MyBaggage Review - The easiest way to get your clubs from A to B

Moving to the other side of the world isn’t an easy task at the best of times, but if you’re a golfer, it can quickly become exponentially more stressful (and expensive).

Figuring out the best way to get your clubs overseas involves entertaining any number of different scenarios. You can, of course, pay a hefty fee at the airport, but as anyone who’s been on a golfing holiday before will attest to, paying for and transporting a full suite of luggage, as well as a fully loaded golf travel bag, is a seriously costly ask.

Throwing yourself at the mercy of traditional postage companies, on the other hand, is often even more risky. Not only do you have to go to the effort of booking and managing your pick-ups and drop-offs, many have prohibitive restrictions on the way you need to package and ship your clubs. Who has the time to find a travel case-sized cardboard box? More importantly, if something goes wrong, who’s there to manage things?

As such, the industry has long been crying out for a decent middle man. In the USA, ShipSticks has positioned itself as a go-to for golfers looking to get their clubs overseas for an extended stay. However not a lot of British golfers know that a local equivalent exists in the form of MyBaggage, the services of which I was graciously given the chance to test out when moving from the UK back to Australia.

MyBaggage essentially serves as a middle man for people looking to ship heavier baggage on both short and long-haul journeys. You pay a slight premium compared to sorting your shipping directly through a company like FedEx or UPS, but what you get in return is peace of mind, the ability to ship your clubs in their travel case rather than a cardboard box, and, importantly, actual customer service.

The actual booking process itself couldn’t have been smoother. As a good proportion of the company’s client base is formed of golfers already, the platform is streamlined to allow you to input the weight and dimensions of your bag, and it quickly calculates the exact cost it’ll cost you to get your clubs to your chosen destination including customs and shipping fees. 

Once you’ve confirmed, you’re directed to a booking platform to choose your desired pick-up slot, emailed shipping labels to stick to your bag (pro-tip: make sure you find a tape and a surface that have good coverage) and place inside as a back-up. After that, it’s largely down to the postage company (in my case FedEx) to do their thing.

Because MyBaggage essentially works as a middle man, they don’t really have any control over the shipping process once you’ve booked your clubs’ passage. You will, ultimately, remain still at the mercy of the performance of the courier you’ve booked. However what they do offer is an avenue through which you can access customer service and coverage for your belongings, as I found out when no-one showed up during my chosen delivery window. 

With time ticking to get my clubs shipped home before I had to fly home myself, the MyBaggage team were attentive and quick to help me liaise with the courier company to make an alternative arrangement, which ultimately involved dropping my clubs off at the courier company myself. Not ideal, but certainly not MyBaggage’s fault either.

MyBaggage’s system also syncs up with that of the courier company to ensure you’re kept up to date throughout your clubs’ journey, adding just that extra reassurance that the journey is flowing along smoothly. Once my clubs were on their journey, everything progressed remarkably smoothly and, most importantly, on schedule. As I arrived home, so too did my beloved clubs shortly after.

Travelling as a golfer is an inherently expensive and stressful experience. Very little can be done to change that essential fact, but MyBaggage is as effective a tool as I’ve seen to take the sting out of the process. If you can spare the extra few bucks, you’ll find the added peace of mind well worth the investment.