Receiving mail (post) safely in Guatemala?

Hello,

I am trying to find the same thing out. I am from the States but have lived in Costa Rica for the last 3 years and have used a mail service called Aerocasillas. I think they have service in Guat. but am waiting to find out. You get a street address in the states and a P.O. Box and they deal with customs and such for us. Our mail comes in daily here in CR.

Hope we both find out.

Glory

If you want to receive your stuff via Fedex and DHL you don't need a service for that, just have it sent for you.  If you want to get a mailbox in Florida and have all your mail forwarded to a PO Box here in Antigua, there are several services that do that and charge you a one-time fee plus about $1 per pound for mail received.  The firm I'm familiar with is Enlaces, it's on 6th Avenida south.

I have had stuff sent to me via Fedex and DHL with no problem, directly from the USA.  I also keep a P.O. Box in the USA but travel back home often, so most of the time, just bring back my own mail.

I'm moving to Palin Escuintla is their mail service there from Florida, anyone knows?

Still believe that Aerocasilla is the best service in Central America, including Guatemala. You get a P.O. box for free in Miami and ship mails and package daily or according to your needs


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ITS VERY SAFE AND MOSTLY WHEN YOU SEND IT VIA FEDEX! DONT WORRY NOTHING IS GONA HAPPED WITH THE MAIL.. WE USE TO RECEIVE EVERY MONTH A $300 DOLLARS CHECK... WE NEVER HAVE ANY LOST OR OPEN EMAIL!

Welcome on Expat.com WILLIAM123456

Thanks for sharing your experience.

P.s. Can you kindly avoid cap lock when posting please.

Thanks

From my personal experience on this topic... I receive from the US and Europe through the regular mail service subscriptions, little package, checks.... Never had a problem plus you can have your mail tracked from the US to Guatemala doesn't cost much. The Mail service in Guatemala is run by a Canadian company and the service for me so far as been very good.
In my case mail comes all the way to Panajachel...Lake Atitlan.. to my postal box..
You can check their website at elcorreo.com.gt/cdgcorreo/

I cannot recommend Aerocastillas,My bank sent a new credit card in Jan. which I never received again my bank sent a 2nd card credit card to my Miami address which also was stolen. Customer service was useless and did not offer my any explanation. Use Aerocastillas at your own risk.

How long does shipping to Guatemala usually take via FedEx or regular postal mail?

ItDepends, Express Shippment from NY to Guate 4 days, Regular mail (registered)2 weeks more or less. DHL charged me for a letter $89.00

What exactly (type of service) are you looking for?

Here's another company that offers PO Boxes in Miami: Many Expats use this service.    
Caniz
Shipping, Packing and Moving
4 Avenida Sur No. 1
Antigua Guatemala
caniz.com

Thanks Traveler57.  I was just wondering in general since when we go for our extended trip we will need things sent to us.

For physical address and courrier from Miami, I use CPS their web site cpxbox.com
very please with their services.

Thanks Traveler, I have saved the caniz.com link. I will be relocating, and it shows they do physical relocation of household goods, etc., so this should come in handy. I will get at quote from them and a few others just to check pricing and reliability.

Thanks

So are you saying that using a courier like Fed Ex or DHL is enough to get the package/letter directly to our door in GT?

Thanks

I cannot recommend Aerocasillas (AeroPostal) for Guatemala either.  I have had three important documents forwarded to me via AeroPost and they have lost two.  One never made it out of their P.O. box in Miami which I find out later is called 'the black hole of AeroPost'.  I was advised to only send mail to their Miami  street address with delivery confirmation. My last document indeed made it to Guatemala but was delivered to the wrong address.  At no time did I feel any sincere attempt was made to locate the missing documents.

AeroPostal may work well in other countries but use it at your own risk in Guatemala.  I have cancelled my account and am looking for another mail forwarder.

While it used to work nicely, unfortunately 'snail mail' is no longer handled by the Canadians so the mail system here has degraded considerably in their absence.

Did you ever find a reliable service?  Is Caniz good to use?

I've come to a couple conclusions:

Aeropost has two addresses, a P.O. box for mail and a street addy for packages.  NEVER send anything to the P.O. box. It is The Black Hole of AeroPost

Irrespective of what addy it's sent to they don't handle envelopes well at all anyway.  All my  mail is now forwarded to the street addy in some kind of a box (priority mail, etc.).  So far so good.

I've never used Caniz so couldn't say.

I have had several FedEx packages mailed to me from Canada to Xela, Guatemala. I never ever once had any problems. Not once was anything lost or where packages opened.

I will probably be living in the Lake Atitlan area...does anyone know of a mail service located on the lake?  My meds are sent in the mail and I need a reliable way of receiving them.  I can't buy the meds in Guatemala because, for whatever reason, they are very expensive there and very inexpensive in the U.S.

Thanks so much for the help.