Hi I'm new here and looking for a advice on a reliable shipping company from UK to USA. Weve already had a close shave when we weeded out a couple of charlatans masquerading as reputable companies Just as we were abut to book and then remembered to check the reviews which matched the deteriorating communication we were getting from a couple of companies we were speaking to.

We would like to use Air freight but will go by sea if it gives us more weight. Can anyone share their experience and offer a recommendation for or against. Were due to leave beginning of July for California . Thanks all who share.

I cant answer your question directly , but I would definitely consider 'airfreight' if possible and affordable. Shipping by boat, has become horrible (nobody cares anymore)...I suppose it depends if you're shipping small items like knives and forks or shipping motorbikes, couches and beds etc.

Buy as much as you can stateside and start over vs shipping everything over from the UK if that's possible.

My experience is dated, moved UK to USA East Coast in 2004 and 2008. Used Pickfords in 2004 and then David Turner 2008. Shipped by boat in a half size (22 foot) container. In both cases the packing was very well done, everything (really everything) was packed into boxes or wrapped in brown paper/bubble wrap. Container was loaded at my door in the UK, same container arrived an my house in the US, was not unloaded in between (as far as I can tell). Both times I was glad we shipped almost everything we own, felt like it helped us feel more at home and settle in faster. Door to door for the east coast was roughly 4 weeks. My recollection was the cost of shipped by sea was volume only, whereas by air was definitely by weight. We shipped some stuff by air the first time and regretted the extra cost as we could manage just fine for a month with what we could carry on a plane, but it was only for 4 weeks.

Thanks for that. We are only taking personal item and effects such as clothing, shoes, documents, some tableware, photographs (Suitcase full) etc. The shipping by air have all come in at around £1000 whilst by sea its been 4-6-800. Do you recommend packing yourself and buying your own boxes. Also we were advised that as greencard holders we should get to carry extra weight for free on our inbound flight to the usa. Does anyone know whether this is true?

No, but they often if there isn't a full flight allow you to carry it as excess luggage, for a cost. It's not cheap, but it might be cheaper than shipping it.

All depends on the airline.

The airlines don't care if you're a new immigrant, so you get nothing extra for free, but what you describe would work well for air freight. What you get in terms of baggage allowance is likely different if you, say, buy business class tickets.

Using FedEx or UPS might be a viable option for you too, but the times I airfreighted things from the UK, most recently after my father died and I shipped his tools, I just called local freight forwarders I found in the Yellow Pages. The one I chose picked up the trunks and boxes I had packed, from my mother's home and arranged shipping to the US, to my choice of "home", or "collect at the airport". I will use the same process in future when I need to ship things.

Singapore and Qantas, do if you're heading to their home countries, or they did. Doesn't help the OP much though.

Presumably you're buying a one-way ticket though, and we all know how much of a bargain they are!

We moved to USA for good in June 2014 from UK and we used https://www.transglobalexpress.co.uk/parcel-delivery/ for our most of the house hold moving to the USA. We had around 350 kgs (14 boxes of 25kgs each) of luggage to move here in the USA. we paid altogether 883 GBP for the service. The only thing we needed to do was fill the boxes with our stuff and that's it. The guy from the company will come to your home will weigh and pack the boxes for you and will be delivered to your given address here in the USA. whole thing took less than 6 days to reach from source to destination and it was hassle free experience and I would highly recommended this service to anyone who would like to do the same.

Let me know if you need any more information on my above post I would be happy to share required information.

That's pretty much what any freight forwarder does - you pack whatever boxes, trunks etc. you have, and they haul 'em away and ship 'em.

Thanks for that. Also does anyone have any advice on packing your stuff yourself verses letting the company do it for you. We were told packing by the company meant it was less likely that custom would open the boxes and if they did it could mean an additional charge to us.

For a few boxes I doubt it makes much difference. The "don't do your own packing" rule is more for "whole house" moves, though that said, we were told "don't pack", but the shipping company delivered boxes a couple of weeks ahead for us to get started on packing.

The husband and I are going to use Britannia as they were cheaper than another shipper we contacted and they are members of the BAR. They will come to the house and pack everything up for us and ship it although we are not taking all the furniture with us, just a few pieces that cannot be replaced in America. I guess you could say it will be a whole house and garden move and it will be nice for someone else to pack things up for us. Will let everyone know how it goes in case anyone else is ever interested in knowing.....take care!!!!!

We got a quote from Britannia £658 by sea They seemed on point and even came out and visited us at home. They have actually come in cheapest so far amongst the more reputable companies so they are top of our list at the mo. Thanks