Silly me! <-- want me transport iMac in a Plane to Germany?

[keirnna]

On another note I do know that Apple do not like people in Europe flying off to the States to buy what are almost half-priced machines. If you do then Apple offers NO warrenty if your machine goes wrong unless you go back to the States to get it fixed.

Just another reason I always buy Apple. They have worldwide warranty coverage and you are flat out wrong.

 

[Nordichund]

Just another reason I always buy Apple. They have worldwide warranty coverage and you are flat out wrong.

Yep I apologize you´re correct. Apple do have worldwide support. So sorry Apple

 

[VideoFreek]

Glad someone else commented on my post about the tax evasion thing.

like i care, im just saying, you are asking for help publicly.

Actually, the law in Germany states that if you are moving (back) to Germany, you may bring in personal effects free of duties and border taxes if:

1) you've lived outside Germany for at least 12 months
2) you've owned the goods in question for at least 6 months before the move
3) you will keep (i.e., not resell) the good in Germany for at least a year after the move

Since the OP seems to be a German national preparing to move back to Germany, if he can meet these requirements (#2 may be the killer), then I believe he can legally bring in his Mac duty-free.

 

[Neo91]

Actually, the law in Germany states that if you are moving (back) to Germany, you may bring in personal effects free of duties and border taxes if:

1) you've lived outside Germany for at least 12 months
2) you've owned the goods in question for at least 6 months before the move
3) you will keep (i.e., not resell) the good in Germany for at least a year after the move

Since the OP seems to be a German national preparing to move back to Germany, if he can meet these requirements (#2 may be the killer), then I believe he can legally bring in his Mac duty-free.

yeah #2 is the killer, but Im 16 years old, and when they see the iMac is used they wont do anything. And may be they wont controll me!

 

[desenso]

no because I will use it just for mayself, i wont sell it!

This totally isn't worth the trouble. Just pay the money. If if you have a legitimate excuse not paying VAT, do you really feel like dealing with that?

 

[p33]

yeah #2 is the killer

Quite frankly, I don't think they would bother to investigate that much, if they ever stop you for a check. A huge box, although wrapped with paper, can atrract too much of attention, I gather... So, think about it.

If you are to put the iMac into you checked in luggage you would probably want to remove the hard drive and find a piece of hard plastic or whatever of a decent size to put it against the LCD before wrapping the whole thing with clothes or whatever protection. The CD drive could also suffer from harsh airport treatments but it is certainly much less sensitive. Removing the HDD might void you warranty though...

The best way is certainly to take it to the cabin as your hand luggage, after removing the stand, of course. A 20"er will fit into cabin compartments for sure, a 24"er... - my guess is, that it will too, you can always put it under you seat acodring to most carriers rules. You sould check how many hand luggage items are allowed per person by the company you are flying with, to avoid troubles.

An iMac, being quite large, is very slim (without the stand of course), it is almost as slim as a painting, which you certainly can carry with you. You can always argue at the check in, should there be any questions, that it is an extremely fragile and valuable item and there is no way it is going to check in. A decent company will most probably meet you requirements. There may be a problem with overweight for a hand luggade. Yet again, check it out with you carrier.

I know somebody who just didn't show all his hand luggage items at the check in stand, fetched it from his buddy before going to the security check, and the unshown item made it happily to its destination. You mileage may vary though, and it is certainly NOT an advice, just a piece of information.

Good luck, anyway.

 

[Lau]

Last time I flew with hold luggage I wrapped my toilet bag in all my clothes and it was safely cocooned in the middle, and still a plastic cosmetics container was smashed to pieces in the middle of it, I really, really wouldn't risk anything like that in the hold. Seriously.

 

[aethelbert]

Getting it across the pond won't be much of a problem. If you pad it well, it's just like Apple shipping it from China to America. All cargo gets treated poorly, but the computer is padded inside of the box very well for this reason.

I fly into Germany a few times each month for work, and customs at the airports is a joke. If you're flying from Canada to either Frankfurt or Munich, I can almost promise you that you won't even see a customs agent coming off of a trans-atlantic flight.