Do you travel with your H bag?

[irvinggrrl]

I've been bringing my black B with me for my New York work trips for years now. I'm not precious with it - I stuff it under the seat, stick it in security, etc. I like using the B for work travel because it holds a lot when I'm in transit, works well in the office, and is fine for casual evenings out. It's 12 years old and barely looks used. In fact, I probably use my B more for work travel than anything else. Togo leather is heavy but it's a real workhorse - I don't know if I'd want a B in anything else.

I spent three weeks in Europe with my Evelyn and found it great for those purposes - crossbody is the way to go and the pocket held my iPad mini. I did use an insert and clipped my travel wallet to it so I wouldn't have to worry about pickpocketing. I did recently get an Halzan, however, and may switch to that for my next vacation trip. The one downside of the Evelyn is it's too casual for evenings out, and I like having the clutch option. We'll see!

 

[QuelleFromage]

In France we are obliged to take off all electronic devices from bags!

That is true in most of Europe for laptops. It's why I'm not sure about the laptop on the bottom thing. In the US it is different if you have trusted traveler status, but still, you might be asked to get a device out. So far no solution to this one

 

[ruxoru]

Hello Hermeś lovers, so glad to be entering the club haha.

As some may have seen from a post in general handbags and purses i bought a McQueen bag that was of shoddy quality so i returned it and i looked at my savings/my fiancè and asked if i could get a birkin . he said yes but it had to pre-loved which im totally cool with. by the luck of the stars a friend my mum works besides has a birkin that hasn't survived the divorce and the new puppy too well so she wants to part with it and she's is holding it for me, its not in amazing condition but i figure its just superficial and £6,000 for a 40cm black togo with gold hardware i'll take it to the hermes spa and get her fixed up.

Anyway the point of this post, traveling with a Birkin.... my friend came back from rome a few weeks ago and got pulled over about her louis Vuitton lockit bag that she bough months before because they wanted to check if it was fake , it wasn't but they asked her if she had her receipt to prove its real, she obviously was fine since it was real but will i need to bring a receipt when i travel as to avoid people thinking my birkin is fake ?.

And also do you ever get negative attention with your birkin ? im only 21 going on 22 and i worry that people will look at me funny because i have a birkin, i mean its not like im from a rich family and iv been bought the bag, iv just worked, saved and been lucky i guess.

Thanks .

 

[cheapfrillnorth]

I can't comment on how people will look at you but in the UK £6000 for a 40 Birkin that isn't in amazing condition is far too much IMO. Larger bags aren't as popular and resale prices much lower than 30's or 35's.

No, you don't need to travel with a receipt to prove its real. The bag is authentic not the receipt. Where would this end? Stopping to see if shoes were real or clothes were real!!! You would have to have a separate bag for receipts.

Finally, £6000 is still a huge amount of money for a handbag. Read this forum, visit a store if you can to see bags IRL (I know this isn't always possible with Birkins but most stores have a display model in the back), make sure you get any bag you like authenticated properly and take your time. There will always be another handbag.

 

[mlemee]

Hello Hermeś lovers, so glad to be entering the club haha.

As some may have seen from a post in general handbags and purses i bought a McQueen bag that was of shoddy quality so i returned it and i looked at my savings/my fiancè and asked if i could get a birkin . he said yes but it had to pre-loved which im totally cool with. by the luck of the stars a friend my mum works besides has a birkin that hasn't survived the divorce and the new puppy too well so she wants to part with it and she's is holding it for me, its not in amazing condition but i figure its just superficial and £6,000 for a 40cm black togo with gold hardware i'll take it to the hermes spa and get her fixed up.

Anyway the point of this post, traveling with a Birkin.... my friend came back from rome a few weeks ago and got pulled over about her louis Vuitton lockit bag that she bough months before because they wanted to check if it was fake , it wasn't but they asked her if she had her receipt to prove its real, she obviously was fine since it was real but will i need to bring a receipt when i travel as to avoid people thinking my birkin is fake ?.

And also do you ever get negative attention with your birkin ? im only 21 going on 22 and i worry that people will look at me funny because i have a birkin, i mean its not like im from a rich family and iv been bought the bag, iv just worked, saved and been lucky i guess.

Thanks .

If anyone, never mind an authority figure, pulled me aside to query whether my bag/shoes/coat etc is real they would get a swift box to the head! WTH!
That's so rude and inappropriate, how can customs ask a random person if their bag is real??
She should have made a complaint.
Who cares if people think your bag is fake - you paid £6k for it so you know it isn't.
Also, call Hermes and find out how much it will cost to have the bag freshen up at the spa, from what I've heard it isn't cheap.

 

[MASEML]

Who is pulling over people to enquire about authenticity? The police or border control?

I've heard of cases in Canada whereby returning from international holiday, people have been asked by border control to prove their handbag wasn't purchased overseas. This is probably in countries where the govt believes there's a flagrant lack of declaring (hence, govt losing out on collecting duty).

If asking for authenticity, that's a little strange. I guess they would only ask, but not even, if they suspected the individual of having stolen those goods, but the police can't just randomly stop and ask on the street...that would lead to a whole lot of legal, PR and constitutional issues.

Edit to add: don't be afraid to travel with expensive pieces. No point in buying expensive things that only sit in your closet.

 

[ruxoru]

I can't comment on how people will look at you but in the UK £6000 for a 40 Birkin that isn't in amazing condition is far too much IMO. Larger bags aren't as popular and resale prices much lower than 30's or 35's.

No, you don't need to travel with a receipt to prove its real. The bag is authentic not the receipt. Where would this end? Stopping to see if shoes were real or clothes were real!!! You would have to have a separate bag for receipts.

Finally, £6000 is still a huge amount of money for a handbag. Read this forum, visit a store if you can to see bags IRL (I know this isn't always possible with Birkins but most stores have a display model in the back), make sure you get any bag you like authenticated properly and take your time. There will always be another handbag.

Oh sorry it's £5,000 haha, i can buy a new one for around £6,000

I phoned a few days and was given a rough quote of £600 including hardware replacement but obviously i will only know when i take it in.

 

[ruxoru]

Who is pulling over people to enquire about authenticity? The police or border control?

I've heard of cases in Canada whereby returning from international holiday, people have been asked by border control to prove their handbag wasn't purchased overseas. This is probably in countries where the govt believes there's a flagrant lack of declaring (hence, govt losing out on collecting duty).

If asking for authenticity, that's a little strange. I guess they would only ask, but not even, if they suspected the individual of having stolen those goods, but the police can't just randomly stop and ask on the street...that would lead to a whole lot of legal, PR and constitutional issues.

Edit to add: don't be afraid to travel with expensive pieces. No point in buying expensive things that only sit in your closet.

she was flying to the U.S. so maybe they were thinking she bought it in rome and was trying to not declare it, which means you would need prof you bought it prior to flying. and rome has a high counterfeit rate too.

why cant they just let us enjoy our expensive but beautiful things haha .

 

[MASEML]

she was flying to the U.S. so maybe they were thinking she bought it in rome and was trying to not declare it, which means you would need prof you bought it prior to flying. and rome has a high counterfeit rate too.

why cant they just let us enjoy our expensive but beautiful things haha .

Oh, got it. Thanks! Probably is a good idea to carry a copy of the receipt when going through Customs, as they (and Immigration) have lots of leeway into what they can ask. I should practice what I preach, but I haven't yet carried a receipt.

 

[Leah]

I travel with my Hermes bags, especially when I need to travel for my business and need a bag that can hold my documents and one that I can still bring to meetings. My birkin 35s and Kelly 32/35s are perfect for this.

As for the inspection of goods in Europe, this is a fairly regular procedural check.
A few years ago Comite Colbert (association of luxury good companies) launched a campaign in France to work with customs to track counterfeit goods, including those carried by tourists. Other European countries followed suit.

In addition, Europe has several local anti-couterfeit agencies that work with the individual airports and customs to check not just goods that are coming in through larger shipment or luggage, but goods that are being carried by passengers. They aren't just looking for counterfeit bags but more dangerous items like counterfeit medicine.

Btw, I know or have heard of several acquaintances who have been stopped and asked about the origin of the items they were carrying including yes a LV bag.

The people that check are usually not your regular airport staff but people with experience in luxury and counterfeit goods and they have ALL the authority to do so.

If they ask, passengers are advised to answer and cooperate.

It my view it would be very very unwise to throw attitude to, or not politely cooperate with ANYONE working at the airport or customs.

 

[ruxoru]

I travel with my Hermes bags, especially when I need to travel for my business and need a bag that can hold my documents and one that I can still bring to meetings. My birkin 35s and Kelly 32/35s are perfect for this.

As for the inspection of goods in Europe, this is a fairly regular procedural check.
A few years ago Comite Colbert (association of luxury good companies) launched a campaign in France to work with customs to track counterfeit goods, including those carried by tourists. Other European countries followed suit.

In addition, Europe has several local anti-couterfeit agencies that work with the individual airports and customs to check not just goods that are coming in through larger shipment or luggage, but goods that are being carried by passengers. They aren't just looking for counterfeit bags but more dangerous items like counterfeit medicine.

Btw, I know or have heard of several acquaintances who have been stopped and asked about the origin of the items they were carrying including yes a LV bag.

The people that check are usually not your regular airport staff but people with experience in luxury and counterfeit goods and they have ALL the authority to do so.

If they ask, passengers are advised to answer and cooperate.

It my view it would be very very unwise to throw attitude to, or not politely cooperate with ANYONE working at the airport or customs.

Yes i was thinking that, at least if I have the receipt i can rest knowing they cant mistake it for a fake since fake are getting so good these days but as you said they are experts so they will know its real.

Maybe im just getting paranoid about anyone else touching my new baby birkin haha.

 

[Leah]

You don't need to travel with original receipts (although if you really want to be safe...) but in Europe, the people that inspect the luxury goods are well trained and have the experience in detecting the counterfeit goods. In fact, many of them used to work at the luxury companies, possibly in R&D. They are not the "regular" customs or airport personnel and from my understanding, they aren't at the airports all the time. They do random checks.

 

[Grande Latte]

No I don't. First of all, it attracts too much attention, and secondly I don't want to get stopped and waste my time at customs where I have family waiting to pick me up outside the airport.

It just seems like a big hassle to me. But I have carried my bags INSIDE my luggage so I can wear them when I've landed.

 

[chicinthecity777]

I travel with my Hermes bags, especially when I need to travel for my business and need a bag that can hold my documents and one that I can still bring to meetings. My birkin 35s and Kelly 32/35s are perfect for this.

As for the inspection of goods in Europe, this is a fairly regular procedural check.
A few years ago Comite Colbert (association of luxury good companies) launched a campaign in France to work with customs to track counterfeit goods, including those carried by tourists. Other European countries followed suit.

In addition, Europe has several local anti-couterfeit agencies that work with the individual airports and customs to check not just goods that are coming in through larger shipment or luggage, but goods that are being carried by passengers. They aren't just looking for counterfeit bags but more dangerous items like counterfeit medicine.

Btw, I know or have heard of several acquaintances who have been stopped and asked about the origin of the items they were carrying including yes a LV bag.

The people that check are usually not your regular airport staff but people with experience in luxury and counterfeit goods and they have ALL the authority to do so.

If they ask, passengers are advised to answer and cooperate.

It my view it would be very very unwise to throw attitude to, or not politely cooperate with ANYONE working at the airport or customs.

this!

 

[chicinthecity777]

I have carried my B and K many times going through different Europe countries (France and Italy included) as well as Asia and US. I have never been stopped once but I have heard stories of people being asked about their designer items. So I think the checks are really random.