Worldwide express delivery company, Mail Boxes, has introduced a new scheme that allows business travellers to send their luggage ahead of a trip and have it waiting for them at their hotel.
In response to a 150% increase in customers using Mail Boxes” services to forward their bags rather than check them in, the company now promises to get business travellers” luggage delivered to their destination when deposited at a Mail Boxes office 24-hours or more before their flight.
”This works best for long haul travel and you really don”t need to plan that far in advance,” said Mail Boxes chairman, Simon Cowie. ”For example, if you”re flying to New York in the evening, you can have your luggage despatched the day before and it would be at your hotel when you arrive late evening.”
Admittedly, says Cowie, ”the service doesn”t come cheap, but the real advantage is convenience. It allows the traveller to cut down on the hassle factor, as not having luggage means faster check-in. It also reduces the worry about whether a bag will turn up at the other end.”
Mail Boxes quotes figures from the Association of European Airlines, which show that on average 15.7 bags out of every 1,000 are delayed or lost, with BA mishandling 23 per 1,000 ” largely due to problems with transferring luggage onto connecting flights.
To avoid this issue, Mail Boxes uses carriers with hold space on freight rather than passenger airlines, where all luggage is consolidated rather than loose-loaded to ensure bags are kept together. It claims to beat commercial airlines hands-down with less than 0.5% of items going astray.
If company expenses aren”t an issue, sending an average-sized suitcase to New York by express delivery (one day) would cost approximately ”150 ($300) and the earlier you can dispatch your bag, the cheaper it becomes.
Current restrictions on hand luggage make travelling without checking-in luggage difficult for business travellers who need to carry a laptop and important documents, as well as personal belongings. Sending ahead a small suitcase with clothes and toiletries could perhaps be useful to avoid the extra time spent waiting at what Mail Boxes somewhat dramatically refers to as ”the Carousel of Despair.”
The service could also help those combining work with leisure and perhaps extending their stay for a holiday after their meetings, as sports equipment such as golf clubs or skis can also be sent ahead.