How Early Can You Drop Bags off at the Airport (Specific to LGA)
 

Maybe this seems like a ridiculous question. But has anyone on here tried to drop bags off at the airport, say 18 hours before their flight? I realize that some airports have specific restrictions, say 3-4 hours. I'm specifically talking about LGA.

I have an upcoming ski-trip where I'm leaving work early on a Friday to head to LGA. I don't want to bring my ski bag and suitcase into work with me. As bizarre as it sounds, it would be more convenient for me to drop the bags at LGA Thursday night, go back home, go to work Friday morning and then bounce out of the office around noon for my 2:30PM flight. Do you think AA would accept the bags that early?

Not the night before.

I could also potentially do it at like 5AM Friday morning, although that would make me a very grumpy person that day.

I was able to find these old threads in the legacy forum after extensive searching, but I can't seem to find anything more recent than 2014:

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...-flight-2.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...s-advance.html

I'd say odds are pretty good you could drop off at 5:00am for a flight early that afternoon. Better if you have status or are flying a premium cabin, in my experience.

Do you know how long before a flight the kiosks will print a bag tag? Will the check-in people blindly accept any bag that has a tag with matching ID under the weight limit? I've never tested this, but I feel like maybe I'll have a better chance with the kiosk.

I'm also not sure if I can use the kiosks because I'm flying LGA -> DFW -> YVR, so I might need an AAgent to check my passport.

I don't know about the kiosks, though why wouldn't you just check in with an agent?

Ah, I understand the logic. You can check in for an international flight via the mobile app so that shouldn't be an issue. I guess try the kiosk first and if that fails, then go to an agent... curbside check-in is usually more flexible, too.

But honestly, I just don't think you're going to get much push back from an agent for a flight 9 hours later, particularly as AA.com specifically lists airports that have maximum baggage check time and LGA isn't one of them. Just tell them you want to spend all day in the admirals club having meetings.

I did once check a bag at 8:00am for a 4:00pm flight on ANA in ORD so I know there's at least no FAA or TSA rule against it.

+1

Same calendar day is fine unless there's a max time which there isn't at LGA. Just do it at 5am, be grumpy, then be glad that you can avoid lugging your stuff around all day.

Isn't the official max time 4 hours?

I know for US Airways it was. On at least one occasion I remember waiting (along with about 5 others) for the 4-hour mark before the agent would do check-in. She was just standing there at the desk, reading a book, until exactly the 4-hour window opened.

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/arrival-times.jsp :

A friend had an issue at OAK which is not on this list.

Typically when I'm traveling, I will use a luggage holding service. I will google "Luggage hold <location>". Usually it ends up being ~5-10 bucks a bag/day but it beats carrying the bag around. There are plenty of these spread out around New York so maybe this is an option.