1chumly

I finally received my refund today. No word of apology for taking the money in the first place or notification that it had been done.


Hope you got your case back Weeze!

Weeze

Glad you finally got it sorted.
Bag arrived this morning. Zip broken and held together with parcel tape but all contents intact. It also had on all of the luggage labels that the courier company said were missing.
At least I have it back!

nethead

Phew must be a relief to get it back...

Weeze

Nethead, such a relief. I may actually sleep tonight!

nethead

Now remember don't pack your paperwork in your luggage again, no matter how heavy/bulky it is

Weeze

Yes, thanks for that

I am thinking birth certs, marrage certs, driving licences etc for the big move will all be in hand luggage. It could be fun boarding with all our hand baggage, a toddler, handbag, nappy bag and toddlers bag'o'stuff! Oh and while keeping one eye out to make sure the dog is being loaded and not sent to London like the bag.

ionaskye

sorry about all the bag hassel, glad to hear that you Houston is nicer than you expected ..........i have been here for years and years and i still find it UGLY ,i wish you well with your move

kins

When I emigrated to the US I turned up to the airport with 3 small children, a stroller, 8 suitcases and 3 carry on bags plus tiny rucksacks with leads on them for all the children. I'm still not sure how I didn't have a nervous breakdown.

A member of staff helped me through security because we were running so late for our plane. At security she accidentally grabbed someone else's bag containing mobile phone and camera, and none of us realised till we got to the plane itself, at which point she decided she was probably going to be fired (I assume the person who'd had her bag 'stolen' at security was pretty unhappy too).

Going through Immigration etc I had the 6yo hold onto the 4yo's lead, kept the 2yo in the stroller, and had large folders of paperwork handy. It all went fairly well till the 2yo filled his nappy while I was being questioned in second-stage immigration, and we all got to enjoy the wonderful fragrant smell...

At least it's only a few hours of your life then it's over

HarryTheSpider

Glad you got your bag back

We're fortunate that we don't have kids to bring with us - just 3 small dogs, and we're using specialist pet movers.... hope that is a barrier to "missing dog syndrome"!

We'll be taking the lessons learned on this thread forward - we just have the interviews to do at the US Embassy (Blanket L1 visa) and then... wooo hooo!

Thanks for sharing, glad it's all finally sorted.

Cheers

Harry

Weeze

Oh my god Kins, how on earth did you manage??? We have to stay overnight in Amsterdam to allow for doggie's flights so I'm presuming they'll make us collect all our luggage to check it in again the next day. Think we'll have 5/6 cases (it's free so we're using the allowance!). I'm thinking it'll be a day and a half of hassle but at least we will have loads of our own stuff when we get overthere, so it'll be worth it.

Harry, hope your move goes well. We are on the same visa as you and have the visa appointment in a few days. We looked at the pet shipping firms but as they were going to be using the same flights as us anyway, we decided just to do it ourselves and save some cash. Not sure you have that option with 3 anyway as ours is excess baggage. I'm presuming that as he is excess baggage for business class he gets a doggy massage, meal options and a wine and port selection

SarahG

I did the same thing but it was just me and my 2 young kids, 6 overweight cases (all of them) and 3 carry on bags including my laptop. All was fine until my youngest decided to stick her head through the handle bar of her wheelie 'Aristocats' case just as we were called to the desk to get entered to the country! Her screams were so loud the immigration guy seemed to look quite sorry for me and we got through quickly. Daughters ears were a lovely shade of red after I had to yank her head back through the handle bars! Next time I fly it will be with my OH and not as many cases!

HarryTheSpider

Weeze - good luck with your plans too!

Cheers

Harry

Nickw_2308

I did the L1 Interview last Friday, I was there for around 2 hours but the interview took about 2 minutes. I think I was expecting something much more intense but it really turned into a a rubber stamping exercise with him wishing me all the best. Just make sure you take a book for all the hanging around.