 ft container or to have things go as a fill in (which seems like more chance for loss or damage). Do you know of any way to save money? Shipping even a small box of books (at book rate) is insanely expensive from the US. I can't imagine what they would charge me for a sofa. It's more the total cost of my household effects (down to the mixing bowl and ironing board) added up. It would cost me more than the shipping rate to replace it. That's why I'm heading toward shipping (most) everything. After having a massive yard sale.

[jubjub]

Originally Posted by UktoKiwi
I just cannot understand why so many people advocate taking all their stuff, unless you have sentimental or other special reasons such as you have very expensive furniture or belongings. It is extremely difficult to justify doing so when you take into account:-
A) The cost of the shipping


When you consider it costs around £3500 to ship all your worldly goods, around $9000 - 10000, it is very worthwhile if it means you dont have to spend it all at the other end. You could not furnish a house for $10000, even if you sold off all your old stuff, you would maybe make a £2-3K, which would give you around $7000 gives you a total of $17000 to spend furnishing a house.

If all your old stuff is needing replaced anyway, then yes get rid of it and buy new here.

We spent around $2-300 on crockery, radiators and some bedding, and hired tv, sofa, bed, fridge total $1500 for three months.

All our stuff arrived, total spend around $10000, if we were buying new, it would have been a financially crippling experience, even if you just bought lounge suite, telly, fridge/freezer, microwave, washing machine and bed, you are looking at nearly $10000. and most of us need a lot more than that.

Bringing everything may not be the right decision for everyone, but I reckon 90% of folks that have had a house for a few years and have got newish stuff, its well worth it.

[ShakerMike]

Just a word of warning to those thinking of flying LAX. As far as I can tell, the US now insists that everyone has a machine readable passport (barcode), and the amnesty for Brits on this has now expired.

I am trying to check whether this applies to only to people travellling to the US or whether it applies to everyone, including those in transit to other destinations.

Will let you know when I get an update


UPDATE - I can confirm that you need a machine readable passport to transit through the US. For Brits, this probably means that if you passport is more than a couple of years old, you might have a problem

[Alex]

UPDATE - I can confirm that you need a machine readable passport to transit through the US. For Brits, this probably means that if you passport is more than a couple of years old, you might have a problem
Thanks Mike, good work :nice1