Courier Services from India to Sweden

We have been living in Sweden since 2016 but never used  courier service until last year when we came across an urgent requirement and ended up paying lot of money to DHL for a small parcel. It was due to lack of knowledge of different options and also because of short time we had to get the parcel to Sweden.

Hence, writing this post based on conversations we have seen in FB post and based on our experience.

What parameters do you need to consider when you courier or ship items from India?
* Timelines to receive the parcel (based on your need such as 1 week or 1 month or urgent etc)
* Weight of the parcel
* Traceability & Customer Service/Support
* Clarity of allowed/prohibited items 
* Import duty or Custom duty or taxes
* Packaging of parcel
* Door to Door pick up/delivery
* Last but not least : cost but that depends on above services offered by courier company. 

* DHL is fastest and reliable option. If you have urgent needs or items that you are shipping are valuable, then go for it. However, check the total cost and be aware of the taxes in addition to the cost, then decide. You can find more details here in FAQ page of DHL website. They have door to door service as well and you can be tension free about the parcel as long as you are ok with cost. 

* Fexdex is the next best option and cost is little lesser than DHL but definitely as reliable as DHL. I loved their service when they allowed/introduced importing Oxygen Cylinders to India with clear procedures during Covid second wave times.

* India Post is cheapest and best option, if your items are not urgent and you are not worried about the timelines to receive the parcel. We have had an experience of receiving parcel in 3 months time after so many follow ups and complaints but we can't blame them completely considering Covid situation but still it's cheap compared to any other courier service. We also have experience of receiving the parcel in 3 weeks time. In ideal situation, you get the parcel in 2 to 3 weeks and worst case could be any number of months.

* Shop in India (Amazon, Myntra, Jabong, Flipkart etc as you eed) and ship to Sweden.
We were surprised to see this option when we first came across this service but it's helpful, if there is no one to purchase the items for you in India and parcel them. They can shop on behalf of you or pick items of what you order, then ship them to your desired address outside India. Following sites we found so far
Ship India Sey
My X Border
Your Desi Cart

*Some more courier services but no experience of using them

Fastway
BGN Express
Express Cargo Movers
2 Day Logistics
DND Group
Global India Express
Garudavega
Grand Abroad Packers

* Send an item with a passenger who is flying and has space to bring your item at some cost. We never used this option but tried couple of times but didn't work for us. Also, read some issues about cheating and other issues. However, still mentioning them here, if you like to give a try.
Luggage Pool
I Can Bring

You can share your feedback or comments by sending your experience with us so that we can update this post appropriately and help others. Thanks

Our Travel Experience to India during Covid Times 2021

Life has been very unpredictable since Covid-19 came into our lives. In this post, we will share our personal travel experience to India and what documents needed and how did it go etc. Hope it helps others.

Origin of Travel: Arlanda, Stockholm, Sweden, started on 19th June 2021.
Destination of Travel: Hyderabad, Telangana, India, reached on 20th June 2021

Airlines: Qatar Airways.

Documents needed while starting from Stockholm:
1. RT PCR Report with QR Code, taken at Legehuset, Kista. Taken within 72 hours of departure time.
2. Consent Form from Qatar
3. Air Suvidha submission copy

Taken multiple copies of the same as they were needed once in Stockholm but at multiple times within Airport in India.

Journey experience: Qatar has arranged everything very neatly starting from hand sanitizer, face shields and masks during the flight journey. Staff was very friendly and reminding about mask, if we miss it sometimes :-). We have 2 kids aged 6 years and 11 years and it was the first time they were wearing face shields and they were co operative about it. We pleasantly surprised about it. Food was also good and we had chosen preferred meal in advance and it was arranged as needed.

After landing in India:
Even though we carried RT PCR report from Stockholm, we were tested again for Covid-19 in Hyderabad airport and reports were received later in the day evening after we reached home. Negative results gave us confidence to be tension free.

We had to travel to our native place for 4 hours from Hyderabad and we applied for e-pass for 20th June but lock down was removed from the same day and we didn't need but it was announced late in evening. So, we didn't know about it.

People in general, whom we have seen, have been careful, wearing masks including children, especially while going to shops and travel, Yes, there were few people, who were not wearing masks but that's there everywehre in the world. If we can wear face mask as needed and use hand sanitizer at appropriate time, we can be risk-free and be safe.

First one week: our yournger kid has got red eyes due to too much heat and we had to visit a Eye doctor and it was cured fully after using eye drops. Initially, we thought it was because of allergy but it was not the case. 
Later 5 weeks: We enjoyed each and every moment we were in India and we met our close friends and relatives. Kids spent quality time with grand parents, visitng the fields and going to hills and temples. We also enjoyed heavy rains with paper boats and recalled our own childhood memories.

Shopping & Travelling: Most of our shoppind done via online portals like Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra. It was very convenient and easy to handle and we were able to return as well without any issues. We did visit some shops but very few and visited Central in Chanda Nagar but during week days where there was less crowd.  
We never travelled using Public Transport. We always used our own transport, that could have also helped us.

Return Journey to Stockholm:
Travel Date: 31-July-2021 via Doha though Qatar Airways.
We took Covid test in Hyderabad from Mapmygenome, ordered home collection for sample. Ensured that it was done within 48 hours time window of ARRIVAL time in Stockholm.

Documents needed in Hyderabad Airport:
1. RT PCR Test report with QR code
2. Consent from Qatar

No documents needed at Stockholm airport other than immigration checks.

Though we were symptom free, we ordered for home Covid test from AlltidOppet site and got tested, results were negative. It gave us confidence to do basic grocery shopping and go out confidently to visit our farm in Akalla :-)

Travel Purpose: We have been travelling out of India since 2006 but we always visit our parents/close friends and family within 9 months to 1 year by travelling to India. However, due to Covid-19, we couldn't visit them in last 2 years and we were missing them badly. 

• We booked tickets for June 2020, Dec 2020 and cancelled both times.
• Our parents in India got both doses of vaccine.
• We all got Covid during Apr-2021 in Stockholm and we recovered from it.
• We took 1st dose vaccine in Stockholm 
• We don't know when this Covid will end and when third or fourth wave will come. Hence, we took a risk and it ended well for us.

Why to share these details in public forum?
We had so many queries and concerns before we travelled and during our visit and in return journey as well. We observed that many people might have similar questions and scenarios in their lives. Hence, thought it would help them to reflect.
We don't have any other intentions and this is our personal experience and it can be and could be different for others.