Originally Posted by
hopping
New here and hope this is the correct thread for my questions: I will fly into SFO in the morning from YYC on an AC flight (code shared and operated by UA), then board a connecting CZ transpacific flight just past midnight. Trying to figure out how the transfer at SFO will work out. The inbound UA flight is supposed to arrive at Gate E8 and the outbound CZ flight will depart from A gates (as of now; I was informed of a major schedule change to the CZ flight coming April when my travel is so not sure if the gates will change as well). Is it possible to get to A from E8 without having to clear customs and immigration again? From what I know/remember (not a FF in any sense) YYC does have CBP pre-clearance.
Welcome to FlyerTalk!
YYC does have pre-clearance. You will have to go through security again to get from the UA gates (E/F/G) to the A gates, but not customs and immigration. But why not spend the day in San Francisco instead?
Originally Posted by
hopping
Also hoping I wouldn't need to take out my baggage at SFO; the advice I got is to not do online check-in before the UA flight (seat already selected) so when I get to YYC, I can interact with the counter agent and ask them to through check my baggage to the final destination vs. SFO. Is this sound? The connection time is long (15 hours) by the way. Not sure if it matters to baggage handling but CZ doesn't seem to have any partnership with AC or UA.
Checking in online or not is irrelevant. UA's policy is not to check through to the final final destination when the transfer is this long. You can ask, but be prepared to be told no.