Shipping a few Boxes to Oahu (fit in, how much, purchase)

[derekac]

Does anyone know of the cheapest way to ship a few boxes to Oahu? Probably 4 boxes weighing an average of 40 pounds each. Not books or dvds, probably some nick nacks and some extra clothing that couldn't go on the plane with us. We are moving from Connecticut to Oahu and have decided to bring the absolute minimum with us: the max bag limit on the plane, a few boxes of media mail, and hopefully a few boxes of nick nacks and paddy wacks. My issue is (and maybe this is just the reality) that according to the USPS website its about $220 to send a 2'x2'x2' box weighing 30 pounds to Oahu.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.
Derek

[nullgeo]

Originally Posted by derekac

Does anyone know of the cheapest way to ship a few boxes to Oahu? Probably 4 boxes weighing an average of 40 pounds each. Not books or dvds, probably some nick nacks and some extra clothing that couldn't go on the plane with us. We are moving from Connecticut to Oahu and have decided to bring the absolute minimum with us: the max bag limit on the plane, a few boxes of media mail, and hopefully a few boxes of nick nacks and paddy wacks. My issue is (and maybe this is just the reality) that according to the USPS website its about $220 to send a 2'x2'x2' box weighing 30 pounds to Oahu.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.
Derek

Cheapest for what you describe is Parcel Post, through the US Postal Service. No question about it. Got to have a good address for delivery, though -- and not be in any hurry. And yes, it is expensive anyway.

[in_my_travels]

Hi derekac,

This is the route that I've taken to get my stuff back to Hawaii (the bare minimum really).

I Booked my flight on Alaska Airlines, specifically for the baggage fee. It's $20 for the first three baggage and $50 for the fourth or more each. The baggage can be no more than 162 linear inches (L + W + H). One bag is roughly the size of a military duffel bag and totals 53.5 linear inches. Each baggage may weigh up to 50 pounds.

It's cheaper to ship boxes via USPS using the flat rate boxes. If you purchase it online, you'll save a little money. You can ship up to 70 pounds per box. They're small, but eh, you can't beat the flat rate price:

Large box is $14.50 offline, or $13.95 online [12 x 12 x 5-1/2 inches]
Medium box is $10.70 offline, or $10.20 online [11" X 8.5" X 5.5"]
Small box is $4.95 offline, or $4.85 online [8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8"]

It's really the best solution I've found to date. The rates are the highest (Shipping Zone 8 for Hawaii on the USPS shipping chart). The parcel post rate to Zone 8 is $34.25 for 30 pounds.

You can also use a freight forwarding company. I got rates for a company shipping out of Portland, Oregon, so it'd be different for you. A 4-foot high pallet of file folder boxes was quoted at $270.

I hope that helps!

[derekac]

I Booked my flight on Alaska Airlines, specifically for the baggage fee. It's $20 for the first three baggage and $50 for the fourth or more each. The baggage can be no more than 162 linear inches (L + W + H). One bag is roughly the size of a military duffel bag and totals 53.5 linear inches. Each baggage may weigh up to 50 pounds.

Island Girl,
I am being quite serious when I say: You may be a genius. Seriously, that is the best advice i think I've ever received from a question i never expected to get a response to. I just checked kayak.com to figure out some flights, and by sitting in the Seattle Airport for an extra few hours I'm going to be able to bring way more stuff and save myself the price of a rack of Maui Dark Rum on shipping.

Koodos to you for your in-depth thought process and research abilities.

Where did you get your quote on the pallet from? At this point it probably doesn't matter but I'm curious since most of my quotes were about 10x that.

Derek

[in_my_travels]

Oh my gosh. Thanks Derek! I really do love research. You know that internet provider commercial where it says, "You have reached the end of the internet?" Yeah, that's me! I like to say MacGiver is my middle name, too.

Of course, I don't have a job now and I really did do the best I could to find out the cheapest way to get what little I have left back home.

The quote I got was from Hawaii Ocean Transport.

I called them directly because they ask for quite a bit of information on their website. I didn't know all the specs. I just asked if I had a pallet of 3, 4 or 5 feet high, weighing 200, 300, 400 pounds, how much would it be. If anyone is curious, the quotes were $328.59, $428.50, and $520.07 respectively. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought it was $270. Sorry about that.

Yeah! Fly Alaska! For four boxes/bags, it's $110. And add another box/bag, it's $160. That's still very reasonable for 250 pounds of stuff. How can you beat that? I wanted to fly Hawaiian, but the baggage fees scratched that plan.

I'm so happy I could help you figure out your plans.

[surfergirlie]

Originally Posted by derekac

Does anyone know of the cheapest way to ship a few boxes to Oahu? Probably 4 boxes weighing an average of 40 pounds each. Not books or dvds, probably some nick nacks and some extra clothing that couldn't go on the plane with us. We are moving from Connecticut to Oahu and have decided to bring the absolute minimum with us: the max bag limit on the plane, a few boxes of media mail, and hopefully a few boxes of nick nacks and paddy wacks. My issue is (and maybe this is just the reality) that according to the USPS website its about $220 to send a 2'x2'x2' box weighing 30 pounds to Oahu.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.
Derek

Did you ever find out the best to use etc to Oahu? I'm leaving in Oct 2010.

[Jimbo's]

Originally Posted by IslandGirlGoingHome

Hi derekac,

This is the route that I've taken to get my stuff back to Hawaii (the bare minimum really).

I Booked my flight on Alaska Airlines, specifically for the baggage fee. It's $20 for the first three baggage and $50 for the fourth or more each. The baggage can be no more than 162 linear inches (L + W + H). One bag is roughly the size of a military duffel bag and totals 53.5 linear inches. Each baggage may weigh up to 50 pounds.

It's cheaper to ship boxes via USPS using the flat rate boxes. If you purchase it online, you'll save a little money. You can ship up to 70 pounds per box. They're small, but eh, you can't beat the flat rate price:

Large box is $14.50 offline, or $13.95 online [12 x 12 x 5-1/2 inches]
Medium box is $10.70 offline, or $10.20 online [11" X 8.5" X 5.5"]
Small box is $4.95 offline, or $4.85 online [8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8"]

It's really the best solution I've found to date. The rates are the highest (Shipping Zone 8 for Hawaii on the USPS shipping chart). The parcel post rate to Zone 8 is $34.25 for 30 pounds.

You can also use a freight forwarding company. I got rates for a company shipping out of Portland, Oregon, so it'd be different for you. A 4-foot high pallet of file folder boxes was quoted at $270.

I hope that helps!

Very well thought out, I did both with Parcel Post and as Luggage and you hit the nail right on the head

[in_my_travels]

Right on! Thanks, Jimbo. It pays to do research well in advance.

If I were to do it over again, I'd max out my baggage allowance on the plan. It's just too easy to ship everything with you.

[PomDaddy]

I need help. I live in Florida and was selling things on e-bay and usually just post will ship to U.S. only. Well in 15 years of selling this is the first time someone other than the lower 48 has won an auction. It's a pair of shoes and will be in that size of box. The shoes are light I would say with box under a pound. How should I ship this to not end up giving away a free pair of shoes plus paying some of MY money to ship it there? My shipping quotes have always been for the lower 48. Help??

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Well, now you know that Alaska and Hawaii are part of the US

Will the shoes fit in a USPS flat rate box? It really is the cheapest way to ship to Hawaii.