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How long for Standard International Airmail to cross the pond?


JFSinIL
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Folks who have ordered stuff from England, or simply shipped anything from there to USA, about how long should it take?  I ordered a movie from BFI and they shipped it Monday the 9th via Standard International Airmail to me here in Illinois.   How long should I wait before asking them to send another copy?

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I used to work for the Post Office in the UK.  We found it very difficult to give estimates, because although our airmail service would get onto the first available flight, it would then go into a US service in New York or wherever, and we had no idea what the delivery aims of that service would be (ETA plus any customs delays).  The official delivery aim is 5 to 7 working days, but I agree with the pp that you should give it at least two weeks.

Edited by Laura Corin
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If that it like the Letter I mailed from Colombia to PA, in mid November, the Tracking showed it went to Bogota.  I think, but am not sure, that  it was actually turned over to the USPS here in Colombia. Then, the flight to Miami. Then, I think about 5 days in the USPS Customs facility in Miami.  The Tracking worked perfectly, until the very end. It showed one day that it left Scranton PA, and the next day it showed "In Transit to Destination" (that was on December 7th, to a city 25 miles away) and then, nothing after that. Never showed that my letter was delivered.  If you have a Tracking Number, you can (hopefully) find out where it is in the system. I would hope that you will receive it by the end of January.  If your package is like my letter, it went "ISAL" (International Surface Air Lift" or something like that) and they probably use the lowest cost air freight service, space available, when they send those shipments. I suspect my letter was one of thousands, in the same carton or container, the day it flew from Bogota to Miami).  

 

ETA: I reread the OP.  I would wait 30 - 45 days, before asking them to send you another one.

Edited by Lanny
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I will hold my horses for another couple weeks then. Even when it gets here, I still have to buy a blue ray player that is zone free in order to see it. But still cheaper than flying to London to see it. In case anyone cares, it is the fully (to date, more snips of footage keep popping up) restored silent film Napoleon by Abel Gance. I watched the early restoration a couple decades ago when it was shown here - with a score by Carmine Coppola. Now I can get my claws on a longer version with a score by Carl Davis that is supposed to be even better. I am a silent film nerd. May have to dig out my 60-page critique of the film and revamp it now :-)

Geek-out.

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I will hold my horses for another couple weeks then. Even when it gets here, I still have to buy a blue ray player that is zone free in order to see it. But still cheaper than flying to London to see it. In case anyone cares, it is the fully (to date, more snips of footage keep popping up) restored silent film Napoleon by Abel Gance. I watched the early restoration a couple decades ago when it was shown here - with a score by Carmine Coppola. Now I can get my claws on a longer version with a score by Carl Davis that is supposed to be even better. I am a silent film nerd. May have to dig out my 60-page critique of the film and revamp it now :-)

Geek-out.

 

I saw it in the 1980s at the Hippodrome, Bristol, UK, with a live orchestra playing the Davis score and I believe also conducted by him.  It was stunning, but I believe it's much more complete now.

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I saw it in the 1980s at the Hippodrome, Bristol, UK, with a live orchestra playing the Davis score and I believe also conducted by him.  It was stunning, but I believe it's much more complete now.

 

Saw it three times here with live orchestra and Coppola score.  But Brownlow (restorer) had had to trim it some to fit the time slot (live music after midnight or some such point put it into "golden time" overtime.)  Then saw it three times with recorded score at Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.  Each time I took notes in the dark, once even recorded the music  with my portable cassette player.  I then wrote the film out from memory, scene by scene, even shot by shot for much of it, so I could then write a huge research paper on it as part of an independent study in college.  I have always wanted to see it with the Davis score, which I hear is much better.  I have read that bit s of the film do still show up in the oddest places, but Brownlow is probably done with it now.

 

As a kid, I wanted to basically BE Kevin Brownlow.   So glad he got an Oscar for his work restoring films and writing books like The Parade's Gone By. 

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I was thinking of this thread and wondering if you got your package yet. By coincidence, ds2 ordered from North Yorkshire on the 21st and his package arrived today! Yeah, we're both in awe that it was so fast. It takes longer for a letter to go across the county around here. lol

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