Originally Posted by
Biff98
Hi all,
Long story short... Due to award ticketing limitations my family and I ended up with a 7 hour layover on the return of an international itinerary. It goes like this:
MUC-IAD
IAD-DTW
We will have checked bags, and I do see an earlier flight (leaving just 2 hours after the MUC flight arrival). How do I best position us to be able to standby on that earlier flight? I had a couple thoughts, but would love to hear the experts weigh in on this one....
1. When we clear customs and immigration, grab the bags, head out of security and plead with the ticketing counter folks.
2. When we clear customs and immigration, put the bags back on "the belt" and let them continue on their way. Then proceed to the gate and plead to standby and hope they can get the bags on our flight.
3. When we clear customs and immigration, grab the bags, try and make it through regular security and attempt a gate check. (This doesn't seem very doable to me, we'll have a sizable amount of checked baggage)
Thoughts on this?
2 & 3 are non-starters.
1 is a good option. Also remember that after the customs check there is a Customer Service Center staffed by UA personnel before your put your bags back on the belt. You can ask them to move you & the family to the earlier DTW flight. If seats are available you can get on the flight. However, since you are only 1P you will need to pay the SDC fee for you and the entire family; it ain't gonna be free. If seats are available and you pay then your bags will be re-tagged for the earlier flight and off you go.
Now having said that there are always possibilities for getting on the earlier DTW flight for free. They usually involve IROPS if your scheduled flight is delayed, cancelled, mechanical problem or even oversold. But don't count on getting on the earlier flight for free.
-RM