Originally Posted by
Walkerrph
Thx..I’ve tried to get answers from TAP and UA if we could check thru knowing their alliance members...get conflicting answers. We’ll be in Lisbon a couple of days before heading to Porto so will check when we land. Figured it could be tight if I can’t check bags thru...
UA has a strick cut-off of check-in one hour before scheduled departure. In fact, 75 minutes before departure you'll see them starting to dismantle the check-in area (removing signs and ropes) and reducing staff, and by T-59 you won't find any staff there and will not be able to check-in. Getting bags and making it to UA check-in counter on time will be tough. Bad BAD travel agent. If there is more than one of you, you could send one person ahead to UA with passports and plead with UA to stay open a few minutes longer to wait for the person with bags to arrive. You will have better luck with this if you have status.
Are you on the EWR flight or the IAD flight?
As for inquiring in LIS what they will do in OPO a couple days later, it's pointless. No one can give you any guarantee of what they will do at OPO. And at OPO you won't be able to say "but but but, José at LIS told me you would check the bags through". Nothing you can do at LIS will change that.
If you want to make good use of your time when you are at LIS airport, practice the walk route from baggage exit to the UA check-in counter. Locate the UA counters (they're always the same). Will you have bulky luggage? Locate the right elevator and know what button to press. That will save precious minutes when the time comes. Last thing you want it to be scrambling for the right elevator, or getting on the escalator to the wrong level.
One thing you have going for you is that your LIS-US itinerary starts with UA. Therefore, you should be able to check-in online on the UA app. If you check-in to your UA flight before checking in with TP at OPO, you will be able to show the TP check-in agent your UA boarding passes, and I suspect that will increase your chances of getting the bags checked through. If you don't have a UA BP the agent may say that you need to exit and go to UA anyway, so won't feel as compelled to check bags through.
Also, bring a printed copy of your UA e-ticket receipt, where it shows the free baggage allowance. If your bags exceed the free allowance, there is pretty much zero chance that the OPO agent will check the bags through. But if your bags are free, you should be prepared to prove that.