Salisbury5

In retrospect I should not have permiited my travel agent to book me through YYZ with just 48 minutes to clear US customs. But that isn't the error in judgment I am referring to.

I walked off the flight from YOW at 16:05.
After waiting for my bags, waiting in line for a US customs agent, and then getting through secondary screening (I was selected to have my bags go through the x-ray machine that people going to DCA must go through), it was 16:48. My departure time to SFO was 16:55. I have my bag in my hand and quickly start to calculate the chances that I will get through regular security AND my bag will make the flight. Since I am on my way to the west coast for a business trip - losing my bag would be a problem (as compared to on my way home when I really don't care when my bag makes it).

(Possible error in judgment coming)....

I decide to not put my bag on the conveyor belt and instead to ask the Air Canada agent whether my bag would make it. She emphatically says no.

(story to continue below).

Did I do the right thing? Should I have just run for it? What do you think the chances would have been that the bag would have beensent to the right plane in time even if I made it?

(story continues)

The agent wasn't the nicect one I encountered. I was on a cheap ticket and I have no status this year. She said "I have nothing else for you tonight. You will have to go out tomorrow morning." (I knew there was a 19:45 to SFO - I couldn't imagine it was sold out. When I asked about connections she said "other airlines won't accept tickets with fares this low".

Okee dokee. I was escorted out to the AC ticket agent at T2.

She was much nicer and said "there is plenty of room on the 19:45 flight". (there were about a dozen or more empty seats).

I flew out 3 hours later and my bags made it also.

(end of story)

Please advise whether I was overly cautious about losing my bags. I recognize that they may have flown out on the 19:45 flight and I would have received them at my hotel in SF later that night (in a perfect world). What would you have done?

Thanks!

MoreMiles

If you have luggage insurance from a credit card, then you could take a chance and make a claim if needed.

In general, bags need to match the travellers as a security measure for international flights. They probably would hold that plane until your bag is loaded. They often have to unload bags for those passengers late in showing up... so may the converse is true as well.

CanuckFlyer

Counterpoint:

My brother missed a similarly tight connection through YYZ last month. He was rescheduled on a flight a few hours later. Once he arrived in ATL we realized his bags made the original flight, even though he hadn't. We were very surprised in light of the rule that bags must be matched to pax. Obviously this rule isn't enforced as well as it could be.

And a word of caution: Some cc baggage insurance plans only pay a portion of the cost (50% in some cases) of stuff you purchase when your bags are delayed. And of course there are other restrictions as well. Read the fine print before making any assumptions.

YYZC2

A UA employee once told me that in the case of multi-segment itineraries, if the passenger travels with the bag on the first segment, there is no obligation for him/her to travel on the same plane for the rest of the itinerary. I'm not sure if this is true or not (it certainly would leave the system vulnerable to an Air India type time-release device).