I'm coming to Belize on June 1st. I am very excited. I also need to find out about what I should expect to pay for the various items I'm bringing with me:

1) Some various electronics and computer stuff
2) My prescription medications
3)Personal effects like clothes, toiletries etc

Can anyone point me in the direction of where I can find information about what I will need to pay?

I go to the States twice a year for supplies and bring back about 3 to 5 hundred lbs on the plane. Dispite what I hear I have always been been treated more than fair by customs. First go through the declare line, dont try to sneak anything in. Try to get the young thin Belizean girl. For Computer or electronics if you are taking them back out of the country with you there is no fee. its about 30% if they are staying, have receipts, if items are old at least have all items and value written on paper, customs seldom argue the prices as long as they make some sort of sense. Nothing is charged on medicine, nothing on personal cloths, do not say you are brining gifts to Belizeans.

I was charged duty at the Corozal border on prescription medicines, all clearly labelled with my name and address, and with a copy of the doctor's prescription.

What percentage of the cost of the drugs did they charge you at the border?

I was told you could bring 2 x 50lb bags which = 100lbs, can you tell me what the other 2-5 hundred lbs cost you Cooper.

John

I think I was charged about 10% of what they estimated the resale value might be, but they were very vague. They asked me what the drugs cost and I truthfully replied "nothing", but I'm sure they didn't believe me. I ended up paying about US$40. When I asked them for a receipt they threatened me with charging much more, so I'm in little doubt where the "duty" ended up. Whenever I import something for my business I'm usually quoted two rates - with or without a receipt.

I usually pass through the corozal border after a shopping trip in Mexico. I am always assessed on some of the items that I buy. I would say that duty typically runs a little under 10% of the amount that I actually spent. I have never been offered two duty prices and I have always received a receipt.

I have heard that the customs guys sometimes take advantage of people - but that has never been my experience. I have found going in with a smile, being friendly and polite, being co-operative and generally truthful about expenditure and cost of items makes it a fairly painless process.

Last time I passed through that border we had gone to Playa Del Carmen for a quick vacation. We were waved through the border coming and going once we explained we simply had a couple of souveniers.

That didn't work as good for me Amanda. They wanted to charge me duty on my souvenier case of tequila and claimed that my other souvenier needed a visa.

Next time you may need to smuggle those items via Xcalak!

Last time I passed through the Corozal border I was just waved through - didn't even stop walking. I must have looked honest that day.

Airlines differ but the norm is. 50lb allowed for 2 bags pack them at 70lb for $25 xtra, each xtra bag at 70lb $100, so with 2 people 500lbs would cost about $350,00 which is cheap compared to most other methods, and you have better control of your belongings.

Be careful about the weight. Last December when my daughter came down Continental was not allowing ANY extra pounds. Maybe because cargo was heavy at that time of year as she had never had this problem before. She had to move heavy stuff into her carry on - go figure.
I was taught the trick for checking in your luggage. Put the lighter of the two bags on the scale first. Once that is recorded put the 2nd (and heavier) bag on with the first one. If the two together are not over 100 pounds they have passed me through.

There is not supposed to be any duty charged on computers - but they do charge duty on all the peripheral stuff (printers, screens, etc.). They usually ask "Will you be taking this with you when you leave?" The answer is always YES.

For stuff I know I will have to pay duty on (like stainless steel pots or non stick cookware) I tape the receipt right onto the product. They will never believe how little we have to pay in the States for things like this.

As far as prescriptions go - how much were you bringing in that they charged duty? My Rx won't give me more than a 90 day supply - which is a pain in the patoot.

Harriette

I was carrying about 4 months' supply, but my mistake was probably to pack them into a small rigid cardboard box to keep the cartons pristine. That made the whole package seem much bigger.

Be careful about the "order of bags" trick. I was routed via New York once when returning to the UK, so this was the third time I'd checked the same bags in (Belize, Miami, New York - what a pain travelling in the US is). My bags between them were at about the weight limit and I hadn't had a problem at the previous two check-ins, but this time I happened to put the lighter bag on first, it was accepted and moved onto the conveyor and disappeared. Then I put the other bag on and they refused to accept it - said it was overweight. I pointed out that this was the third check-in of the same bags but it made no difference. I argued for almost an hour, but they said quite simply that the bag could not go (at all, no option to pay an excess). Eventually a manager said I could pay an excess of $150 and they would take it.

The bag was 7lb over the limit and the other one had been 10lb under.

Going through Corazol we paid 10% duty and 10%GST on household items and they went through our bags, including 10 days of dirty clothes.

On another trip through Corazol I managed to [#%!] off the duty guy and we were charged 30%. We had bought a lamp in the duty free zone - which we thought was OK - well it wasn't and I got cute and it cost us. It is difficult but I now try to just keep my mouth shut.

I had a friend fly back last summer. She arrived with two bags going from Belize to Houston, Houston to Dallas, Dallas to Fort Myers. She bought a bunch of stuff to take home. We have a set of scales at home and we weighed her two bags out at 49 lbs each.
No problem till the guy behind the counter at AA whipped out his tape measure and declared one of the bags five inches too long.
They wanted to charge her an extra 100 bucks for the bag.
I told the guy why wasn't she charged for an oversize bag coming from Belize, coming from Houston to Dallas, coming from Dallas to Fort Myers. His response was that somebody should have caught this terrible injustice before. We just stood there and stood there and said we didn't have the extra $100 and then he just said well this is a "warning" and finally picked up the bag and put it on the belt.

My sister in law bought a bunch of gifts for the family on her way home to Indiana. The airline charged her for the bag being overweight. Her husband was so mad. Cost her 25 bucks for being 3 lbs overweight.

Sometimes in the summer they will impose an embargo which means nothing can be in cardboard boxes and everyone must adhere to the two bag limit. Also the embargo can happen around Christmas time.

Strangest item I ever saw a person attempting to carry on to Belize was a front windshield for his automible. He didn't want to give it up because he thought they would break it but no way was it going to fit in an overhead bin.

We were charged $80 for a bag being 4 pounds overweight. It was 50 pounds exactly at home. It was medical supplies we always take for the clinics, and usually, once we tell them they are donations, they will let us go. But this person was a real jerk, and held to the fine. Now, we always try to be at least 3-4 pounds underweight before we leave, because we know their scales are "tilted" to their side.

The airlines have taken the heaven-sent opportunity of 9-11 (sorry if that offends sensitivities) to become total grasping b*s**ds, and not just American ones. The excuse given for any absurd restriction, price rise, interference or plain inefficiency is "security". Any attempt to question it is interpreted as equivalent to shouting "I have a bomb!".

On my trip from the states in 2005 I got caught in the reduced allowance change.
When I left Belize the allowance was 70 pounds, when I came back it was 50. I asked them how I was supposed to dispose of 20 pounds worth of goods on my visit. I was nice but desperate - they studied my passport and let me go through without a fee.

Harriette

Nail on the Head Pedro.or as you lot would say.. " Spot on"

I always carry a plastic shopping bag in my purse for emergencies - you know, like your luggage being overweight!

Or simply put one in the outside pocket of your suitcase. There's been quite a few times that both my husband and I took out books and shoes (the heavy stuff) at the last minute and carried them on board.

And I agree that the scales always seem to be about 3 - 5 pounds heavier than mine at home!!

Haven't you ever had your hand baggage weighed? It's happened to me and to others I know.

NEVER had my hand bags weighed - ever!!! Frankly, I don't know of anybody who has - until now! Maybe depends on the airport you fly out of? We fly out of Florida, Texas, and California. Might be tougher in New York?

I am the Queen of over weight luggage... I have often been seen dragging 50lbs of carry on thru the airport.. OK maybe I have exaggerated a slight bit but definitely heavy bags..

Only place I have had my hand / carryon weighed was in London, England, and yes, had to pay the price..
Gail

It's in England that it's happened to me. I'm not sure, but I don't think anywhere else.

Yeah, I remember flying out of Gatwick to Dallas....I had to go through an "interview" - not like in the U.S. At Gatwick, I was asked lots and lots of questions - not just the standard stuff we get, but where you been - whatta ya do, etc.

I had a duffle and a purse as carry-ons. They INSISTED that the two must combine or else. It was quite comical, but I was able to "stuff" my purse into my duffle...well, they didn't say I had to CLOSE THE BAG! Ha! How's that for technical rules?

They still didn't weigh my carry-on, though! I fear the days that they make us all get on the scales like in some places in the caribbean.

SCAREY!!!!

In '98 twenty two members of my underwater photo club took a trip to Palau, in the South Pacific. In addition to full dive gear we all packed several cameras, underwater housings, strobes, etc. That was in the days of film cameras so each of us also carried about fifty rolls of slide film that we did not want to put through the x-ray equipment.

We took note of how professional photographers packed their equipment, in fancy vests. Many of us found that fishing vests were a fraction of the price. You should have seen us - we each looked like the Michelin tire man.

As we were disembarking back in San Francisco a flight attendant decided to help me get my stuff out of the overhead and grabbed my vest which immediately crashed to the floor. She said "What do you have in there?"

So much for weight limits!

Harriette

A friend of mine ran afoul of the weight restriction issue. She took her BCD out of her bags and wore it on like a jacket.

On my recent return from across the pond, my bags were not too heavy from Europe to the states, but suddenly had gained 5.5 pounds during the flight. Go figure. In any event, I transfered 6.5 pounds of stuff from my big bag to my smaller bag and then when the large suitcase was weighed again on another scale it was still 5.5 pounds over. I kicked up a fuss at that point and they let me go.