Overnight Connection at MIA - Can / Should I Check Bags Through?
Apr 12, 2015, 8:43 am
#1
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Overnight Connection at MIA - Can / Should I Check Bags Through?
I have this route [TPA-MIA-AUA]. The flight from TPA to MIA is at 10:05pm and my connection to AUA I have to take it the next day at 9:50am. Can I check my bag to the final destination (AUA)? What is the rule of American Airlines for this case? I have planned to spend the night at the airport in Miami.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Last edited by chnxx; Apr 12, 2015 at 11:47 am
Apr 12, 2015, 1:08 pm
#2
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A same-ticket overnight <12 hours to an AA flight ought to allow you to check luggage through, so you need not handle it at MIA outbound.
Whether anyone should really leave checked luggage overnight at any major U.S. airport is a different question.
Whether anyone should really leave checked luggage overnight at any major U.S. airport is a different question.
Apr 12, 2015, 10:39 pm
#3
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Understand that an overnight, 11 hour wait by your bags **may** increase the chance of a lost or stolen bag.
If you do check, make sure your carry on that you keep with you has ALL valuables as well as a day or two of clothes you'll need...
If you do check, make sure your carry on that you keep with you has ALL valuables as well as a day or two of clothes you'll need...
Apr 13, 2015, 4:02 am
#4
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On another note, is there a comfortable place in a terminal to spend the night at MIA?
Apr 13, 2015, 6:37 am
#5
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Thread's title updated to more accurately reflect its contents.
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Apr 13, 2015, 9:44 am
#6
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Any experience in LAX? All threads I've found are 2+ years old. I have an 11-hour overnight layover and would like to know if it's possible to check the bags through.
Apr 13, 2015, 9:55 am
#7
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Yes as long as the layover is under 12 hours it is possible to check bags through. Again the question becomes though, do you really want to risk leaving it there for that length of time?
Apr 13, 2015, 1:17 pm
#8
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A related question for those of you with more experience than I have in this area: what happens if you're on a multiple-segment flight like the OP's, you check a bag only as far as your overnight destination, and the bag doesn't make it there? I'm about to fly OMA-DFW-MIA-GUY, and opted to go carryon only because I'll be overnighting at DFW and wasn't sure what would happen if I checked a bag to DFW instead of GUY and the bag didn't show up.
Apr 13, 2015, 1:24 pm
#9
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Apr 13, 2015, 1:35 pm
#10
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What good does that do? If the bag doesn't make it to GUY within 24 hours of my arrival there, the trip is ruined. if the bag arrived at its checked destination (DFW) the next day, would the airline then send it on to my final destination (GUY) after I filed the claim? If not, then checking it through to the final destination even though I have a longish layover is the only safe option.
Sounds like I'm doing the right thing by going carryon-only on this trip (even though checking a bag might have been easier on my arms and shoulders).
Sounds like I'm doing the right thing by going carryon-only on this trip (even though checking a bag might have been easier on my arms and shoulders).
Apr 13, 2015, 2:51 pm
#12
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On a longer trip I would pack only clothes that are easily replaceable in the checked bag and have no qualms about checking it overnight. Pack valuables, toiletries and a change of clothes in my carryon.
But I never put anything not easily replaceable in a checked bag to anywhere.
But I never put anything not easily replaceable in a checked bag to anywhere.
Apr 13, 2015, 3:31 pm
#13
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On a longer trip I would pack only clothes that are easily replaceable in the checked bag and have no qualms about checking it overnight. Pack valuables, toiletries and a change of clothes in my carryon.
But I never put anything not easily replaceable in a checked bag to anywhere.
But I never put anything not easily replaceable in a checked bag to anywhere.
You probably have as much of a chance of getting mugged on the way to a hotel outside of the MIA or LAX airport than your bag getting lost/stolen or pillaged.
I've checked my bag many times on 5-23 hour layovers around the world and never had a problem with it.
Apr 13, 2015, 3:41 pm
#14
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Funny, I've never been mugged, but I have had my checked bag significantly delayed once, and have had items stolen from it twice. And for the past three years or so, EVERY time I've checked a bag I've had the TSA open it to inspect it. So, no, I'm not causal about checking bags anymore.
Why should I give the airlines that chance to ruin a very expensive vacation trip when I can avoid the risk by going carryon only?
(And why the scare quotes around "valuables." My m4/3s camera equipment and my iPad are indeed valuable, and can't be placed safely in checked luggage even if I didn't want to carry them.)
But so far no one has really answered the question I posed: on a multi-leg itinerary with a very long layover at one stop, will the airlines forward an errant bag on to the final destination if it wasn't originally checked to that end destination, but was checked only to one of the intermediate stops?
Why should I give the airlines that chance to ruin a very expensive vacation trip when I can avoid the risk by going carryon only?
(And why the scare quotes around "valuables." My m4/3s camera equipment and my iPad are indeed valuable, and can't be placed safely in checked luggage even if I didn't want to carry them.)
But so far no one has really answered the question I posed: on a multi-leg itinerary with a very long layover at one stop, will the airlines forward an errant bag on to the final destination if it wasn't originally checked to that end destination, but was checked only to one of the intermediate stops?
Apr 13, 2015, 4:38 pm
#15
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I flew 180 segments last year. Checked bags 4 times.
Delayed one bag 24hrs on one outbound trip
Lost one entirely
Delayed a second for 4 days.
So am I three for four or 75%?
I am proud to say I am 0% for my carry on....
PS Lost bag was my college age son who was overjoyed at the prospect of new clothes...