Finally Coming to the U.S. together ...

[NY-Viking]

Well, I've been away from CFL for a while. I'm working briefly in Shanghai at the moment, but will be returning to the U.S. in a few weeks (finally) with my fiancee.

 

My fiancee just bought these huge suitcases to carry all her belongings in. I'm just wondering what experiences people have had.

 

I'll know what the official airline stipulations are as to what you can carry, and I'll make sure we meet them, but I was interested in hearing some experiences about people carrying everything including the kitchen sink. Any problems at check-in? At U.S. Customs? Fitting everything in the car? etc.

 

I'll let you know how it goes too ...

[frank1538]

Jingwen and the kids also used large suitcases which contained mostly clothes (old and new), shoes, cosmetics, CD's, VCD's, linens, herbs, tea, and a few electronic things that I had previously bought such as the camcorder. I was fully prepared to pay excess baggage charges, but the biggest suitcase came in a few ounces under the limit (I'm too old to remember what the limit was). In all, I think we had about 6 suitcases plus carry ons for the four of us.

 

Checking in at the airport in Guangzhou was not a problem but you might be pressured to use the suitcase tape wrap services (optional) for an additional fee.

 

We entered the US at SFO, and clearing customs was routine. We filled out the declarations form. I can't remember the details but I recall that we listed most of the stuff. No bags were checked by customs.

 

I had thought about using a limo (actually cheaper than parking the car at the airport for three weeks) but opted to drive. Fortunately, I drive a wagon, so transporting the luggage home was not a problem.