8 ms·

Maybe I just travel light, but how is this more convenient than taking your luggage with you in a taxi/Uber to the hotel you are staying at? Waiting hours for l

by pnw 3y ago

Maybe I just travel light, but how is this more convenient than taking your luggage with you in a taxi/Uber to the hotel you are staying at? Waiting hours for luggage to show up seems pretty inconvenient?

bobthepanda 3y ago
i think this is great for cases where you need to do something before going to the hotel, or after you check out. e.g. you check out at 11am, but you need to get on your flight at 8pm. you either leave it at the hotel, they might hold on to it, but you still need to go back for the bag. or you lug it around for a day. or you stay in the airport way too long. also it sounds like you can do it a few days in advance, in which case your bag just goes without you on your travel, before you show up.
drcode 3y ago
You end up taking a lot of trains/metros when travelling in Japan, and there isn't a lot of room for luggage. Sure, if your only travel in Japan is a single trip from the airport to the hotel, you won't need this.
seo-speedwagon 3y ago
Most of my last trip to Japan was: 1) leave hotel, 2) take local train / bus in City A to the Shinkansen station, 3) Take Shinkansen to city B, 4) take local train / bus, 5) walk to hotel. So there wasn’t a lot of taxi usage but a lot of (busy) street walking and (busy) public transit use. Plenty of people did successfully haul their stuff themselves, but luggage forwarding saved us a lot of headache. Felt very worth the price. e: There wasn’t a lot of waiting either. We shipped our stuff 1 full day ahead of time (so if we were checking into our next hotel Wednesday we sent our bags Monday afternoon-ish). Maybe it can seem annoying to keep a day or two of clothes with you in a backpack, but cramming into a packed bus in Kyoto with two roller bags seemed like a far worse bargain to us.
vineyardmike 3y ago
I think it requires reframing travel a bit. I just got back from Japan ~48hrs ago, and I would’ve agreed with you before the trip - we did take a taxi to the hotel from the airport with our luggage. It seemed easier. In Japan, taxis and road travel are VERY expensive (2x big American cities?), and they have amazing transit infrastructure. We took trains from city to city, exploring and staying at different hotels. In America, this would have required driving. japan has amazing transit, so we wanted to avoid getting extra taxis when the trains go exactly where we need. BUT lugging big bags on trains is a massive PITA for everyone, especially when it’s crowded. The trains are great, and they’re desirable if you didn’t have luggage. Yes, it seems inconvenient, except the framing is bad. We didn’t wait for the bags. We just went about our day, and they showed up in our hotel room when we got back. We took a backpack with one change of clothes, laptop, etc, and the rest of the luggage just showed up later. When it’s time to go to the next hotel, you just pack tomorrow’s clothes, give the concierge your suitcase and start walking. Sure enough, your bag will be there tomorrow when you get back from being a tourist. Until reading this article, I didn’t know they’d hold your bags too, which seems great if you wanna see the city for a few days on a ski trip or something similar where you know you don’t need all your luggage at once.
- wodenokoto 3y ago
  > Until reading this article, I didn’t know they’d hold your bags too, which seems great if you wanna see the city for a few days Isn’t this normal around the world? I left 2 large suitcases at my hotel in Dubai for a month before returning.
  - vineyardmike 3y ago
    I’ve never tried leaving them at a hotel for an extended period of time (overnight or longer). Also my understanding from the article is that you can ship them from the airport to the hotel, to arrive in the future at your date of arrival - not sure if this is the same as your experience in Dubai but either way, new to me :)
    - rjh29 3y ago
      At least in Japan many of the hotels I use will only hold your bags for the same day (check-in or check-out day), not overnight or longer.
  - corbezzoli 3y ago
    I wouldn't say normal, it depends on the size and availability at the hotel. I also left some baggage in Indonesia for a month, but the hotel was large and lax. In two other similar-sized hotels they were storing the bags either in the open-air lobby or in a small staff-only hallway. Neither place would be suitable for medium-term storage.
avidiax 3y ago
I and my wife have used this many times when traveling in Japan. It is useful for the shopping suitcase, i.e. the big check-in one that collects the souvenirs, cosmetics, food/wine, electronics, etc. that are going home with you. It only needs to arrive before you depart a city, so that you can add some items and send it along. Even if you don't buy stuff when traveling, if you would want certain gear for some legs but not others, you can use it as a locker, i.e. moving the hiking boots into your carry-on before the Mt. Fuji leg, putting the heavy winter clothing in after you leave Hokkaido, etc. And in contrast to luggage handling in the U.S., Japan's luggage handling is quite cheap, usually on-time, and always handled delicately with very little risk of loss or theft.
deleted 3y ago
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wahnfrieden 3y ago
It’s great for hiking along a route
brailsafe 3y ago
If you travel light, why not walk or train?
ChatGTP 3y ago
Because travelling in Tokyo is wild. It’s extremely densely populated. If everyone took their luggage on the bullet train, there would be no room.
- rjh29 3y ago
  The shinkansen has plenty of space for luggage. The overhead space will hold even a fairly large suitcase, and there are luggage racks and dedicated luggage space behind the rearmost seats. Finally you can just put it in front of your seat as the legroom is insane. Subway? I'll agree with your there.
  - ChatGTP 3y ago
    Pretty rare to be on the Shinkansen without being on the subway at least at some stage. Yeah, you've also not ridden a fully booked Shinkasen wit a non-reserved ticket...
    - rjh29 3y ago
      Yeah I always reserve a seat, as that is required if you have large luggage. Luggage in the subway is not really a problem in my experience, it's the same as one extra person going with you.
      - ChatGTP 3y ago
        Well, good you have money for the reserved ticket :)
  - walthamstow 3y ago
    Plenty is not a word I would use. You need a specific reservation to use the luggage areas near the doors, often they are fully booked. A group of Vietnamese joined my train last week having just got off a flight from Da Nang to Osaka. They didn't have a luggage reservation, they couldn't fit their medium size cases overhead. They had to store it in their legroom for three hours. It looked pretty uncomfortable even for a 5ft3 Viet woman. I have long legs, I ain't doing that.
lmm 3y ago
> how is this more convenient than taking your luggage with you in a taxi/Uber to the hotel you are staying at? Taxis are slow, expensive, and worse ride quality than a train, and you'd still have to carry your luggage. > Waiting hours for luggage to show up seems pretty inconvenient? You don't wait for it though - it's usually there in your room when you check in, or at worst you have to collect it from the front desk. It's similar to the best part of being on a cruise - you can just go around whichever city you're visiting today, and at the end of the day all your stuff is in your room without you having to worry about it.
mitthrowaway2 3y ago
In Japan, the default assumption is that unless you're in a very rural area, everyone goes everywhere by public transit. Even if you're just heading to downtown Tokyo from Narita airport, the Skyliner will be faster and cheaper than a taxi. Furthermore, you probably aren't taking a taxi from one prefecture to the next.
- fomine3 3y ago
  Not true unless you count Nagoya and below as very rural
  - mitthrowaway2 3y ago
    Nagoya is a bit more car-centric as it's Toyota's turf, but still very much transit-friendly.
- rjh29 3y ago
  Yet I never see Japanese people with luggage on trains, whether that be an airport train or the subway. I'm pretty sure everyone takes a taxi or an airport bus when they have luggage.
  - mitthrowaway2 3y ago
    Thus "the magical Japanese art of luggage forwarding."
  - Morgawr 3y ago
    Nope, I see people with luggage on trains all the time, especially the Narita and Haneda train lines (obviously). Locals too.
    - rjh29 3y ago
      It's far more common for foreigners to carry luggage on the trains in my experience. Especially on the subway.
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rjh29 3y ago
If you are going by taxi/uber, sure. Although you will need to drop off the luggage there before going on with your day, instead of immediately starting your travel-y stuff. If you're going by train, the train from the airport to the hotel may be cramped and standing the whole way and involve going up and down stairs or pulling the luggage along streets. If it's $13 to ship it to the hotel, that's a pretty good deal. Note that Haneda and Narita are both ~1 hour away from Tokyo so a taxi can be pretty expensive especially if you're alone.

by pnw 3y ago

bobthepanda 3y ago

i think this is great for cases where you need to do something before going to the hotel, or after you check out. e.g. you check out at 11am, but you need to get on your flight at 8pm. you either leave it at the hotel, they might hold on to it, but you still need to go back for the bag. or you lug it around for a day. or you stay in the airport way too long. also it sounds like you can do it a few days in advance, in which case your bag just goes without you on your travel, before you show up.

drcode 3y ago

You end up taking a lot of trains/metros when travelling in Japan, and there isn't a lot of room for luggage. Sure, if your only travel in Japan is a single trip from the airport to the hotel, you won't need this.

seo-speedwagon 3y ago

Most of my last trip to Japan was: 1) leave hotel, 2) take local train / bus in City A to the Shinkansen station, 3) Take Shinkansen to city B, 4) take local train / bus, 5) walk to hotel. So there wasn’t a lot of taxi usage but a lot of (busy) street walking and (busy) public transit use. Plenty of people did successfully haul their stuff themselves, but luggage forwarding saved us a lot of headache. Felt very worth the price. e: There wasn’t a lot of waiting either. We shipped our stuff 1 full day ahead of time (so if we were checking into our next hotel Wednesday we sent our bags Monday afternoon-ish). Maybe it can seem annoying to keep a day or two of clothes with you in a backpack, but cramming into a packed bus in Kyoto with two roller bags seemed like a far worse bargain to us.

vineyardmike 3y ago

I think it requires reframing travel a bit. I just got back from Japan ~48hrs ago, and I would’ve agreed with you before the trip - we did take a taxi to the hotel from the airport with our luggage. It seemed easier. In Japan, taxis and road travel are VERY expensive (2x big American cities?), and they have amazing transit infrastructure. We took trains from city to city, exploring and staying at different hotels. In America, this would have required driving. japan has amazing transit, so we wanted to avoid getting extra taxis when the trains go exactly where we need. BUT lugging big bags on trains is a massive PITA for everyone, especially when it’s crowded. The trains are great, and they’re desirable if you didn’t have luggage. Yes, it seems inconvenient, except the framing is bad. We didn’t wait for the bags. We just went about our day, and they showed up in our hotel room when we got back. We took a backpack with one change of clothes, laptop, etc, and the rest of the luggage just showed up later. When it’s time to go to the next hotel, you just pack tomorrow’s clothes, give the concierge your suitcase and start walking. Sure enough, your bag will be there tomorrow when you get back from being a tourist. Until reading this article, I didn’t know they’d hold your bags too, which seems great if you wanna see the city for a few days on a ski trip or something similar where you know you don’t need all your luggage at once.

wodenokoto 3y ago
> Until reading this article, I didn’t know they’d hold your bags too, which seems great if you wanna see the city for a few days Isn’t this normal around the world? I left 2 large suitcases at my hotel in Dubai for a month before returning.
- vineyardmike 3y ago
  I’ve never tried leaving them at a hotel for an extended period of time (overnight or longer). Also my understanding from the article is that you can ship them from the airport to the hotel, to arrive in the future at your date of arrival - not sure if this is the same as your experience in Dubai but either way, new to me :)
  - rjh29 3y ago
    At least in Japan many of the hotels I use will only hold your bags for the same day (check-in or check-out day), not overnight or longer.
- corbezzoli 3y ago
  I wouldn't say normal, it depends on the size and availability at the hotel. I also left some baggage in Indonesia for a month, but the hotel was large and lax. In two other similar-sized hotels they were storing the bags either in the open-air lobby or in a small staff-only hallway. Neither place would be suitable for medium-term storage.

avidiax 3y ago

I and my wife have used this many times when traveling in Japan. It is useful for the shopping suitcase, i.e. the big check-in one that collects the souvenirs, cosmetics, food/wine, electronics, etc. that are going home with you. It only needs to arrive before you depart a city, so that you can add some items and send it along. Even if you don't buy stuff when traveling, if you would want certain gear for some legs but not others, you can use it as a locker, i.e. moving the hiking boots into your carry-on before the Mt. Fuji leg, putting the heavy winter clothing in after you leave Hokkaido, etc. And in contrast to luggage handling in the U.S., Japan's luggage handling is quite cheap, usually on-time, and always handled delicately with very little risk of loss or theft.

deleted 3y ago

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wahnfrieden 3y ago

It’s great for hiking along a route

brailsafe 3y ago

If you travel light, why not walk or train?

ChatGTP 3y ago

Because travelling in Tokyo is wild. It’s extremely densely populated. If everyone took their luggage on the bullet train, there would be no room.

rjh29 3y ago
The shinkansen has plenty of space for luggage. The overhead space will hold even a fairly large suitcase, and there are luggage racks and dedicated luggage space behind the rearmost seats. Finally you can just put it in front of your seat as the legroom is insane. Subway? I'll agree with your there.
- ChatGTP 3y ago
  Pretty rare to be on the Shinkansen without being on the subway at least at some stage. Yeah, you've also not ridden a fully booked Shinkasen wit a non-reserved ticket...
  - rjh29 3y ago
    Yeah I always reserve a seat, as that is required if you have large luggage. Luggage in the subway is not really a problem in my experience, it's the same as one extra person going with you.
    - ChatGTP 3y ago
      Well, good you have money for the reserved ticket :)
- walthamstow 3y ago
  Plenty is not a word I would use. You need a specific reservation to use the luggage areas near the doors, often they are fully booked. A group of Vietnamese joined my train last week having just got off a flight from Da Nang to Osaka. They didn't have a luggage reservation, they couldn't fit their medium size cases overhead. They had to store it in their legroom for three hours. It looked pretty uncomfortable even for a 5ft3 Viet woman. I have long legs, I ain't doing that.

lmm 3y ago

> how is this more convenient than taking your luggage with you in a taxi/Uber to the hotel you are staying at? Taxis are slow, expensive, and worse ride quality than a train, and you'd still have to carry your luggage. > Waiting hours for luggage to show up seems pretty inconvenient? You don't wait for it though - it's usually there in your room when you check in, or at worst you have to collect it from the front desk. It's similar to the best part of being on a cruise - you can just go around whichever city you're visiting today, and at the end of the day all your stuff is in your room without you having to worry about it.

mitthrowaway2 3y ago

In Japan, the default assumption is that unless you're in a very rural area, everyone goes everywhere by public transit. Even if you're just heading to downtown Tokyo from Narita airport, the Skyliner will be faster and cheaper than a taxi. Furthermore, you probably aren't taking a taxi from one prefecture to the next.

fomine3 3y ago
Not true unless you count Nagoya and below as very rural
- mitthrowaway2 3y ago
  Nagoya is a bit more car-centric as it's Toyota's turf, but still very much transit-friendly.
rjh29 3y ago
Yet I never see Japanese people with luggage on trains, whether that be an airport train or the subway. I'm pretty sure everyone takes a taxi or an airport bus when they have luggage.
- mitthrowaway2 3y ago
  Thus "the magical Japanese art of luggage forwarding."
- Morgawr 3y ago
  Nope, I see people with luggage on trains all the time, especially the Narita and Haneda train lines (obviously). Locals too.
  - rjh29 3y ago
    It's far more common for foreigners to carry luggage on the trains in my experience. Especially on the subway.

deleted 3y ago

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rjh29 3y ago

If you are going by taxi/uber, sure. Although you will need to drop off the luggage there before going on with your day, instead of immediately starting your travel-y stuff. If you're going by train, the train from the airport to the hotel may be cramped and standing the whole way and involve going up and down stairs or pulling the luggage along streets. If it's $13 to ship it to the hotel, that's a pretty good deal. Note that Haneda and Narita are both ~1 hour away from Tokyo so a taxi can be pretty expensive especially if you're alone.