dominoman

My wife is flying over to Abu Dhabi next month. She’s Etihad Silver so gets 2 hold baggage, but that isn’t quite enough.

We have a baby on the way so would like to buy pram, car seat etc. in the UK and bring it over. Etihad charge USD 252 per bag for extra luggage

Is there a cheap way to ship a couple of boxes/cases to UAE. We have plenty of time so sticking in on a container ship wouldn’t be a problem.

al dente

Pram and car seat can go with you on the plane at no extra cost. You take them with you to check in. The car seat needs to be wrapped, usually.

dominoman

Even if we don't have a baby with us? She'll be travelling 6 months preggers

Gavtek

If she's travelling alone and 6 months pregnant, you probably don't want her to be dragging all the extra luggage around on her own anyway.

Any reason you can't buy the car seat and pram in the UAE? They have pretty much everything here that's available in the UK, probably a bit more expensive but then you'll be saving on the cost of shipping it here.

scrubbedexpat141

If she's silver why not pay for upgrade to business? WOuld that cover the extra weight?

dominoman

I looked at that, but it's a *lot* of extra money. And same luggage allowance. We got the silver through a UK credit card promotion, not by flying.

jam25mack

Just buy here. Not worth the hassle of tromping it half way across the world.

Either that or decide what it is you want and get it online and delivered here.

Brains1983

I guess it comes down to finances, but when we had the first sprog, we saved 600.00 GBP buying the car seat / pram in the UK versus buying the same model here. Shipping on these things can cost a fortune due to the size of the packaging.

scrubbedexpat141

600 GBP is a lot to save...
Can't help but feel that the hassle and extra cost means that the 'savings' get eroded? What's the cut off?

jam25mack

There must be a pretty healthy second hand market for this kind of thing no....?

scrubbedexpat141

I think, especially if newborn, asking your pregnant wife to consider a used buggy / cot / car seat etc is like asking you to drink the pint I just drank as it comes out of my bellend.

Apparently.

jam25mack

Wouldn't know. For the price of these things though I would certainly be proposing it....

scrubbedexpat141

I suggested it to my mate in front of his pregnant wife a year or so ago. He just looked at me and laughed, then panicked, then said I was on my own.

She, politely, explained that they'd had this conversation and it finished with him handing over the credit card and agreeing that it was most important to spend X,000 on a pushchair.

Sabi Star

Yes, it's silly spending vast amounts on baby stuff - how long will you use it for? A couple of years or less for some prams maybe. Also where will you be living? In some flats - small/less is good.

jam25mack

Screw that.