The funny thing about air travel is that the most tedious parts about it are on the ground: check-in and claim.
Enter one Brian Altomare and a very novel idea.
“LugLess is a travel agent for your luggage,” he explains of the company he founded to make travel as lug-free as possible.
If LugLess sounds familiar, it should — Altomare & Co appeared on Season 4 of Shark Tankearlier this year (and did pretty well!). Here’s how it works: Place your luggage shipping order online or by phone, specifying dates, pickup and delivery info, and choosing the type of luggage you need shipped. LugLess then sends you a packet in the mail with luggage tags and labels, etc. A few days before your departure, a LugLess rep picks up your luggage and sends it to your final destination ahead of time, making arrangements for safe handling on either end, and in both directions. LugLess handles just about anything can go in a cargo hold, from carry-ons, standard bags, over-sized bags, golf clubs, skis and snowboards, surfboards, bikes, baby seats, and strollers. They also track your stuff, so it gets to the same place you are. This leaves you to navigate the usual airport both dignity and grace — or as much of either as the body scanners will allow.
Altamore, who describes himself as LugLess’s “Chief Baggage Officer, continues: “We offer a white-glove, door-to-door luggage shipping service at an economy price.”
To be fair, sending your bags ahead isn’t exactly the newest idea; people have been using UPS and FedEx for the exact same purpose for years, and more so now considering how much airlines are nickel-and-diming fliers for extra bags and carry-on luggage that is over the weight limit. But even the boys in brown would be hard pressed to compete with LugLess and their snappy ability to be up to 50% cheaper than parcel-post.
For more information, go to lugless.com.