Originally Posted by
Tchiowa
At SFO they don't have bags tagged through. You have to pick them up and go through Custom Clearance then re-check them for your domestic flight. No exceptions that I've ever heard of.
You are mistaking the difference between having a bag tagged through all the way and needing to pick it up to clear customs with. There is absolutely no reason a bag can't be tagged through to the final destination even though when it is required to be picked up and re-checked at the first port of US entry...but...
Originally Posted by
LilAbner
YVR is a pre-clearance airport for airlines flying to the United States. This means you will clear U.S. Customs and Border Protection (US CBP) before leaving Vancouver, eliminating the need to do so when you arrive at your destination.
Bags DO NOT need to be retrieved and rechecked in SFO!!
This is something that i hadn't considered the first time and is correct. OPs bags do not need to be seen after leaving SYD if it can be tagged all the way through. YVR is pre-clearance airport and has the newer-style system where bags do not need to be retrieved when going through US pre-clearance - I believe they need to be identified on a screen and will only need to come up if for some reason US customs wants to look at them.
I'm still of the impression that the bags will only be checked to SFO because of the overnight layover. I have always been under the impression that at least in the US, bags generally will only be tagged to the point before the overnight layover and then need to be re-checked the next day. I'd be happy to be proven wrong though...just haven't heard of this happening.