How much luggage should I expect my wife to bring?

[Looking4Wife]

I travel very lightly, and have never had more than 2 bags... both being carry-on until they started making you check your bags for travelling with toothpaste, cologne, etc.

However I realize that women are wired differently, and my wife may be expecting to bring muchas maletas when she comes to the USA for the first time.

1. How much luggage should I expect her to want to bring?

2. How much does it cost to bring addtional luggage on the airplanes?

Thanks in advance...

[jediknight]

avianca charges $100 per extra bag. if she has a lot of clothes, especially jeans, pay the excess, it'll be cheaper than buying her new clothes. of course once she's here you'll eventually buy her new things but in the beginning she might feel more confortable with the items she already owns.

also, depending on how sentimental she is, she may want to have a connection to colombia with things bought there while experiencing her new country. bottom line is that i would be flexible and understanding if she wants to bring a few extra luggages, all within reason of course.
JK

[Montrealer]

Me and my wife discussed this jokingly a while ago.  We came to the conclusion that I would use my luggage allowance (2 bags) for her, giving her a total of four bags.  So when you go pick her up, just bring a carry on size bag for yourself for a couple day trip, and let her bring the 4 bags filled with her stuff, then just squeeze your toothpaste and other liquids in her bag.

However, if you're not planning to go and pick her up, and she'll be flying solo, make sure you check with the airlines you'll be using prior to make sure they will allow her to even pay for extra bags.  One flight I had a few years ago with Mexicana refused me having an extra piece for weight limits as it was already a full flight, and I ended up having to ship stuff via Fedex as it was Christmas presents for my ex's family.

But I would recomend the first option, only because it would be good for you to accompany her on the plane and through immigration the first time.  Immigration officials can be bad tempered sometimes, and it can be fairly traumatic if she doesn't know what she's doing or doesn't know her rights.

Monty

PS - It sounds like your paperwork is done, so congrats and I hope many years of happiness for you and the Mrs. L4W

[Looking4Wife]

JK and Monty:

Thanks for the insightful responses.

Monty:

Since you brought it up...

Travel Plan

The current plan is that I will go to BAQ and we will say our goodbyes to her family, and then fly to Bogotá together for her visa interview. Since the visas are typically given the day after the interview, we will plan to fly to the USA a few days after the visa interview. 

I have a couple extra days "padding" in Bogotá, because sometimes visas are "denied", and then you have to come back the next day with more supporting documentation, info, etc. before the visa gets "approved".

Immigration Status

We can finally see the "light at the end of the tunnel" for the inefficient, redundancy-plagued, US immigration process.  I am expecting a visa interview somewhere between March and June.

[Jeff S]

Nothing says you can't ship items before you leave. My wife shipped a dozen boxes or so of personal items before she left, and they arrived a week or two after she got here. It wasn't expensive as I recall and was a lot easier to deal with than humping luggage through airports. A few boxes sent sea mail is a lot easier to deal with as wel as being cheaper than a few extra suitcases.

- Jeff

[JimmySTLOUIS]

I was surprised by how little my wife back here with her. I think she brought two full suitcases.

Ask your wife to do a dry run of what she is going to take.

Good luck with your interview and good luck with everything. Keep us posted.

jim

[Brainiac]

L4W, I think the easy answer is: as much as she can.

I agree with MOnty's advice: take as little down with you as possible and allow her to use your allowance.  Also, be sure to check with the airline and not rely just on what people say here: When my wife went to Peru in November, she could only take 2 bags not exceeding 50lbs. each.  I called the airline and they told me 70 lbs, but when we got there we were denied any overweight limit, so we had to unpack some 40 lbs. from her bags.  It might be more flexible going from Colombia to the USA.