Couriering laptop?
 

My niece had a nice visit with us. And left her laptop behind rushing to the airport last night on her way back to Prague.

Anyone with experience what couriers offer good mix of price and service level shipping something this size to Europe? Thinks to do/not do to avoid customs hassle?
So far quick online quotes for delivery sometime next week range from $160 (Canada Post Priority worldwide) to over $340 (Purolator). Maybe others who have been in same/similar boat have tricks'n'tips....

[Realize this is not AC-specific; happy to move it elsewhere, but it's not Canada as a destination, and in general Travel forums will get swamped by US participants....so hoping our friendly AC/AP community can help!]

Fedex will likely handle this for CAD 70 or so (could be a lot more if it is heavy or valuable). Bear in mind that if it has a lithium battery, you may need to toss it and that you will also likely need to provide a clear explanation of the fact that the laptop belongs to your niece and was not purchased in Canada on this trip. May need to translate that into Czech for easy reading on arrival. Finally, given security screenings, you should back up the hard drive before shipping and hang onto the backup on a flash drive or somesuch until the laptop arrives and your niece verifies that all is in order.

As this is not Air Canada or Aeroplan related and given it's concerning a laptop have relocated the thread to the "Travel Technology" forum for further discussion.

tcook052
Air Canada forum moderator

I see this has been moved; noting this is shipping from Canada to the Czech Republic.
[MENTION=297911]Often1[/MENTION], thanks for sensitizing me to the battery issue. According to https://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/m...-e.asp#1510298, seems with Canada Post at least we are fine for a battery installed in the laptop, but can't be packed alongside.

The advice on precautions is appreciated; we are actually running a backup and copying crucial files to the cloud as I am writing this.
I was hoping Fedex would be a choice, but instead of $70 they are over $250 apparently. (Canada Post priority is currently leading contender.)

We had a laptop shipped from US to EU for approx 60 usd. If battery under certain capacity, it's likely fine, though make sure you research it and make all disclosures regarding the battery.

My country specifically are big sticklers on customs, and people who have had their old, long-term, legitimately personal use electronics shipped to them have had duties levied on it.

Of course they appeal it successfully most of the time...the point is the recipient should be prepared to go through that, and if you can access document like dated purchase receipts with the recipient name to put in package that could help

FInd a relevant expat group on Facebook and ask.

In the US, USPS (ie, the post office) is generally the best best for this type of thing. Fedex/UPS/etc will all do it as well, but in my experience, USPS is cheaper. You can do all of the paperwork via their website.

I'm guessing you're shipping from Canada, so I'd start with CanadaPost as I'd guess they have similar functionality.

For a (relatively) low value, used item there should be no duty payable.

CanadaPost Priority 2-3 day or Xpresspost 5-day looks to be best.

If you're close to a US border, USPS from my home to Prague is US$94 (C$124) for 3-5 days, US$75 (C$99) for 6-10 days - probably not worth the effort.

Maybe the cost of a beer... Anyone flying YOW-PRG anytime soon?

Aside from the cost of shipping, as this belongs to a relative whom I presume you care for, it would be a very nice gesture to buy an external HDD and back her laptop up before you ship it, just in case it disappears in transit. That way, even if it does get lost permanently, you'll be able to provide her a backup of her data.