MHJ Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Myself, husband and toddler are making the move back to the UK after 8 years in Aus. We are planning to ship most of our belongings but are wondering about options for transporting things that we need sooner. Has anyone used the excess baggage companies or similar to fly essentials back? Also has anyone had success in securing a UK rental property while still in Aus? Our son was born here but has a UK passport. Will we all be able to register with a GP or is there anything we need to do beforehand? So many things to think about so any advice on anything I haven't mentioned is also gratefully received! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desreb Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Hi! We recently flew back with Qantas, and managed to take around 150kg of luggage between 2 adults and a 1 & 4yo for no excess fees. Qantas offer 30kg per adult, compared to 23kg for some others, plus up to 4 baby items each. Since I had gold status, my own allowance was 46kg, and the baby items are counted, not weighed, hence the high total. They also allow any number of items, so we took 6 cheap hold-alls ($22 each) from Target between us. In short, you may find a huge cumulative difference by looking at all the airline policies. They also often allow much larger allowances to/from the US, so maybe you can go up to double each if you take that long route. Finally, we bought 30 vacuum-pack bags on eBay for around $25. They at least increased the amount of clothes we fit in each bag by around 30%. As such, we found we didn't need any fast shipping other than our baggage. Although with young kids and 15 items, the fact I'm 2m tall and broad shouldered helped at the airport. Failing all that... what we did on the way out here several years ago, was use FedEx. They actually reject shipping personal effects, so we worked around that by shipping 3 boxes of clothes and declaring them as "second hand clothes for a gift" with a total $5 value. If you put a high value, you have to pay customs duty on them, so we took the risk of losing the lot, but we took that risk and it meant we received 3 boxes of clothes, 2 days after arriving, for only £200 in cost. Finally - the official method is of course to use the same freight company as your bulk shipped goods. They do offer air freight, typically at around 3-5x the cost of shipped freight. Cheers D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Not sure on shipping, but it might be easier to just re buy some things when you arrive. Getting a a rental is unlikely until you arrive. We booked a couple of weeks in an Air BnB - there are a lot where you get sole use of a property, or just look at a holiday cottage or something similar. You will be fine with GP registering. Dont stress too much as you would be surprised how it falls into place. We moved back in March after eight years and made the decision on the Tuesday night and flew the Saturday! We didn't ship other than personal items and spent 4 days selling everything. If you have any pets, that is the one to work on first as it takes time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHJ Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 Thanks both for your replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 It's a very stressful time as you tend to be thinking of 100 different things all at once. We made the move almost 5 years ago now and things do seem to just fall into place. Registering with a GP is very easy. With us it took about 10 minutes then they made an appointment go see each of us so the Dr could go over any health issues, medication etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MHJ Posted January 9, 2017 Author Share Posted January 9, 2017 Did you have a permanent address when you registered? We have a temporary rental booked for the first month while we look for longer-term rental. It seems GP surgeries need proof of address before you can register. To add to the 100 things to do I have recently found I am pregnant & we have a one year old so I don't want us to be without a doctor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 We did have a permanent address but I can tell you for certain that a GP surgery will not refuse you being pregnant. They understand that not everyone has a permanent address from the start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 Did you have a permanent address when you registered? We have a temporary rental booked for the first month while we look for longer-term rental. It seems GP surgeries need proof of address before you can register. To add to the 100 things to do I have recently found I am pregnant & we have a one year old so I don't want us to be without a doctor!if the worst happens and you need a GP before you are registered they will just charge a small fee. You should get A&E under reciprocal agreement anyway. Worse case isn't that bad, you won't be without access to a doctor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 They will get A&E as they are British. I suspect they will already have NHS numbers from before they left the UK so will be in the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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