Originally Posted by
Brostman
Pigzilla and Kacee.... so if I understand it correctly.... we have a friend who will be flying LHR-ORD-STL on a return leg.... if it is a single reservation she would need to clear Immigration with her luggage, but then could drop it off at a transfer desk in ORD Intl Terminal, and then proceed to domestic terminal to continue her flights........ however, if the LHR-ORD segment was an award tx and the ORD-STL were a paid ticket on a separate reservation, then she would still have to clear Immigration with her luggage but then have to take it with her to domestic terminal to be re-checked.
You wouldn't need to take it to the domestic terminal. You'd just have to wait in line after customs to get bag tags printed as opposed to just dropping and going. Not a big deal 90% of the time (there can occasionally be a backup to see a human).
Originally Posted by
Brostman
On the outbound flight STL-ORD-LHR.... if all flights on the same reservation then no issue with baggage transfer at ORD.... but if STL-ORD and ORD-LHR segments are on separate reservations (and I understand from this thread and others that they can not be combined), that a knowledgeable counter agent in STL could get the luggage scheduled all the the way through to LHR but we need to allow extra time at STL check-in (and since STL is not a hub, it is uncertain whether we will get an agent who understands how to make it happen)
It's only theoretically uncertain. If you ask them to call their support desk (unless you get a
really difficult agent unwilling to do so) they will always be walked through it. But it does take time.