Is it possible to book a flight for just-luggage / contract airline to ship by air?
There are shipping companies which offer to pick up some items (e.g. boxes, suitcases), send them by air, and deliver them to some destination. I suppose some would even offer a cheaper option of you delivering the items to some depot and picking it up from some depot at the destination country. But - Can you cut those out as middle-men, and pay some airline - not necessary one which carries people - to carry some luggage/freight for you from one country to another? Where you deliver stuff to the airport and pick it up from the destination airport?
If so, can you elaborate a bit on how this is done, or give an example of the procedure?
Notes:
- I will be traveling to the same destination, but at a different time.
- In case it matters - I'm particularly interested about doing this out of the Netherlands (via Schiphol), to Israel/Palestine (via Ben-Gurion).
- This is a one-time affair, I don't plan on doing this regularly.
Best Answer
Of course this is possible!! It's called airfreight carriers. Most good airlines offer it. For example, Air France does. Theirs is called 'Air France Cargo' and you can book it from the Netherlands here and read about the general conditions here. Their company motto is "freight made personal", so you know it's exactly what you are looking for!!
I had to use Southwest Airlines Cargo once, when I lost my car keys at the beach in Louisiana. My friends in Texas put my spare keys on the next flight to New Orleans for $50 flat rate. Saved my life.
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Can you transfer luggage from one airline to another?
Luggage transfer is only possible if there is a baggage interlining agreement, and only available if there is a specific policy allowing it. For example, some airlines allow intra-alliance throuch-check on separate tickets, some only allow it on same airline, and some disallow it altogether.How long does it take for the airport to deliver your luggage?
While it varies per airline and airport, in general, passengers can expect to pick up their checked luggage anywhere between 15 to 45 minutes after arrival.Can you check in separately on the same booking?
Each person is issued a separate ticket, you may all be on the same reservation, that is, have the same confirmation number but each passenger is given an individual ticket, even if they don't occupy a seat (as in the case of infants).Can I check my bag all the way through when my connecting flight is on a separate ticket?
Conclusion. Unfortunately, there is no way to ensure that your luggage will be checked through when traveling on two separate tickets.HOW TO FIND CHEAP FLIGHTS - My Best Tips After Booking 500+ Flights
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Answer 2
Sort of, but the answer is more complex than a simple yes or no.
It is possible to have cargo shipped by air not through a full-service, door-to-door shipping company. However:
- Not all passenger airlines offer cargo services.
- Some airlines are cargo-only (e.g. CargoLux), and some make certain routes only for cargo rather than passengers (e.g. Air Malta can fly cargo, but not people, from AMS to TLV).
- Some airlines (may) offer such services directly, while some only work through certain agents, or more "bare-bones" shipping companies (e.g. LFS).
- It's difficult to figure out exactly which carriers and shipping companies/agents are available for you to employ, as well as what the range of prices is - there are no fare aggregators for example. It is thus difficult to tell whether you've gotten "a good offer" or not.
- Though you can expect this to be cheaper than end-to-end delivery, the price quotes may not include additional fees along the way (e.g. customs, ground services bogus charges) and the cost of transporting your cargo to and from the endpoint storage facilities.
Perhaps more importantly - you can't "book a flight" for your cargo. You can submit some cargo to be shipped, and it will be delivered at the earliest possible time, or perhaps the earliest convenient time, for the airline(s) involved, depending on the volume, weight and possibly other parameters. At best you'll receive a range of dates/hours for expected delivery.
Most of the examples are based on what I ended up doing for shipping my personal affects from Amsterdam to Haifa.
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Images: Anugrah Lohiya, Heidi Louise Hoffman, Lucas Pezeta, Ahmed Muntasir