Luggage Forward vs Send My Bag 2026: International Routes Compared

I have shipped bags across borders enough times to know that the interesting question on an international route is never the price. It is what happens at customs, what the company will pay you when something goes wrong, and whether anyone has actually promised you a date. I write about this at E-Commerce Paradise because the standard version of this comparison compares two starting prices, one way, and calls it analysis.

Send My Bag was the cheapest international option I priced, before its fuel surcharge, and that is the axis this comparison runs on. It says it moves bags to over 80 countries every month on its homepage and over 100 on its quote page, it has been doing it for twenty years, and it publishes more about customs paperwork than any other company I looked at. Luggage Forward is the premium American operator with a guarantee that most of its competitors do not attempt to match.

Before I go further I want to correct something I expected to find and did not. The Send My Bag homepage is built around a quote tool and gives the impression that the company publishes nothing. That impression is wrong. Send My Bag publishes real band prices, real weight allowances, real cover amounts and a genuinely detailed customs process, all on its own site. Luggage Forward does publish international prices, inside its booking tool rather than on a rate card: a 50 lb bag from New York to London was $394 on its 7 business day Select tier and $469 on its 5 business day Preferred tier on 22 September 2026. Send My Bag quoted $159 for the same bag (25 kg band, Standard, 4 to 5 working days) plus a fuel surcharge added at checkout. Send My Bag is far cheaper and publishes more detail on customs, and I will show you the numbers.

A note on how this site is paid. The Luggage Forward links on this page are affiliate links: if you book through them, E-Commerce Paradise earns a commission at no extra cost to you. The links to ShipGo, Luggage Free, LugLess and Send My Bag pay us nothing. The Shopify, Bizee, Hiscox and QuickBooks links in the business section are also affiliate links. Where a competitor that pays us nothing is the better buy, and on price it usually is, I say so.

Head to head specifications

Every figure below came from the company’s own site. Prices are in US dollars as shown on each company’s quote tool on 22 September 2026. Send My Bag’s cover, claim and cancellation terms are in the currency its terms state them in, as last checked on 4 September 2026 and not re-read on 22 September.

Specification	Luggage Forward	Send My Bag
Published international price	New York to London, 50 lb: Select 7 business days $394, Preferred 5 business days $469 (22 Sep 2026)	US to UK, 25 kg band: Standard $159, Express $169, plus fuel surcharge (22 Sep 2026)
Published domestic US starting price	$99 for a small bag; $144 for 50 lb, Basic, New York to Los Angeles (22 Sep 2026)	Send to United States from $55 (4 Sep 2026)
Published starting rate to the UK	$394 Select, 50 lb (22 Sep 2026)	$109 for up to 15 kg, Standard (confirmed 22 Sep 2026)
Included value protection	Homepage $500; Terms of Service $100 if none bought	$200, or £125, or €150 (4 Sep 2026)
Maximum cover available	Not published	$2,050, or £1,500, or €1,750 (4 Sep 2026)
Cost to upgrade cover	Not published	$32.50 to raise it to $2,050 (4 Sep 2026)
Per item cap on any claim	Lesser of actual value or purchased protection; $100 if none	£250 (4 Sep 2026)
Cap on damage to the suitcase itself	$500 per container; $50 per wheel, zip or handle	£125 (4 Sep 2026)
On time guarantee	Refund of double the transportation charge (Terms of Service)	None, delivery times are estimates only
Compensation for delay	Covered by the guarantee, with written exclusions	None, explicitly excluded
Published transit time	London: Select 7, Preferred 5 business days	US to UK Standard 4 to 5, Express 2 to 3 working days; UK to US Standard 2 to 3
Maximum weight per item	Oversize category 75 lb, 74 in	70 kg, which is about 154 lbs, on international (4 Sep 2026); quote tool bands to 30 kg
Maximum volume per item	74 linear inches (Oversize)	350,000 cubic cm on international (4 Sep 2026)
Oversize surcharge	Repriced into the next category; carrier large package fees passed on (Terms of Service)	Up to £200 per piece by route (4 Sep 2026)
Surcharge structure	$0 stated; Terms of Service pass on carrier, location and customs fees	Route based, published by band; fuel surcharge added at checkout
Who pays duties and taxes	The customer: duties and taxes “passed on to the Customer” (Terms of Service)	The sender, explicitly
Published customs process	Completes customs forms for you; customs holds void the guarantee	Packing list plus personal effects form
Published prohibited items list	Published: electronics including laptops, lithium batteries including trackers, alcohol, medication, food, aerosols, tobacco, cash	Detailed, route specific (4 Sep 2026)
Countries served	More than 200 countries and territories since 2004, stated on its how it works page	Over 80 (homepage) or over 100 (quote page) each month
Claim deadline	Damage 15 days from delivery; lost 30 days from expected date	7 days to notify, 28 days final (4 Sep 2026)
Cancellation fee	$50 inside 2 business days of pickup; full refund before that	£5 or 15 percent, whichever is greater (4 Sep 2026)

On the 22 September re-read, most of Luggage Forward’s blanks filled in: it publishes international prices in its booking tool, a prohibited list, a duties clause, liability caps and claim windows. Send My Bag’s one real blank is still the guarantee, and it is blank because there is not one. Country coverage is the one axis where Luggage Forward is the more expansive of the two, and by a wide margin: it states on its how it works page that it has shipped luggage to and from more than 200 countries and territories since 2004, against the over 80 countries a month Send My Bag claims on its homepage, or the over 100 on its quote page.

The one line in the Send My Bag terms that decides this comparison

Send My Bag’s terms and conditions, as I read them on 4 September 2026, state that all delivery times are given as estimates and are not guaranteed. The same document confirms that no compensation is provided for delays, including customs related delays. That is not buried, it is not ambiguous, and I respect the company for writing it plainly rather than dressing an estimate up as a promise.

But you have to price what it means. If your bag is meant to reach a wedding, a competition, a cruise terminal or a first day at a new job, Send My Bag has told you in advance that it owes you nothing if it arrives late. Its transit times are published estimates, and an estimate is not a commitment.

Luggage Forward runs the opposite policy. Its Terms of Service define the guarantee exactly. If a bag picked up on schedule is not delivered by 11:59 p.m. local time on the guaranteed date, the customer’s “sole and exclusive remedy” is “a refund of double the transportation charge”. It is void if the shipment contains disallowed goods, the bag is locked on an international shipment, there is a weather delay, customs hold or government action, documentation is incomplete or incorrect, you ask for a later delivery date, the carrier makes a timely first attempt, you fail to hand the bag over on time, or the destination requires self clearance. Claim windows are published: damage within 15 days of delivery, a lost bag within 30 days of the expected delivery date, and a bag counts as lost only after 10 business days past the guaranteed date. Customs being carved out is important on an international route and I will come back to it. Its terms go further than a carve out: “Items delayed due to Customs … will not be covered under the Delayed Shipments warranty.” The rest of the promise stands.

So on the single question of who has committed to a date, the answer is Luggage Forward, and nothing else in this article changes that.

What each company actually pays if the bag is lost or damaged

This is the other place the two companies diverge, though not in the direction Luggage Forward’s homepage suggests.

Luggage Forward’s homepage says its complimentary value protection “covers your luggage for up to $500”. Its Terms of Service (last updated 27 August 2026) are narrower. Liability is “limited to the lesser of the actual value or $500.00, unless Customer declares a higher value and pays an additional charge”, damage to the suitcase itself is “capped at $500 per container, regardless of any additional Value Protection purchased”, wheels, zips and handles are capped at $50 each, reimbursement uses the actual purchase price rather than replacement cost, and the disclaimer section limits maximum liability to “THE PURCHASED VALUE PROTECTION AMOUNT, THE DMB REFUND, OR $100 IF NO PROTECTION PURCHASED.” Plan on $100 unless you buy protection. Electronics, jewelry and watches, photographic equipment, musical instruments, valuables and fragile items are excluded from value protection altogether. The price of extra protection is not published. On its own cost page the company notes that a competitor charges $5.90 for protection.

Send My Bag, as its cover page read on 4 September 2026, includes $200 in dollars, £125 in sterling, or €150 in euros. So on an unprotected bag Send My Bag includes more than Luggage Forward’s terms commit to. You can buy that up to a maximum of $2,050, or £1,500, or €1,750, and the upgrade pricing is published clearly: $32.50 takes the dollar cover to $2,050. That is real transparency and it lets you price the decision before booking.

The caps are where it gets uncomfortable. Send My Bag states that the maximum any individual item will contribute to a claim is £250, and that the maximum for damage to a suitcase or other packaging is £125. Its underlying terms describe discretionary compensation of £12.50 per kilo up to a maximum of £125 per package. And the company states directly that Send My Bag Cover is not an insurance product, recommending you obtain separate travel or item specific insurance.

Cover comparison	Luggage Forward	Send My Bag
Included at no extra charge	$500 per homepage; $100 per Terms of Service if none bought	$200
Cost of the included cover	No charge	Included
Maximum you can buy up to	Not published	$2,050
Cap on a single item within a claim	Purchased protection amount; $100 if none	£250
Cap on damage to the case itself	$500 per container; $50 per wheel, zip or handle	£125
Glass, ceramics and electrical items	Electronics and fragile items excluded from value protection; electronics also prohibited	Excluded from cover
Electronics and furniture	Electronics prohibited	Shipped at owner’s risk, excluded
Delay	Refund of double the transportation charge, with written exclusions	Not covered
Deadline to notify a claim	Damage 15 days; lost 30 days from expected date	7 days, 28 days final

Do not ship a laptop with either company: Luggage Forward prohibits electronics and lithium batteries outright, and Send My Bag excludes electrical items from cover and allows only one lithium device under 100Wh. Send My Bag also states that electronics and furniture travel at owner’s risk and are excluded from damage cover. A £250 per item cap also means that a single expensive item in a suitcase full of clothes is capped well below its value even if you bought the maximum cover.

Whichever company you use, check what your travel policy already does before buying cover from a shipper, because baggage protection is one of the more variable parts of a travel policy and several already extend to shipped items. I go through what the main policies actually pay on baggage claims in my guide to travel insurance for international travel.

Worked round trip cost on a real international route

Everything here is round trip and labelled as such, because a one way comparison flatters shipping and it is the standard trick in this category.

Send My Bag’s quote tool prices, both directions

Send My Bag’s quote tool shows band prices per item, in US dollars, before a fuel surcharge that it says is “displayed at next step”. So every figure below is a floor, not an all in price. All were read on 22 September 2026, one way, per item.

Weight band	US to UK, Standard, 4 to 5 working days	US to UK, Express, 2 to 3 working days	UK to US, Standard, 2 to 3 working days
Up to 15 kg, about 33 lbs	$109	$119	$94, a sale price, “was $100”
Up to 20 kg, about 44 lbs	$129	$139	$108
Up to 25 kg, about 55 lbs	$159	$169	$122
Up to 30 kg, about 66 lbs	$169, “was $179”	$179, “was $189”	$135
Fuel surcharge	Extra, shown at checkout	Extra, shown at checkout	Extra, shown at checkout

A 50 lb bag is 22.7 kg, so it prices in the up to 25 kg band. Send My Bag also advertises route starting rates: send to the United States from $55 (4 September 2026) and send to the UK from $109, which matched its 15 kg Standard quote on 22 September 2026. An older Send My Bag blog page gives different UK to US band prices, $140 for 30 kg against $135 on the quote tool, so go by the quote tool.

A like for like round trip, one 50 pound bag, New York to London and back

Option, 22 Sep 2026	New York to London	London to New York	Round trip
Send My Bag, 25 kg band, Standard	$159, 4 to 5 working days	$122, 2 to 3 working days	$281 plus fuel surcharge both ways
Luggage Forward, Select	$394, 7 business days	$419	$813
Luggage Forward, Preferred, the faster tier	$469, 5 business days	$464	$933
For reference: ShipGo, International Priority	$254.99, 2 to 4 business days	$264.99, 1 to 3 business days	$519.98
For reference: Luggage Free, International Priority	$284.99, 2 to 4 business days	$314.99, 1 to 3 business days	$599.98
Duties and taxes	Not included on any of them	Not included	Payable by the customer

On a round trip to London and back, Luggage Forward cost $532 more than Send My Bag before Send My Bag’s fuel surcharge, and its cheaper Select tier was also the slowest option quoted. What the extra money buys is the guarantee in the next section and nothing else. ShipGo and Luggage Free sit between the two on price and were quicker than Luggage Forward to London. One thing neither company puts on its homepage: Luggage Free and ShipGo are the same business. Both sites’ terms, last modified 18 September 2026, name Global Sticks Express, LLC, 11400 North Jog Road, Suite 300, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. They share a price grid, a prohibited list and the same cancellation rule, so treat them as two price points from one company rather than two independent options.

If you were planning to ship a heavier bag, note that a 66 lb bag is over Luggage Forward’s 50 lb Standard Bag and prices in its Oversize category, which I did not quote to London. Send My Bag’s 30 kg band was $169 US to UK Standard and $135 UK to US, plus fuel.

Luggage Forward shows its international prices in its own booking tool rather than on a rate card, and on this route they were the highest in the table. If you want the full picture of how Luggage Forward prices by bag type and route, I break it down in my Luggage Forward pricing guide.

What the airline side costs, and why I will not give you a single number

On a domestic US leg I verified the fees directly on 22 September 2026. American charges $45 for the first checked bag when you prepay online and $50 at the airport, for tickets issued on or after May 18, 2026. Delta charges $45 each way. Southwest charges $45 on tickets booked from April 9 2026. Delta and Southwest both charge $100 for a bag between 51 and 70 pounds each way, while American charges $30 from 50 to 53 pounds before its own $100 band starts, and American takes that to $200 each way past 70 pounds.

So a 66 pound bag on a domestic leg costs $145 each way, or $290 round trip. That is the number that makes shipping worth considering, and a 30 kilogram bag is overweight almost everywhere. But it does not make Luggage Forward the cheaper option: its Oversize category, which a bag that heavy falls into, was $164 each way on its Basic tier from New York to Los Angeles on 22 September 2026, $19 more than the airline per leg.

One correction worth making here, because it is the most repeated error in this category and I made it myself in an earlier version of this article. Golf clubs and skis do not attract a $200 oversize fee on these carriers. American publishes that oversize fees do not apply to golf bags or to skis and snowboards. Southwest shows oversized sports equipment from 63 to 115 inches as waived. Delta counts a golf bag as a standard checked item. Sports gear sits on the overweight line, so a sub 50 pound golf bag costs the plain $45 each way. The $200 oversize fee is real, but it belongs to genuinely oversize items that are not exempt sports equipment.

On a transatlantic economy ticket the first checked bag allowance varies by fare type and by carrier, and I have not verified current transatlantic allowances on the carriers’ own sites. So I am not going to publish a number for it. What I can say is that the overweight charge is the fee that turns a shipping quote from a luxury into arithmetic on an international route.

Customs, and why Send My Bag is genuinely better here

This is the section that matters most on an international route and it is the one almost nobody writes properly.

Send My Bag publishes the whole process. If you are sending outside the EU you complete a packing list, which it also calls a pro forma customs invoice, listing items, quantities and estimated values. Many destinations additionally require a personal effects form declaring that the items have been owned for some time and are not for resale, which is what allows them in duty free.

The company is direct about who pays. Its stated position is that its prices do not include taxes, local charges, inspection fees or any other charges, and the sender is responsible for paying duties to customs authorities before delivery happens. Most countries allow a duty and tax free allowance for returning residents on personal clothing and effects owned for at least six months, and Send My Bag names Russia and Norway as exceptions to that pattern.

It also publishes what a customs inspection does to your timeline. Processing the information takes 24 to 72 hours, and after clearance there is a further 24 to 72 hours before the shipment re enters the delivery network. Its quoted transit times exclude that entirely. That is an unusually honest disclosure and it is the single most useful thing either company publishes about international shipping.

Luggage Forward says its “international shipping specialists complete every customs form on your behalf” and that used personal belongings “typically qualify for duty-free treatment … though rules vary by country”. Its terms are clear that “Any duties, taxes or other fees incurred during the Customs process will be passed on to the Customer”, that items delayed by customs are not covered by the delay guarantee, and that international bags must travel unlocked or the guarantee is void. Send My Bag still publishes more detail, including how long an inspection takes, but it is no longer true that Luggage Forward publishes nothing. Customs voiding the guarantee is fair, since no shipper controls a customs bench, but it means the guarantee that is Luggage Forward’s biggest advantage is also the thing most likely to be switched off on exactly the routes where you wanted it.

That is the honest tension at the centre of this comparison. Luggage Forward has the only real guarantee, and customs is carved out of it. Send My Bag has no guarantee, and tells you in detail how customs will affect you. Neither company is hiding anything. They have just chosen different things to be good at.

Prohibited items, and the rule that catches almost everybody

Send My Bag publishes a detailed and route specific prohibited list, which I last read on 4 September 2026. Here is the part that surprises people. Liquids, pastes and gels of all types, including toiletries, are prohibited on all international express routes, and Send My Bag states that this covers every route to and from the USA because those routes are serviced by air. That means shampoo, toothpaste, moisturiser and sunscreen. Pack a normal wash bag into a suitcase flying to or from the United States and you have breached the rules. There is an exception worth knowing, because Send My Bag publishes it plainly: on European standard services, UK domestic and USA domestic services, which travel by road rather than by air, most non flammable liquids such as shower gel and toothpaste are permitted.

The always prohibited list is longer than you would guess: aerosols and any pressurised container, perfume, nail varnish and other flammable liquids, toner and printer cartridges, tobacco, alcohol, money including loose change, medications and perishable food. Knives are banned regardless of blade length. Loose batteries and power banks are banned, and devices containing lithium batteries are limited to one per shipment, which must be working, switched off, under 100 watt hours and under 5 kilograms. No batteries of any type may be sent to or from Australia or China.

There is also a packaging rule that trips people. Send My Bag will not accept plastic bags, laundry bags, bin liners, plastic boxes or single walled cardboard, because its automated sorting system stacks and moves items on conveyors and chutes. A suitcase or a sturdy double walled box, and nothing else.

Luggage Forward’s terms ban “Electronics including, but not limited to, laptops, personal computers … cell phones, range finders, and plasma screens” and “all wet or lithium batteries including … batteries integrated within electronic devices such as cell phones, laptops, tablets, personal audio devices, and tracking devices”. So no laptop, no e-bike battery and no AirTag in a shipped bag. Its homepage list adds alcohol including perfume and hand sanitiser, all medication including vitamins, food including coffee and spices, aerosols including sunscreen, tobacco and cash. Luggage Free and ShipGo go further and also ban toiletries and all liquids. Both lists are published; Send My Bag’s is more route specific, and its liquids rule depends on whether the route flies. The practical advice is the same either way: strip the toiletries and the electronics out before you ship anything internationally.

Weight and size allowances

Send My Bag publishes a full ladder of weight bands (allowances page, 4 September 2026), each paired with a maximum volume. It runs from up to 5 kilograms at 25,000 cubic centimetres through to 34 kilograms, which is about 75 pounds, at 170,000 cubic centimetres. The international maximum is 70 kilograms and 350,000 cubic centimetres per item.

Exceeding a band’s weight or volume moves you to the next band, and beyond the top band you are charged in additional 5 kilogram increments at rates that vary by route. Oversize surcharges are published too. The maximum oversize surcharge is stated as up to £200 per piece, varying by route. Its quote tool bands on 22 September 2026 stopped at 30 kg.

Luggage Forward does publish size bands for ordinary bags in its booking widget: Small Bag up to 25 lb and 45 linear inches, Standard Bag up to 50 lb and 62 inches, and Oversize up to 75 lb and 74 inches. A bag that turns out bigger than its category is repriced, in the terms’ words, “to reflect the next largest available Item category.” Sports categories are specific too: small golf bag $129 at 45 lbs and 50 by 12 by 10 inches, large golf bag $149 at 55 lbs and 52 by 15 by 12 inches, Standard Skis $139, Large Skis $189 and a Small Boot Bag $104 that must be booked as a separate additional bag, all Basic tier, New York to Los Angeles, 22 September 2026.

Who should choose which

Choose Send My Bag if the route is international, the dates have slack in them, and you want to know the price and the customs process before you commit. Its prices were the lowest I found to and from London, its customs documentation and its prohibited item disclosure are the most detailed in this comparison, and its transit estimates of two to three working days UK to US are competitive.

Choose Luggage Forward if the date cannot move or you are boarding a cruise, and budget for it: $532 more than Send My Bag, before Send My Bag’s fuel surcharge, on a London round trip on 22 September 2026. Its double refund is materially stronger than Send My Bag’s no guarantee at all. Its cover is not: its terms cap an unprotected bag at $100, below the $200 Send My Bag includes, so buy value protection for anything that matters. My fuller assessment, including where I think the price is hard to justify, is in my detailed Luggage Forward review.

Choose neither on a straightforward domestic trip with one ordinary bag. Checking it costs $90 round trip and Luggage Forward was $288 round trip for a 50 lb bag on 22 September 2026, so shipping is a convenience purchase rather than a saving. If your route is domestic and you want the cheap end of the market, the two US operators are compared in my Luggage Forward against LugLess head to head. The other US comparison worth reading is my Luggage Forward against ShipGo comparison, since ShipGo is cheaper than Luggage Forward on every route I priced and also serves London.

If you would rather see the whole field than a single pairing, I lay it out in my roundup of Luggage Forward alternatives.

Practical packing for an international shipment

Two rules do most of the work. Strip the liquids, because on air routes they are prohibited outright and a wash bag is the most common reason a shipment gets held. And declare honestly on the packing list, because an undervalued declaration is the fastest route to an inspection, and an inspection is the 24 to 72 hours twice over that Send My Bag warns you about.

Beyond that, weight and volume both cost money on a banded pricing model, so compression pays twice. Decent packing cubes let you use a smaller case and drop a band. What you choose not to send matters more, and I keep a working version of that decision in my digital nomad packing list.

If the answer turns out to be that you do not need checked luggage at all, the problem changes shape. My picks in carry on luggage for international travel cover the cases that reliably clear the stricter European and Asian cabin limits, which is where most carry on plans come apart.

One more variable people forget. If you hold a card that reimburses checked bag fees or you have status that waives them, the airline side of every calculation above drops to zero and shipping becomes purely a convenience purchase. Several of the cards in my international travel card guide also add baggage delay cover, which is worth reading before you buy protection from a shipper.

Why I read international freight terms this carefully

I have spent fifteen years selling physical products and the discipline here is the same discipline that decides whether a store survives. Landed cost is not the quoted rate. Duties are not included unless someone says they are. Liability caps are the number that matters, not the cover headline. Read those three things wrong on a container and you lose a year.

That is why the model I teach is high ticket dropshipping, where a single order carries enough margin to absorb real freight and real duty instead of being erased by it. Category choice decides most of that before you sell anything, which is why I keep a working list of high ticket niches that survive international shipping math.

The terms themselves get negotiated with the supplier rather than discovered at checkout, including who is the importer of record and who eats a customs hold. I go through that conversation properly in my step by step guide to finding high ticket suppliers.

On tooling, I run stores on Shopify because the carrier and duty integrations are mature. I formed my company through Bizee instead of paying attorney rates for a filing that takes minutes.

Once goods are actually moving, two more stop being optional. Liability coverage through Hiscox costs less than a single claim and most wholesale suppliers want a certificate before they open an account. I keep the books in QuickBooks so duties, freight and foreign exchange land in the right categories when they happen rather than in a panic at year end.

If the entity question is what is stopping you, I answer it in full in my guide to business formation for high ticket dropshipping, including the cases where forming early is a waste of money.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Send My Bag publish prices, or is it quote only?

It publishes prices. On its quote tool on 22 September 2026, UK to US Standard was $94 for up to 15 kg (a sale price, “was $100”), $108 for 20 kg, $122 for 25 kg and $135 for 30 kg, and US to UK Standard was $109, $129, $159 and $169, all plus a fuel surcharge shown at checkout. Luggage Forward shows international prices in its own booking tool: $394 Select and $469 Preferred for a 50 lb bag New York to London the same day.

Does either company guarantee an international delivery date?

Only Luggage Forward. Its terms promise a refund of double the transportation charge if the bag misses its guaranteed date, void on customs holds, locked international bags, incomplete paperwork, weather, government action or self clearance destinations. Send My Bag states in its terms that all delivery times are estimates and are not guaranteed, and that no compensation is provided for delays including customs delays.

Who pays customs duties and taxes?

The sender, on both services. Send My Bag says this explicitly, stating that its prices do not include taxes, local charges, inspection fees or any other charges, and that duties must be paid to customs authorities before delivery. Most countries allow duty free entry for personal effects owned for at least six months, and Send My Bag names Russia and Norway as exceptions. Luggage Forward’s terms say duties, taxes and customs fees are passed on to the customer.

What is actually banned from an international shipment?

More than you think. Send My Bag prohibits all liquids, pastes and gels, which means every toiletry in your wash bag, on international express routes, and it states that this covers every route to and from the USA because those routes go by air. On road serviced routes, meaning European standard, UK domestic and USA domestic, most non flammable liquids are permitted. Always banned are aerosols and pressurised containers, perfume, nail varnish and other flammable liquids, toner and printer cartridges, tobacco, alcohol, money, medications, perishable food, knives and loose batteries or power banks. Devices with lithium batteries are limited to one per shipment, and no batteries at all may travel to or from Australia or China.

How much cover do I get, and is it enough?

Luggage Forward’s homepage says $500 per bag; its terms cap an unprotected bag at $100 and exclude electronics, jewellery and cameras from value protection. Send My Bag includes $200, or £125, and lets you buy up to $2,050, but caps any individual item at £250 and any suitcase damage at £125, excludes glass, ceramics and electrical items, and states that its Cover is not an insurance product (all as checked on 4 September 2026). Do not ship a laptop with either: Luggage Forward prohibits it.

How long does an international shipment take?

Send My Bag’s homepage claims one to two days to most major cities and two to three working days on the UK to US route, and it states clearly that those times exclude customs. It also publishes what a customs inspection costs you in time: 24 to 72 hours to process the information, and a further 24 to 72 hours after clearance before the shipment re enters the delivery network. Luggage Forward quoted 7 business days on Select and 5 on Preferred from New York to London on 22 September 2026; Send My Bag quoted 4 to 5 working days Standard and 2 to 3 Express the same way. Luggage Forward’s times are what its guarantee attaches to.

The Bottom Line

Send My Bag is the better documented and far cheaper international company: $281 plus fuel for a 50 lb bag from New York to London and back on 22 September 2026, against $813 on Luggage Forward’s slowest tier. It publishes a real customs process, a real prohibited items list, real weight and volume bands and real cover upgrade pricing.

The exception is the one that costs money when it matters. Send My Bag has no guarantee. Its own terms say delivery times are estimates, not guarantees, and that delays carry no compensation. Its included cover is $200; Luggage Forward advertises $500 but its terms cap an unprotected bag at $100. Send My Bag adds a £250 cap on any single item, a £125 cap on the suitcase, and electrical items excluded outright.

Luggage Forward is not the cheap option on any route. A 50 lb bag was $144 one way domestically and $394 to London. What it sells is a written commitment: a refund of double the transportation charge on a late bag, and 200 plus countries and territories.

My recommendation is straightforward. Flexible dates, clothes and books, an international move you planned weeks ahead: use Send My Bag, read the prohibited list, strip the toiletries, and enjoy knowing the price in advance. A date you cannot move, a cruise embarkation, or a destination Send My Bag does not serve: pay for Luggage Forward and buy the guarantee, plus value protection for anything valuable, because the guarantee is the only thing here you cannot get anywhere else.

Last thing, since reading freight and duty terms properly is the same skill that makes an online store profitable. If you would rather have a high ticket business built and launched for you than learn international landed cost the expensive way, that is exactly what my done for you high ticket dropshipping build and launch service is built to do.

Related Articles

Luggage Forward Review: Is It Worth the Price

Luggage Forward Pricing Explained by Bag Type and Route

Luggage Forward vs LugLess: Is the Premium Worth It

Luggage Forward vs ShipGo: Which Ships Your Bag Cheaper

The Best Luggage Forward Alternatives Compared