Thanks everyone. My daughter is in the USA now and I fly in 2 days. We have raised these issues with Flight Centre, Virgin and Delta. What is interesting is that Virgin are telling the agent and ourselves that it is a tag/IT issue. Virgin cannot tag more than 3 stops. However, Delta has sought clarification and have been told that they can tag to final destination and will do it on Thursday when I travel. I certainly do not have any faith that this will happen. Personally, if I can check bags in where I get on the plane and only have to get my bags and clear customs and drop my bags, that's what I prefer to do. I'm sure families also travelling would also like the easy option. Yes, I can recheck my bags in at LAX, but in all my years I have never had to do this. Also as a FF of Delta, when arriving off a Delta flight international (and having cleared customs) and then connecting to a Delta connecting flight, you remain within the confines of the airport and are directed to smaller security lines. After travelling for some 17+ hours alaready, this is appreciated.

My whole point in all of this is that if Virgin can only tag a maximum of 3 stops, why isn't this listed anywhere, why don't agents know about it and why are they promoting that your bags are tagged to your final destination from your domestic airport. This is what they say on their website. I have offered to fly a day earlier and conduct business in Sydney and then just check in with Delta directly. This is not allowed now unless I pay a $210 fee to reissue the ticket. The reason is that Virgin have told Delta that they will tags the bags all the way through. I guess we'll see on Thursday!