CandymanJim

I have a flight next summer with a 9:50pm arrival in SJU, we are out the next morning from SJU to STT on the first flight out at 8:50am the next morning. Can AA check the bags all the way so we dont have to take them overnight to a hotel, or do you have to pick them up and take them to the hotel and recheck them back in the next morning? Obviously there would be no valubles left in the bags....

Thanks!

Jim

SAN-man

This thread from 3 months ago might be of help. I think the consensus is that you can check them all the way through, but at your own risk...

ohioflyer

In my experience with late arrivals into SJU and an onward flight the next morning, I have always been required to claim my luggage and recheck it the next day. There used to be a left luggage place in SJU but it has been closed in recent years.

CandymanJim

Wow, thanks for the quick reply. The other thread was left asking questions that went unanswered. I was hoping to hear from someone with SJU experience to this situation. Not too sure I want to trust SJU with my bags, but really didnt want to deal with them with 9 people traveling.

Jim

johannesj

Had an expreience two weeks ago from MIA - SKB connecting in SJU. AA from MIA was delayed and we missed the connection to SKB. Pleaded with the agent to keep begs overnight but he indicated that it was against policy and needed to be claimed and rechecked. Believe it has something to do with airport security and unclaimed baggage. Tried explaining that the bags were already cleared by security when I boarded in MIA but to no avail. End result - bags reclaimed, hauled to hotel and back to airport at 6:00 am.

What was interesting was that one woman on the flight was overweight from MIA and the tried charging her again in SJU. I guess she had some evidence that she made the payment already because in the end they overlooked her excess weight.

dfwexpx5

I assume you were referring to her luggage???

martin33

for irregular ops and a forced overnight at SJU, they will typically allow you not to claim the luggage and it will just go on your flight the next am. for a scheduled overnight, I suspect the computer would force a claim check for SJU to be issued. if you left them on the carousel unclaimed, they would be gathered up at some point for overnight keeping, but you would have to re-check them the next day anyway.

jdburns11

Greetings Jim,

Apologize in advance for the perhaps depressing reply - it is however realistic.

I live in SJU and deal quite frequently with AA, baggage, etc., Aside from the fact that I believe the connection/holding time can only be X hours from flight to flight -- I highly recommend maintaining positive control of your bags in San Juan. Not that anything would be missing - just that the standard, quality, and timeliness of service many expect in the US is not the same here.

I travelled from SJU-BOI (long story) earlier this year and despite a non-stop SJU-LAX and overnight - still had to reclaim before my next flight in the AM. They wouldn't let me check them all the way through.

The downside - you'll probably have to claim your bags late at night after waiting what seems to be an extraordinary amount of time. It's always an extraordinary amount of time. This is the only place I've ever seen that requires you to present bag-claims, then proceed to take the claim and your luggage tag - professing you "have no rights" to claim problems once you leave the baggage claim area- not sure if that's true with the airlines or not. Of course there are no "easy carts" available and the valets will gladly be there to help - for a fee. Then you may have to fight/wait for hotel cab, shuttle, etc., at that time of night.

Mistakes seem to happen more often here & a case of beer will get you farther than a screaming/yelling rant when you are trying to fix those problems in the Caribbean.

On the upside, I like the Admiral's Club in San Juan - and generally speaking AA does a good job here. Lots of flexibility with flights as well as there are probably 6-8 flights to/from St. Thomas every day.

Sincerely, - jdburns11

CandymanJim

Thanks for the replys everyone, I would really have liked to leave the bags in their (AA) care for the overnight, but the concensus is that I am better off dragging htem along with us, perhaps a third taxi for our bags will be necessary!

Jim

ricktoronto

Well one advantage of leaving them overnight is they may be a lot lighter and thus easier to carry the next day on arrival.

NDFan

There is a left luggage office at SJU; it's on the departure level, in one of the short corridors from the AA check-in desks to the road, near the barber shop. It's $3 per bag for 24hours - I used it in August. Not sure how late/early they are open so you would need to check that first for an overnight.
Happy Travels.

MRKEY

I have used the above left luggage in SJU..works like a charm!

scubamom

We too are going to overnight in SJU (AA's schedule for the first time in 15 years does not allow us to reach the BVI in one day!)

Can anyone tell me how much time we need to allow for checking in the next morning? Our flight leaves at 9:30 am.

CandymanJim

How does this work, and is it just some guy taking your bags?

Jim

martin33

they sure do. the AC staff and the first-class counter staff are among the tops in the whole system.