Well, MrsZ and I are shortly emigrating to Adelaide! Whilst that's all rather exciting for us, there are one or two more boring issues to contend with first…

Firstly, I guess we'll want some sort of travel insurance. Is it worth getting the packaged offers that you sometimes get with flights, or should we shop about for a personal policy?

Secondly, flights… Does anyone have any recommendations for long-haul to Oz? In particular, reasonable baggage allowance (or at least a reasonable way to book excess baggage)

Finally, shipping companies. We live in semi-furnished accommodation, so have a reasonable amount (and 4 bikes), but not a full house's worth. Has anyone who's moved abroad had any particularly good or bad experiences?

Cheers,

Mark

Congrats.

1) If you're just flying point to point from UK to Oz – do you really need insurance?

2) There are some airlines that have "migrant" prices and baggage allowances. Head on over to http://www.britishexpats.com and hit the Australia board. There are a billion threads on it and all more detailed than you will get here.

3) Before you get started, become very familiar with the strict Aussie customs and quarantine regulations. Generally it's not much more expensive to have movers pack everything than to self-pack, and if they pack, insurance will cover damage in transit easier.

Dump as much crap as you can. Get several quotes. Don't forget that you'll arrive in Oz several weeks before your stuff (or will have to send your stuff in advance).

Shipping is cheap; stuff in Australia is expensive. If you have it and it works, it's probably cheaper to ship it than to buy it new.

Company recommendations – probably doesn't really matter, the British mover will just sub it out to whoever's cheapest at the Australian end anyway.

PM me or post here if you have any other questions.

Thanks Konabunny. My email's in my profile if you could ping me one so I can reply? I can't see yours in there…

Thanks for the link. I can see a few evenings need to be spent on there and Pomsinoz…

Work are paying $10k for flights and moving. Anything extra is our expense. Of course, they will only pay to ship, and not replace stuff, so we'll be sending pretty much everything we can. Of main concern are my separates hifi, PC (and more importantly it's hard disks), and most of all, the bikes…

If you're just flying point to point from UK to Oz – do you really need insurance?

I guess if we end up stuck somewhere is the problem, or we miss the connecting flights due to Iceland burping again. Not that up on long-haul I'm afraid…

Just emailed you with a long ramble. Forgot that I didn't have my email in my profile any more!