How Much Can We Bring Through Customs?

My fiancee is hopefully moving to the UK from the US in December. We will be carrying all her things on the plane. My question is, how much can we bring through customs and still walk through the green channel i.e. not pay duty?

Thanks

Mike

Because it's all personal belongings, you don't have to declare any of it.  I went through the green channel when I moved over (3 suitcases and 2 carryons).  I don't think there was even anyone at the red side to check with. 

Same for us...we had 14 bags and we walked straight through.  I did take all the tags of anything new I had purchased prior to coming over...(i.e. some clothes, converters, etc). 

I don't think there is a limit for personal belongings, however be very carful on the weight of the bags, try and even things out to below 50lbs per bag, that way you won't get charged extra baggage AND an overweight charge.

that way you won't get charged extra baggage AND an overweight charge.

Are you sure they can charge you twice? I had an overweight bag and an extra bag (on Virgin) once and they only charged me for one of the two problems....

Yup! Delta spells it out very nicely that you will be charged $100 for an extra bag, and $25 for overweight. An overweight extra bag is $125.

Maybe you just got a cool agent. 

Are you sure they can charge you twice? I had an overweight bag and an extra bag (on Virgin) once and they only charged me for one of the two problems....

Just on that point and one I may raise in another thread - Customer Service between US and UK based Airlines - UK based seem to be far more accommodating.  US Airlines sometime are just plain rude

Yup! Delta spells it out very nicely that you will be charged $100 for an extra bag, and $25 for overweight. An overweight extra bag is $125.

Ditto -- I did American this time, and the trip before that, Continental -- overweight and an extra bag both trips, and the same type of thing (paying for both).

Just as a useful point - United charge $100 extra for any bags over 2 per person (50 lbs limit per bag). This seems quite cheap to me to ship 50 lbs of stuff over?

Mike

Just as a useful point - United charge $100 extra for any bags over 2 per person (50 lbs limit per bag). This seems quite cheap to me to ship 50 lbs of stuff over?

After pricing what it'd cost to ship my belongings (clothes, a few books and dvds, cat stuff, other personal items - no furniture or anything) via the post office or through a shipping company like upackweship, we realized that it was actually going to be cheaper to buy an extra plane ticket and pay to carry over a few extra bags!  So we did - it was $600 for the ticket and $200 total for the baggage - I flew Delta with a laptop carryon and four bags weighing 40-50lbs each, so paid $100 each for bags #3 and #4 - and then spent the next couple of days unpacking, so that there'd be less to do when I arrived for good. 

I took a couple of the empty bags back with me, repacked them, and flew BA (which isn't dropping their baggage limit from 70lbs to 50lbs until after the new year) over in October when I moved for good with my cats - this time I had two large bags (58lbs and 63lbs, I think), one small carryon suitcase and my laptop bag, and didn't pay any extra charges.  Both times, I walked through the green customs channel with no problems - since I was moving my used household goods for purposes of resettlement, I wasn't liable to pay any duty on my belongings.

If there's going to be two of y'all flying, and you're trying to transport a similar amount of stuff (300-400lbs, and all of a size that'll fit in a suitcase), I'd seriously recommend doing the same thing - I didn't have to fill out any customs forms, since my belongings were accompanied, and I didn't have to worry about my stuff getting lost (except for the ever-present worry of lost luggage).  It was fantastic being able to pack my bags the night before, fly over, drive home from the airport and have my stuff already at hand.  And it only cost $800 extra - $600 for the extra flight, resulting in a week in the UK getting things unpacked and settled, plus $200 total on top of regular baggage allowances for about 400lbs of stuff.  We also wound up shipping one box via airmail - 50lbs was $198, and would have been over $100 if we'd shipped it surface mail (6-8 weeks), so we figured $100 for 50lbs and "overnight" service was a deal.

Another fan of shipping via extra baggage fees here though when I did it the allowances were 70lbs/bag and Aer Lingus charged only $75 for an extra bag. Things have changed since then.

It's prob easier if you're traveling in a group, but I did manage to pull it off solo by pointedly asking 2 big guys if they would help me get my stuff off the carousel and on to the carts.

My company had sent a driver to pick me up and the look on his face when he saw me pushing 2 carts with 6 massive bags on them was priceless. 

We brought 4 large suitcases, 4 carryons, and 4 large rubbermaid containers on our first trip.  The 2nd one 6 weeks later, we brought 4 large suitcases, 3 large rubbermaids and 2 large scubadive gear bags and 1 large underwater camera case.  We paid excess baggage on the overage, but it was all still cheaper than shipping through  a company.  We were able to bring household things, clothing, scuba gear, medical books - and all for an extra $120 per 70lb extra.  The weight allowance has gone down to 50lbs per bag/extra container, but so has the price - not sure what it is now - but this was all with Continental.  To seal the rubbermaids - we punched holes in the top through the container and put zipties in the holes.  We placed an inventory in each and extra zipties in case customs opened the containers and could reseal them.  NO Problem with any of it!  Good luck

Oh my goodness-- I never would have thought of this. Thank you all so much for this wonderful suggestion!

My only concern...

Being a person with no concept at all of physics, and who is fairly terrified to be on 10.5 hour flight in a huge plane as it is... well, is it safe to bring extra baggage? I mean, I always assumed that the weight restrictions were due to the fact that if the plane gets too heavy or overloaded, it has a much more difficult time staying up in the air. A rudiculous worry, I'm sure, but please-- someone reassure me!!

Oh my goodness-- I never would have thought of this. Thank you all so much for this wonderful suggestion!

My only concern...

Being a person with no concept at all of physics, and who is fairly terrified to be on 10.5 hour flight in a huge plane as it is... well, is it safe to bring extra baggage? I mean, I always assumed that the weight restrictions were due to the fact that if the plane gets too heavy or overloaded, it has a much more difficult time staying up in the air. A rudiculous worry, I'm sure, but please-- someone reassure me!!

Here's what I think... some people bring their full baggage allowance; some bring more, some just bring a carry on. It probably evens out in the end. I am pretty sure that if the baggage  and people on board are going to be over capacity, they would put the bags on a different flight? I have never heard of a plane going down because it was too heavy!

The baggage allowance has more to do with the baggage handlers.  Workman's comp won't cover them if the lift bags larger than... 

We came through with 7 huuuge duffel bags and two big suitcases.   We sailed through customs no problems.