fraggle42 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Hi all,What is the most reliable and hassle free service to post from the uK to the States?Royal Mail provide two servicesInternational Signed For - provides tracking but only within the UK, and signed for at delivery.Airsure Small Packets - seems to provide tracking all the way and delivery confirmation, but that isn't a signature?Would like tracking all the way and signature at the other end, and with a courier that is customs "friendly".Thanks,Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike on a bike Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Fraggle check with Aston Jenkins ships to US all the time from UK and to me also just can not remember who he used. As far as signature depends who you are shipping to most of the guys UK ship to me no sig . cheaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteM Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 (edited) Airsure mate.... plus you can insure up to £500 roughly a quid extra for each £100 insured. TBH I could never understand the price difference in Signed for International and Airsure...... on an average watch to US it costs about £12 to use Airsure but the same package is about £11 or just under for Signed for. Airsure is trackable by anyone on website throughout transit...... Signed for is only trackable after receipt at delivery. Also remember that size of packet is just as important as weight with these methods.... sometimes it help to remove strap/bracelet to ensure package is kept to minimum size.... And on customs I always declare it as straps and or buckles or sometimes costome jewellery or toys (depending on packet and way it feels)...you can claim higher insurance if you say its a cigar case etc from someone like FM ...though dont say all that on declaration.... Generally speaking USPS dont ensure sig at the end either way.. !! Plus in the unlikely event that you can afford to lose it.... (small though that risk may be) the fastest shipping to US is standard internatonal..no tracking no nothing.... it gets there in half the time as the others !! Same coming back over here too.... my best was 3 days !! Edited October 21, 2013 by PeteM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cougar1 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 I constantly use both Airsure and International SF back and forth to Ireland. Essentially they are almost the same thing in terms of insurance etc. For Airsure the driver scans the package on hand over/delivery to you so sort of like an electronic signature vs SF which gets you to sign. Two things, Airsure is consistently slightly faster with great tracking, but SF is just a little slower but more secure, an old school registered under lock and key at all points type service. Both are good, watch services like watchfinder use Airsure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted October 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Thanks guys.Theres boxes to tick as well as the description, Gift or Other?Will put the description as a bracelet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cougar1 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 I tend to put something like, 'watch parts', or 'damaged watch for repair' etc, bracelet is fine. With gift they tend to want a description anyway so up to you whether to tick it or not. Also some people prefer to put a low value around $40- $50 and tick gift so as not to invite too much perusal from customs, up to you whether you want to do that. You'll probably be asked to fill in an aviation security label now as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted October 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Thanks guys, brilliant quick responses as always! I've declared it as a Gift, a Bracelet with £100 value and posted AirSure for £15.20. They didn't ask me to fill out an aviation security label? First time I've heard of those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cougar1 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Those aviation security labels are a new thing so some ask to fill them in some don't, sort of like another sticky label declaring that the package contains nothing that could explode, lithium batteries etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B3nj4min3 Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 I used Royal Mail First Class Tracked when I sent a watch to Canada. I said the value was £200 and the chap behind the counter didn't even ask me what was in the box. It arrived within the week without issue I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted October 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Most of the staff behind the RM counters are good, but some don't seem to know what services they offer, or refer to them by what they offer, so after getting a few of them you'd think RM offers about a thousand different services! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.