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Lion in Winter May 15th 2022 2:11 pm

Good US virtual mailbox
 
We're going to need some cushioning regarding address changes etc., so looking into getting a US virtual mailbox.

Not anticipating having to actually forward physical mail much, if at all, and not a huge volume. Want the option to scan mail if needed, tell them to junk, and to have two names on there. All for a reasonable cost, of course....


Any recommendations? There are a lot out there.

ScousePete May 15th 2022 7:24 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 
This isn't an answer to your question, but along similar lines. If you want to keep your US phone number, you can do that with Google Voice. It's $20 to port your number over from your provider to Google, but then no charges after that for calls to the US and Canada. I've been using GV for years living int he Caribbean. Can't help you with the mail, we have everything sent to my in-laws who do the sorting for us!

Lion in Winter May 15th 2022 9:14 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 

Originally Posted by ScousePete (Post 13115142)
This isn't an answer to your question, but along similar lines. If you want to keep your US phone number, you can do that with Google Voice. It's $20 to port your number over from your provider to Google, but then no charges after that for calls to the US and Canada. I've been using GV for years living int he Caribbean. Can't help you with the mail, we have everything sent to my in-laws who do the sorting for us!


Thanks on the phone thing. May just do that, at least for a while what with all the 2-factor authentication stuff.

Tinyburst May 16th 2022 7:09 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 
I use traveling mailbox. $15 a month.
they scan all envelopes I then choose whether to open and scan or not. Been with them for over a year with no problems.

chawkins99 May 16th 2022 7:49 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 

Originally Posted by Lion in Winter (Post 13115051)
We're going to need some cushioning regarding address changes etc., so looking into getting a US virtual mailbox.

Not anticipating having to actually forward physical mail much, if at all, and not a huge volume. Want the option to scan mail if needed, tell them to junk, and to have two names on there. All for a reasonable cost, of course....


Any recommendations? There are a lot out there.

We use the Good Sam Mail Service based in Crestview, Florida.

They do all you mention for $22.41 per month (plus postage if you have them ship something). They cater mainly for RV'ers but no reason you can't use them.

We are currently living in our RV so no fixed address. We also have our Drivers licenses using that address. Been using them for about 3 years now.

Lion in Winter May 16th 2022 7:55 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 

Originally Posted by Tinyburst (Post 13115365)
I use traveling mailbox. $15 a month.
they scan all envelopes I then choose whether to open and scan or not. Been with them for over a year with no problems.


Originally Posted by chawkins99 (Post 13115369)
We use the Good Sam Mail Service based in Crestview, Florida.

They do all you mention for $22.41 per month (plus postage if you have them ship something). They cater mainly for RV'ers but no reason you can't use them.

We are currently living in our RV so no fixed address. We also have our Drivers licenses using that address. Been using them for about 3 years now.


Thank you both. Really appreciated.

Shezi59 May 18th 2022 1:45 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 

Originally Posted by Lion in Winter (Post 13115051)
We're going to need some cushioning regarding address changes etc., so looking into getting a US virtual mailbox.

Not anticipating having to actually forward physical mail much, if at all, and not a huge volume. Want the option to scan mail if needed, tell them to junk, and to have two names on there. All for a reasonable cost, of course....


Any recommendations? There are a lot out there.

We use iPostal - something like $99 p/year - they're pretty good, we have 3 names on it - use scan and junk mostly and periodically we have them ship physical mail. For phone numbers, we kept our US numbers and use number barn to store them. We pay $15 p/month for 2 numbers and they hold text messages which we can access on the website and/or have them emailed. Calls are simply forwarded to whichever number you want (we currently have calls forwarded to our UK phones which means our mom and kids can call us like a local call to them and we receive it as a local incoming call for us).

Lion in Winter May 18th 2022 2:32 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 

Originally Posted by Shezi59 (Post 13115828)
We use iPostal - something like $99 p/year - they're pretty good, we have 3 names on it - use scan and junk mostly and periodically we have them ship physical mail. For phone numbers, we kept our US numbers and use number barn to store them. We pay $15 p/month for 2 numbers and they hold text messages which we can access on the website and/or have them emailed. Calls are simply forwarded to whichever number you want (we currently have calls forwarded to our UK phones which means our mom and kids can call us like a local call to them and we receive it as a local incoming call for us).


Thanks for the info. Very helpful.

Lion in Winter May 26th 2022 11:56 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 

Originally Posted by ScousePete (Post 13115142)
This isn't an answer to your question, but along similar lines. If you want to keep your US phone number, you can do that with Google Voice. It's $20 to port your number over from your provider to Google, but then no charges after that for calls to the US and Canada. I've been using GV for years living int he Caribbean. Can't help you with the mail, we have everything sent to my in-laws who do the sorting for us!


Sorry, I'm back. Does this work for 2-factor authentication? I'm dealing with a financial institution that says it can't send codes to anything but a US phone number.

Mummy in the foothills May 27th 2022 6:20 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 
We did the free 12 month mail forwarding I walked into the local post office and set it up about 2 weeks before we moved back to UK. It worked great. I had been changing address on all sorts for ages before hand. HSBC and our local bank had no trouble with change of address.
For a few months we received a few bit of mail each week. No junk mail was forwarded.

Stelly Jun 2nd 2022 7:35 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 

Originally Posted by Lion in Winter (Post 13117908)
Sorry, I'm back. Does this work for 2-factor authentication? I'm dealing with a financial institution that says it can't send codes to anything but a US phone number.

If it helps, my H has GV# and he gets texts on it like a normal phone.

Lion in Winter Jun 2nd 2022 8:34 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 

Originally Posted by Stelly (Post 13119671)
If it helps, my H has GV# and he gets texts on it like a normal phone.

Unfortunately, it says I have to have a US phone for this. What I want is a US number that goes to my UK phone.

Stelly Jun 2nd 2022 8:57 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 

Originally Posted by Lion in Winter (Post 13119679)
Unfortunately, it says I have to have a US phone for this. What I want is a US number that goes to my UK phone.

So my husband has it - it's like an app and the text shows up on the app. As I understand, that can happen if you're logged in on a UK phone, US phone or PC or what have you. So you should easily be able to use it for what you want - you get a GV US# and if you download the app and login it will show you the text on your UK phone

Lion in Winter Jun 2nd 2022 9:19 pm

Re: Good US virtual mailbox
 

Originally Posted by Stelly (Post 13119686)
So my husband has it - it's like an app and the text shows up on the app. As I understand, that can happen if you're logged in on a UK phone, US phone or PC or what have you. So you should easily be able to use it for what you want - you get a GV US# and if you download the app and login it will show you the text on your UK phone

I'll have another look. It seemed to be requiring me to keep a US phone, which I don't plan to do.


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