Bringing stuff back home (uk)

[Laszkowicz]

Hi guys !
Just joined and loving it.

What the deal with brining stuff back ?
We are taking 4 suitcases, and I was thinking of bringing some stuff home like Trainers, Clothes, maybe makeup my wife will buy and disney stuff.
(no alcohol or smoking itmes at all )
One lady in travel agents mentioned we might get hassle if we took 4 bags, and brought 5 bags back on return flight, and that there a limit to how many $$ worth of goodies you can bring back ?

Advise required.
Come'on its my first time in the US !!!

 

[Nicnic]

It depends on your airline.

Most airlines allow 1 bag per person with the option to pay for extra bags.

We fly Virgin and years ago, as a family of 3, you were allowed 2 bags each, so we would go out with 3 and come back with 5.
This year, as a family of 4, we are going out with 4 bags in economy as this is all they allow for free but coming back premium this allows more bags and will no doubt have more on the return, even if we were coming back economy, Virgin has the option to add bags on when you check in online for a fee.

 

[Laszkowicz]

Thanks. I did wonder this about a 5th bag.

Yes we are family of 4, and are going Virgin economy there & back so only get 4 bags allowance.
Shall I book an extra bag for the way home ?

If so whats your experience with bringing extra stuff home ? are they strict with brining stuff back ??

This raisies another Q, we can book in on return flight at Down Town disney as were staying on site, so could we book extra bag there a few days prior to leaving? ( we'd pay more right ?)

 

[Kath2003]

Take less stuff in the first place? You cannot possibly need 100kg of clothes...

The allowances for what you can bring into the UK can be found here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/arrivingnoneu.htm#1

 

[chmurf]

Hi guys !
Just joined and loving it.

What the deal with brining stuff back ?
We are taking 4 suitcases, and I was thinking of bringing some stuff home like Trainers, Clothes, maybe makeup my wife will buy and disney stuff.
(no alcohol or smoking itmes at all )
One lady in travel agents mentioned we might get hassle if we took 4 bags, and brought 5 bags back on return flight, and that there a limit to how many $$ worth of goodies you can bring back ?

Advise required.
Come'on its my first time in the US !!!

When you get back to the UK, you will get through UK Customs.
You have a £390 allowance per adult passenger (children might get a lower allowance, check with HM Revenue services)

This means that you are allowed to bring back goods with a total value less than £390 per adult passenger.
If you exceed this limit, you will have to pay duties (the same taxes you would pay on the value of the item if you had bought it in the UK)
Meaning that if you bring back £500 you'll need to pay a duty of 20% = £100
It's a good idea to keep all of your receipts to prove the value of the items you bring back

now that was for the letter of the law

what comes next is up to you

when you come back you have 2 options : declare or not to declare.
If you declare your goods and exceed the allowance, you have to pay the duties
If you don't declare it will depend if you get pulled out or not.
Obviously it's easier to get pulled out for a search if you have more suitcases than you have party members.
But going one way with 4 suitcases and back with 5 does not make a difference. The Customs officer doesn't know you have one more suitcase (and as a matter of fact, many people here come back with an extra suitcase)

If you get pulled out of the line and searched, then you're in trouble. Since you'll have to pay the duties and a fine (hefty)

There is one thing you should consider though (and I'm not talking about bending the rules, just using common sense) if you buy clothes, don't make it obvious that it's been bought abroad (take of price tags and such things). Wear the newest items for the trip and keep the "used" stuff in the suitcase (trainers for example).
Only buy a quantity that's for your own use. Do not buy the same item 10 times even if it sounds a good gift idea for your 10 siblings.

If you do get pulled at customs, what will be under scrutiny are the items that are visibly souvenirs, crafts, perfumes, alcohol (special allowance for alcohol and tobacco)

If you have less than £390 worth of souvenirs for each adult passenger, then you don't need to worry. Keep the receipts so you can prove you have less than the allowance, just in case.

 

[Laszkowicz]

Great adivse, and very thorough - thanks.

I intend to buy clothes as Ive heard they're so cheap, I might even bin some of my waredrobe when there and replace & wear them on the hol LOL

I can't see us bringing more than £390 worth home per adult.

Maybe a pair of trainers each, few tracksuits, shirts, jeans, dresses and makeup. & novelties.

we'll def wear some of the stuff we buy, and woudn't buy more than we needed for the 4 of us.

 

[Laszkowicz]

I think we only get 22kg each ( 88 total )

And my wife can't go away without 4 pair of shoes, hairdryer, straighteners, and own shampoo ect which all weigh's her case.

me n kids can travel light.
There's nothin you can't get in Amercia, right ?

 

[chmurf]

There's nothin you can't get in Amercia, right ?

If you have a car and some cash, then you're golden.

 

[Kath2003]

I think we only get 22kg each ( 88 total )

And my wife can't go away without 4 pair of shoes, hairdryer, straighteners, and own shampoo ect which all weigh's her case.

me n kids can travel light.
There's nothin you can't get in Amercia, right ?

Her straigteners probably won't work out there. Most struggle with the change in voltage. Hotels have hairdriers. Shampoo is cheaper out there. They sell shoes

 

[madasahat]

clothes are cheper but with the exchange rate not as cheap as they used to be

 

[queendisney]

Its 23kg per person on VA so you have an extra 1kg to play with there Also it is cheaper to pay for an extra suitcase before you go. We always go with two and come back with four! Mind you some times we don't actually buy much stuff and come back quite light on the allowance and overpay for two many suitcases. Other times we could do with 5 cases
As pp said what is allowed and what is done is up to you but as yet we have hardly ever seen anybody in the customs hall (nothing to declare side) when the big VA flights have landed at Gatwick. The only time we have seen them is when the VA flight from Orlando lands the same time as the one from Jamaica. I think they are well used to us all bulging at the seams with goodies and everybody seems to be wearing brand new trainers But obviously there is always a first time tobe stopped. We don't bring back alcohol or cigs either and everything else we buy we do as pp said and remove all tags etc. To be honest I don't think we are ever over the limit

 

[queendisney]

Take less stuff in the first place? You cannot possibly need 100kg of clothes...

The allowances for what you can bring into the UK can be found here:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/arrivingnoneu.htm#1

I think that when you first go to Florida you do tend to overpack, it takes a few times to realise that you maybe are not gonna need so much. I still have a tendancy to do the 'just in case I may need it' packing method instead of the 'throw it all on the bed and then put 90% of it back in the wardrobe' method I have gone before with about 8 different pairs of shoes etc and now have managed to just go with 3 and one of them will be trainers which I will throw and replace out there.

 

[Nicnic]

I think it is cheaper to book the extra return bag on line, otherwise yes you can pay at checking in at DTD on the day, the check in does not allow you to this any earlier than your departure day. Not sure what they will charge.

As for bringing stuff back, definitely do as pp said and take off all tags/labels/stickers, dont keep bags/receipts.

The amount in $ you can bring back has never affected the amount we buy, once bought my DH a new wedding ring aprox $800 plus clothes and toys but he wore the ring so there was no problem in having to declare it. We only buy for us, no one else so we probably do do it within the specified guidelines as a combined family.

Our plan this year is to get our t-shirts and shorts from primark, especially the kids as they are so cheap, then we will leave them there as they will not get anymore use out of them and hope to have the left clothes donated to charity, leaving more space in the cases!!

 

[Laszkowicz]

Thanks guys.

Really appreciated.
Ill check out the extra case for return only n discuss with the wife if she can go without anything lol.

 

[starrysky]

I think it is cheaper to book the extra return bag on line, otherwise yes you can pay at checking in at DTD on the day, the check in does not allow you to this any earlier than your departure day. Not sure what they will charge.

As for bringing stuff back, definitely do as pp said and take off all tags/labels/stickers, dont keep bags/receipts.

Our plan this year is to get our t-shirts and shorts from primark, especially the kids as they are so cheap, then we will leave them there as they will not get anymore use out of them and hope to have the left clothes donated to charity, leaving more space in the cases!!

We do the same buy cheap stuff to wear as buy the time you have sweated in it got sun scream on it or dropped a Mickey bar on it it's normally never going to get clean again. So I have left stuff there if its still ok I leave a bag with a note saying please donate to goodwill. Plus I don't care how cheap it is if it looks good enough to last the two weeks I'm happy to chuck it.

I cut tags off of everything and as a few PPs have said take all the tags off everything. Wear back what cost the most I remember DH wore his Harley leather jacket back as he was more worried about it going missing from his case but customs was the other thought.

Last bit of advice is layout all the stuff you plan to take and then put half of it away again. If you have washing facilities at your resort chuck a load on and go for a swim save you lugging all that extra stuff. And as for shampoo you can get all the brands over there you can get here. We had garden grocer deliver all our toiletries to us along with our snacks and beer save many kgs in weight. I decant a small amount to last first couple of days if we plan to go shopping our first couple of days I can then buy more.

 

[duffdo]

When I travel to WDW, I will make sure I take some clothes with me that I am happy to chuck in the bin or donate to good will. Normally I don't buy that much anyway in the way of clothes or shoes, as I have found that Orlando isn't as cheap as it used to be. If you have been to an outlet village in the UK, you will know that you can pick up some cheap deals there! What I do tend to shop for in Orlando are some of the premium brands, for which there are some great deals to be had.... Abercrombie and Fitch is a good example, it is hard to come across in the UK, Oakley, Ralph Lauren, Levi. I would just be sure to check out the deals available at home first because once you have added your sales tax and converted back to pounds, Orlando can be a bit of a false economy.

 

[higgy66]

I live 10 mins away from one designer outlet and 30 mins from another - I'm afraid I've yet to find any real bargains out in the USA anymore

Not only have they put their prices up but the £1/$ is poor so we've not bothered for the last couple of years.

 

[anniedream]

We are going to September and flying with VA. My partner and I will take 1 Suitcase each and then a hand luggage bag each. So alltogether we will have 28 kg each which is LOADS for a 2 week vacation, considering we had 15kg each last year for 3 WEEKS!
What we are going to do is not fill each suitcase (15kg each MAX) and then fill our hand luggage bags (5kg each). That way when we come back we will have 8kg each to use for presents and things out there.
Last year as we were very tight on luggage allowance we threw some of our belongings away, like old tops etc as we had brought new ones. A lot of the places you stay have laundrettes, so if you dont mind spending a few hours doing some laundry then it is worth baring in mind as you wont need to take as much. When we arrived last year we did a trip to Walmart and I WISH I hadn't brought half the things I did. It's so easy to pop into Boots and get Soltan when its on offer, but over there its even cheaper. Granted not as cheap as it used to be, but still cheaper.
In a nutshell, don't overpack. That way you wont worry coming back.

 

[~Piglet~]

I think we only get 22kg each ( 88 total )

my wife can't go away without 4 pair of shoes, hairdryer, straighteners, and own shampoo ect which all weigh's her case.

me n kids can travel light.
There's nothin you can't get in Amercia, right ?

I would leave behind the hairdryer and straighteners! The hairdryer might not work unless its dual voltage, the one provided in our room was fine. I took my GHD's last year, no problem with the voltage as they run on both, but within an hour of being out in the heat my hair went kinky anyway! to me it wasn't worth the hassle - and also the room / weight they take up in your case! I do like to take my own shampoo but usually take half a bottle so that I can leave what's left out there, same with toothpaste, deodorants etc.

As PP's have said, put out what you want to take with you and halve it! - I thought I was streamlining for our last trip (our 3rd) but I still overpacked We did bring back an extra bag (I took a fold up holdall with us from a previous trip) but waited until we had packed the day before leaving to see if it was needed - it became obvious that no matter how I tried, there was no way we could fit everything into our 3 suitcases Then we just booked the extra bag online with Virgin.

 

[queendisney]

I live 10 mins away from one designer outlet and 30 mins from another - I'm afraid I've yet to find any real bargains out in the USA anymore

Not only have they put their prices up but the £1/$ is poor so we've not bothered for the last couple of years.

I think it really depends what you are looking for and what time of the year you go. If you hit the Orlando sales at the right time you can't beat them on price. But agree its not as good as it used to be. Sometimes we come back with loads and sometimes nothing! Last September DH got a load of T-shirts (designer names) for about £3 each plus loads of other clothes...I on the otherhand got nothing on the clothing front. But I did buy 3 Kipling bags at really good value, yankie candles, make-up and a duvet set in the Macy's sale (with the extra discount for oversea's customers) which was really cheap and a very high quality and the equiv here would have cost way way more.
So it just depends what you want and when you go..and off course how much you can get back in your case