Hi all-
My husband and I will be moving to Zurich Mid August. We are having a difficult time deciding if we should bring extra luggage with us on the airline or just pay for shipping. Here are the things we are trying to consider:
1) AIRPORT: We would likely have 5-6 large suitcases. Plus we are traveling with a cat. How do we transport all of these suitcases once we arrive? Do we just pile them on the train with us to our destination?

2) SHIPPING: We would pack clothes, instruments, and maybe a few other items. Is is worth the $$ for us to be able to bring more and not have to deal with the hassle of traveling with this stuff? Also, any recs for good international movers? We currently have a quote for 2700 US dollars (200 cubic feet of space: door to door delivery)

We are primarily interested in taking clothings and books (and our bikes if we opt for shippers). No furniture. Advice is much appreciated!
Cheers and looking forward to getting involved with this site and joining you in Switzerland!

Hi Mac,

We just got our stuff moved from Montreal to Geneva two weeks ago.
We had a small container (20 feet) packed with furniture and everything.
Although the price was steep, the movers were extremely careful.
All in all, a very good experience, we should have left more for the movers and less for us.

Next time I'll just com with my hands in my pockets and have movers bring everything.

HTH
rmcb

In 2008, the first time I moved to Zurich, I was also very worried about this. And have therefore arranged for porters to meet me at Zurich Airport. I used these guys and they charge 25.- for the first three bags plus 5.50 per additonal bag. They'll meet you at baggage claim and get your luggages to the train station. Cheaper service available if you only need them to go as far as the taxi stand.

But there will be two of you, right? so if you fit 3 suitcases on one luggage cart, 2 suitcases+cats on the other luggage cart, you are probably more than ok?

The most difficult thing would be on the actual train. The train can get quite crowded and finding all the space for your luggages plus your very scared cats might be more difficult. Alternatively, a taxi ride to Zurich city center (main station area) should be around CHF 50.- or so and might be worth considering.


Can you mail books and other things via the flat rate USPS international shipping boxes? It depends on how much stuff you have, it might end up cheaper. Get vaccume bags for your clothes, they will be a big space saver.

As for international movers, Gurdian is the one I have used several times and will continue to recommend them . Crown Relocation sub-contracts to Gurdian in parts of the states, and Prudential also sub-contracts to Gurdian. Of course, both Crown and Prudential are also great, too!

In case you might find any of this helpful...

When I moved to Zurich from Michigan, I shipped everything to myself via the US Postal Service (it is much, MUCH cheaper than Fed Ex or DHL). Each box took only about 6 days to arrive here, and I managed to avoid having to pay any customs tax because I marked each box as a "gift" (there is also a customs form you can/should fill out for importing your personal belongings so you can avoid the tax). So this was in March of 2009. Perhaps the postal rates have changed a bit since then, but just to give you an idea of price and weight (I still have all my USPS slips/receipts):

A 33 lb. 9 oz. box cost a total of $131.75 to ship and a 9 lb. 7 oz box was $54.50.

You can also use a rate calculator on the USPS.com website.

Anyways, I was extremely pleased with the process. I had shipped a total of 20 boxes to myself, and none came up missing or damaged, etc.

But if you do bring a lot of suitcases with you, yes there are luggage carts at the airport, but keep in mind that you will (probably) not have them on the train or when you leave the train. And as the poster above states, the trains here can get pretty crowded (depending on the time of day), and many of them do not have ample luggage-storage areas.

I wish you the very best with your move! I also brought a cat with me here. She was absolutely wonderful on the plane!

Hi, Carrie

My understanding is that you cannot track boxes with USPS and that they do not guarantee anything beyond the US....is that true?

Truthfully,
they don't really guarantee anything at all.
Regardless what they say, USPS doesn't really do anything if something goes wrong except take a "report" but it doesn't do one any good. Personal experience. In fact I would only use DHL or FedEx or something like that.

Good Luck.

You can get your boxes insured with USPS and require boxes to be deliverd with signature. In such cases, it's trackable and the insurance will pay you in case of a loss.