Cheapest way to ship gear

[thnksno]

Do you guys have any suggestions on the easiest or cheapest way to ship gear to Alaska? Going through usps. I have to plastic totes about 45 lbs each and my gun and case is 25 lbs.

Thanks!

 

[colonel00]

Honestly, if that's all, it's probably cheaper to just bring it with you on the plane as a checked bag. This depends on the airline of course but usually it's only like $20-35 for the first two checked bags.

If you do need to ship the stuff, just go to the post office and tell them you want to ship the cheapest way possible. They have rates that aren't shown on the website. It used to be called Parcel Post or something like that. I've never shipped anything to Alaska but I've shipped plenty home. Usually clothes and gear so we can fly home with fish/meat boxes that need to stay cold.

I'm not too sure about shipping the gun. Someone else can probably chime in on the legalities of that. I would think at a minimum you would need an address to ship it to as I don't know if they would hold that for pickup at the post office.

 

[thnksno]

Thanks for the reply! I'll stop down there tomorrow. We are flying commercial to Fairbanks and then a charter service to bettles. They only allow 40 lbs on the charter and that will be basically my pack. They do have an over weight fee you can pay, but if the flight is full they said they wouldn't guarantee us that we could bring and pay for the extra gear.

This trip is getting awful expensive. Ha

 

[thnksno]

2 plastic totes. Dang auto correct

 

[Bambistew]

Parcel post to Bettels is probably 3 to 4 weeks... just to save a buck or two. Mail it regular first class mail, should be 5-7 days. No shipping is cheap in AK, but USPS is usually the cheapest.

 

[sniper61]

I never had trouble mailing my packs, guns, camps or antlers . The airlines have lost, been late or refused some things . There is nothing like waiting for your gun or not having a sleeping bag when you land in a remote village.

 

[Wetwoodshunter]

I used to be a fishing guide up in Alaska. I shipped a ton of fishing gear, and fish back and forth. I used Alaska Air Cargo to ship my gear. The best way to do it is to call ahead, to Alaska Air Cargo (the one I used was at SeaTac) and tell them that you are coming by and when your flight is or when your planning on picking your stuff up in Anchorage. Then the day before your flight you drop all your stuff off at Alaska Air Cargo and pay them. Your stuff flys up on a freight plane overnight, if there was a freight plane scheduled, and you need to pick it up at the location when you get to your destination.

At SeaTac Alaska Air Cargo is on air cargo road, and in Anchorage I forget what its called but its like right across a parking lot from the airport less than a block away. If you called up Alaska Air Cargo I'm sure they could tell you what you need to do. Also make sure that they have a freight plane scheduled to fly up between when you drop your stuff off and need to pick it up.

I believe this is about 1/4 what it costs to check additional bags and there was no maximum weight.

Good luck!

 

[colonel00]

Not a bad plan but that still leaves him with the issue of getting the stuff to Bettles which is where the weight restriction comes into play. That also assumes he's flying from an airport that has an Alaska Cargo office like Seattle does. Also, don't you have to jump through the hoops to be a Known Shipper now to ship via a cargo service?

 

[Wetwoodshunter]

Ah, I missed a post in there. Well good luck, you may want to just mail it like colonel00 advised.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

USPS to Bettles marked either General Delivery to yourself or send it directly to your pilot's PO Box (ideal).

We ship all the time from the Lower 48 to Alaska businesses for hunting season. It's the best way today.

 

[Ray]

Why are you flying a charter to Bettles? there are daily scheduled flights on two small airlines offering at least four flights a day from Fairbanks. If you are chartering a flight then you own the plane and you can fill it up to what ever its certified weight capacity is. It sounds like you are on a commercial flight if they are telling you there is a weight limit for baggage. I've use both the companies and if you pay for extra baggage it goes with you. The folks working the phones are not in charge of anything and tell you wrong info all the time. Yes it does cost more than any other airline for extra baggage.

Flat Rate USPS boxes. They go priority rate/speed and bump other mail when planes fill up. The large boxes are kind of small, but there is no weight restriction. I have mailed 30 pound boxes of canned food to Bettles a few times for work.

 

[thnksno]

I'm sorry. It's not a charter. Small commercial. Wrights air service.

Thanks for the replays. Going to check into the boxes!

 

[thnksno]

Just got done shipping my stuff, I prepared for the worst and got the worst. 2 totes weighing 40lbs each were $230 combined. Gun was 125$ and the tent was $91.

This trip is just getting better! First you could shoot two caribou. Then it was down to one. Now one unit that we might need to use is closed.

Holy moly!

 

[colonel00]

Wow, why was it so expensive? Seem's like $1/lb was what we've paid to ship gear back from AK before.

 

[thnksno]

I hope it's cheaper coming back. Ha. We went the cheapest route with ground. In comparison I shipped a set of golf clubs to Arizona last year and ran about 75$ ups and i guess today was close to size and weight.

Heck if I know, but if it all gets there in one piece then I guess it's worth it.

 

[colonel00]

So did you use UPS or USPS? If USPS, did you go with Priority Mail or a cheaper option?

 

[USMC2602]

So did you use UPS or USPS? If USPS, did you go with Priority Mail or a cheaper option?

I had the same questions.

 

[Becca]

If you shipped UPS or FedEx, you should know that they charge us an arm and a leg to ship anything to or from AK. Good Ol USPS is typically the most affordable way to send things to or from AK.

 

[thnksno]

I used usps and shipped the cheapest way. Wasn't priority.

 

[JPD350]

So you shipped a weapon through the USPS for a $125 and didn't need an FFL license to send and one to receive?