While there is no greater joy than getting off the airplane with all your bags and bypassing baggage claim, not every trip is fit for packing light so Luggage Free is a great solution for any traveler who wants to ship their luggage ahead to any destination. This headache-free service allows travelers to avoid carrying, checking, and claiming luggage, and travelers can even plan to ship their luggage months in advance.
AlleyWatch spoke with CEO and founder Jeff Boyd about creating the best solution for every type of traveler.
Tell us about the product or service that Luggage Free offers.
Luggage Free is a specialty service offering travelers the ability to ship luggage ahead to any destination worldwide, allowing them the ability to avoid the inconvenience of carrying, checking and claiming luggage – even going through customs. Our luggage shipping service is guaranteed, allowing the traveler to avoid unnecessary aggravation and save time – safely and in style.
How much advanced planning does one need to do to use your service?
Customers can contact Luggage Free the same business day (excludes Sunday) in most major U.S. cities. Luggage Free can be at your home or office within six hours. If you don’t live in a major city, we can still pick up your things with as little as 24 working hours’ notice for orders placed during the work week. For international travel Luggage Free requires two business days’ notice before your scheduled retrieval. If you like to plan, Luggage Free also takes reservations up to nine months in advance.
How is Luggage Free different?
We bring the shipping process right to your living room, and we make it simple, easy and reliable. From helping to choose the best pickup date, to a preemptive review of each shipment to identify and avoid many potential delays, we handle everything.
When shipping luggage internationally, that includes the completion of all customs paperwork on a customer’s behalf, and a specialty team dedicated to quick clearance into every country we serve. Regardless of destination, all shipments are monitored and tracked every day, problems resolved behind the scenes, and customers receive a delivery confirmation by e-mail, phone or text. With service to over 114 countries worldwide, Luggage Free offers the greatest combination of product, price and service of anybody in the industry.
What market does Luggage Free target and how big is it?
Luggage Free is designed for all travelers who wish to make their trip as hassle-free as possible. The service is perfect for people traveling to cruise ships, children going to camp or back to school, parents traveling with young children, and anyone simply looking to take the headaches out of air travel.
Luggage Free has a customer base of 100K + loyal, high net-worth customers, 35 – 65 years in age with an annual income of over $250K per year.
What is the business model?
Non-asset based, layering superior service and customer experience over the reliable service of the world’s leading freight providers, and leveraging volume discounts to do so at highly competitive prices.
What inspired the start of Luggage Free?
It was a post 9/11 idea where we quickly realized air travel, and the airport experience, was never going to be the same. We thought that practical application, combined with the naturally occurring luxury element of the service made it a great product for the air travel space.
What are the milestones that you plan to achieve within six months?
Grow 14% year over year. Streamline service to Mexico.
What is the one piece of startup advice that you never got?
Relax.
Why did you launch in New York?
Access to employee talent, vendors and partners. For a young brand, it was far easier to meet someone in person at an event or through an introduction, than cold calling from somewhere else. Being in New York was paramount to our initial traction and growth.
What’s your favorite restaurant in the city?
This remains pretty fluid. I eat out too much. At the moment, it would be a toss-up between Legacy Records or Legacy Records
