Originally Posted by
spitfirelux
I'm bringing a friend along - who has absolutely NO idea we're taking any sort of trip. Obviously she'll figure out the adventure to New Jersey/New York as soon as we get to the airport, but I'm trying to keep the TCI portion a secret until the next morning when we go back to the airport. She'll assume it's an overnight trip and that we're headed back home to Texas the next day, or so I hope.
Make sure she brings her passport. :-:
Originally Posted by
spitfirelux
•Is there a way to avoid the bag fees?
Maybe, if the agent is friendly. Show the CC and explain that it had not arrived yet when you booked and you've got a chance.
Originally Posted by
spitfirelux
•If I have to pay them (which is fine - it's just the principal of the thing at this point), is there any way I can have them sent all the way through to TCI? It'll throw off the story if I say we're only staying for a night in NYC but I have all these extra suitcases
Nope. Roughly a zero percent chance that UA will check the bags through with a 17 hour layover.
Originally Posted by
spitfirelux
•If not, where can I stash them?
There is a paid left luggage facility at EWR if you want to do that. Or take them with you to the hotel.
Originally Posted by
spitfirelux
• I'll have her passport and will have packed all our bags - if I check in early at the airport (before she arrives) for both of us, hand over all the bags to the agent and then only give y friend the ticket which says we're headed to Newark, is there anything else that could come up which would ruin the TCI surprise?
Her freaking out and not wanting to go to the Caribbean.
Originally Posted by
spitfirelux
•Any ideas how to ditch our heavy coats so I don't have to pack them all the way to TCI and back? We will need them for our night in the city but obviously not in TCI -nothing like a swing of 60 degrees to make packing fun! I thought about just mailing them home the morning we leave for TCI but can't find any postal centers IN the Newark airport
No good options for this. You'll be stuck schlepping them with you. Also, if you mailed them home your friend would figure out that something is messed up.
You'll have to enter the passport information as part of the check-in process and typically when checking bags the agent will want to see both passengers and IDs (assuming you'll try to check one for each passenger to get the free allowance with the CC). So your friend will probably figure out the real destination at the bag check counter rather than the gate.