Help! I'm lost about my move! (Military exp. would be helpful too!)

[Trinity721]

We are moving from Chicago to Jacksonville FL when DH gets back from deployment in December. We are trying to avoid driving a Uhaul b/c we have to drive a car w/ our DD as well.

Here are a few questions I have:
HAs anyone used moving services for out of state moves, and if so which have you found to be the best in price and service? Did you use a service that both loads and moves your belongings, or one where you load and they drive?

And for anyone who's done a military move:
DH had orders from Damneck VA to Mayport FL, but I moved back to CHicago b/c of school and b/c DH was going on deployment for 6 months... So if we are moving from Chicago to Florida, is it NOT likely that the military will help us pay for the move? Or is there a way I can get some type of help with our move?

I would appreciate anyone's help... Having to plan all this without my hubby's help has been a big headache! Thanks!

 

[cynsaun]

We are prior military and had several moves. I liked Mayflower the best as they were the most careful with our belongings. If you pack your own boxes, it is sometimes much cheaper. Check around!

As far as the military paying for the move, I don't think it's very likely for the military to pay for the move. The reason being, they only tend to pay for the move when the military member has been moved to a new base. Being that you chose to move to Chicago, I don't believe they would consider it.

Good luck with your move!

 

[AirForceRocks]

The first thing you should do is contact the moving office at the closest military base (most likely Great Lakes). Unless the Navy is different from the Air Force, you don't choose the mover, the military does. There will also be a limit on how much (by pound) the military will move, based on your husband's rank. And it's likely that they will only pay the move from VA to FL, not from IL to FL, and you will be responsible for the rest.

I know that a DITY move may not sound attractive to you, but we did one from AL to DC, and it wasn't bad at all. I drove a 26 foot U-Haul while pulling DH's car, and DH followed a couple of days later with our van. The AF paid us 95% of what they would have paid to move us, and we kept the difference between what the move cost and what we were paid.

But again, your best bet is to contact the base and let them fill you in on the specifics.

 

[wendyl]

Did you have quarters assigned to you in Virginia? If so, then perhaps you could move yourself back into the assigned quarters (but just never unpack) right before it is time to move out. That way you are only paying to move from Chicago to VA and the military would pay the VA to FL. Moving from Chicago to FL would be much more expensive.

If quarters were not assigned to your family because of the deployment, then the military should pay to move you, because they did provide housing for your DH's dependents , and therefore have to assume that you have been living elsewhere.

Good Luck. I have found out from years with the military, that asking the same questions to several different offices and people can yield very different responses. Start calling around Post until you get the answer you want (or get tired of trying).

 

[AirForceRocks]

Check with the travel office, but I don't think your best bet is to move back to VA and then take the move from the there. If you do move from Chicago to Florida, the military is going to calculate what the move would have cost from VA to FL, pay that much, and you will be responsible for the difference.

 

[tkd lisa]

I did a Navy move (we were civilians on PCS orders, but were told that the move itself was the same). Our transportation office did "Officially" pick the movers, but they asked who we would like from their approved movers. We picked Mayflower and were satisfied. You really should contact your transportation office who is assigned. I think part of the orders tell you who to call.

I think that your final answer will probably be a combination of what you here in these posts, because each situation is different. At a minimum, I would think that you would be offered the equivalent to what the move would have been from VA to FL, and possibly be responsible for the difference. The transportation office has set allowances based on distance, so they would do it something like this:

Cost of professional packing and moving from VA to FL: $10,000
Cost of professional packing and moving from Chicago to FL: $12,000.
Cost of move yourself from Chicago to FL: $8,000.

They would offer you either $8,000 to move yourself (since it's less than the max authorization of $10k) or setup the professional move for which you would be responsible for $2000 (12k-10k)

 

[Trinity721]

I talked to the Great Lakes personal property office today and most of you were right... They will pay for the move from Virginia to Florida, and whatever the extra cost is between that and moving from Chicago to FL, we will be responsible for. I guess I should look into doing a do it yourself move, since that seems to be the cheapest. It's just that no one from home will really be able to help me out with the moving, and I'm not comfortable driving just by myself and my DD... My parents are opening a Merlin's car shop, so they won't be able to help. My BIL will be in boot camp, so there's really no one. I guess I'll find out how big the difference is and if it is worth it. Otherwise I will have to wait for DH to get out, but we planned on being settled once he came back from deployment so that neither of us would have to fly back and forth which is also costly! I will keep you updated, and thanks so much for all your help!!! Every little bit counts.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Great input here, Jenny, sure hope all goes smoothly when the time comes. My best.