on the road to status: seattle mattress run + 24/7 parcels

and yet another episode of mattress running has begun. this is for stays #5 and 6 of the year for the starwood program. we arrived late last night, having left vancouver at around 7pm or so. we arrived at the sheraton bellevue and promptly went to bed. today, we are going to be moving to the four points by sheraton, downtown seattle. two different hotels, slightly more work, but totally worth the extra stay credit. as an aside, it is cheaper to stay in bellevue than it is to stay in seattle proper.

en route, we passed by blaine, washington, which is about a 30 minutes' drive from vancouver. we stopped off there to pick up my friend's um ... expensive ... boots that she bought from online. she introduced me to 24/7 parcels which is a service aimed specifically at vancouverites. they understand that american versions of websites (e.g., amazon.com) usually offer lower prices compared to their  canadian counterparts but have exorbitant shipping rates to canada. other sites don't even ship to canada. 24/7 parcels gives you an american shipping address in exchange for a $3 charge per parcel (and $0.50-$1.00/day beyond 7 days). there are no membership fees. it effectively cuts your shipping costs to $3 a shipment, provided you're heading en route to seattle anyway. it's best to lump this in with a weekend trip stateside so that you can avoid paying duty charges.

there are lots of shipping services in blaine. lots. they all charge roughly the same amount. some charge a yearly membership fee. most are open during regular banking business hours (9-5 m-f, 9-12 saturday). what i like about 24/7 parcels is that like the name suggests, you can pick up your parcels at any time. they text you a code that you enter to get into the building. you use that same code on a keypad inside that will then electronically open a storage locker. it then debits your account the amount owed.

the last time i did my mattress run, my friend had her package sent to blaine enterprises. i arrived on easter monday (not a federal holiday) at 4pm, thinking that they normally close at 5pm. but, to my irritation, i found that they decided that it was a holiday. they closed at 1pm that day and my trip was wasted. 24/7 eliminates that problem, and i think i will use them again.