AdamBlackpool

Hi

I have done a search and have read many, many threads on this topic before posting but none of them were specific enough to answer my question.

We're booked to fly MAN - DUB - MAN - MCO - MAN - DUB next year.

Our itinerary involves a night in hotels in Manchester and one in Dublin (both to visit family) before the flight out to Orlando. The airline for DUB - MAN and MAN - DUB is Aer Lingus and the MAN - MCO - MAN section is Virgin Atlantic.

My question is this - if we skip the MAN - DUB portion at the very end of itinerary, are we likely to receive our luggage in MAN as we're switching airlines from Virgin to Aer Lingus?

We flew to the States last year with Delta all the way with a stop at Detroit. We were made to collect our luggage and recheck it for the next leg. I'm hoping this is even more likely to be the case with two different airlines as then we can simply walk out at MAN and not take the DUB leg.

ComplexAnalysis

How long is the stop between the MCO -> MAN and MAN -> DUB legs? If there is a long enough gap, it could make sense to ask the airline that you want to retrieve your bag in MAN to access your belongings.

Beyond that, AFAIK, Virgin Atlantic does have an interline agreement with Are Lingus, meaning, you wouldn't need to re-checking your bags. I would call in and ask the airline. If they don't that means you definitely have to re-check in our bags, and can just skip the last leg. If not, you would have to ask the airline to check your bag only to MAN, which they may, or may not do.

Catusa

If I were you I wouldn't count on it. Pack only carry on and at the airport say you are worried about your bags making an interline connection and that you would rather pick them up and transfer them yourself. You can't guarantee they will short-check the bag and its really agent dependent. How much would it cost to change and make a long layover in MAN to justify further a short checked bag or add a stopover? For short checking bags flying through cities with multiple airports help because you MUST pick up the bags to transfer ;-) (LON, PAR etc)

Regarding Detroit, its mandatory to pick up your bags because you are entering the US and you must bring them yourself through customs. The next flight you took was considered a domestic flight and therefore no customs or security measures for someone entering the US.

AdamBlackpool

Thanks for the responses.

It's a 3 1/2 hour wait in MAN for the return Dublin leg.

Assuming we have separate boarding cards for each leg, is there anything stopping me handing over the MAN one in MCO and keeping the DUB one out of sight?

As for changing the flights to make it a longer stop in DUB, I'm not too concerned if we have to fly to DUB only to fly back to MAN. The only issue is instead of the £20 it's costing us to fly out with Ryanair, it'll be £120ish with all our baggage back from MCO (we're buying new cases out there and shopping).

LondonElite

Assuming you're on one ticket (booking) MCO-MAN-DUB, the agent checking you in will know that you are ending in DUB, so checking in from the hotel and 'hiding' your boarding pass won't achieve anything. It's 50/50 whether you'll be able to short-check your luggage to MAN only. If you come up with a good enough story then you may be ok, and in this case checking in at the VS desks in MCO you should be ok, but you might get an old battle axe who insists that the luggage is through-checked.

AdamBlackpool

Thank you. It's actually 3hrs 45mins in MAN. Would it be unreasonable to suggest we have a day room booked at the airport for a shower as our MCO - MAN flight is overnight?

LondonElite

Unreasonable in what sense? Telling this to the check-in agent? It can't hurt and seems believable enough to me.

JDiver

If MCO offers kerbside check-in, I'd start there - show boarding pass to MAN and ask the bags be checked to MAN.

If it's all one ticket you can try the "we have a day room and want a shower and clothes change from the different climate" ruse, but hidden city ticketing has some risks and this is one of them.

LondonElite

Ultimately we can't predict what's going to happen and you'll just have to find out at the airport. Best of luck to you.

Often1

There is no way that you can predict whether a short-check will be acceptable. If left to its own devices, the system will print bag tags to DUB. Therefore, it takes a manual override to obtain the short-check.

That is a red flag for xEU (hidden city) fraud and some carriers and thus some agents, care more than others. Other agents do whatever they feel like doing.

The reason you want your bags is not material and agents are used to all manner of fibs. Don't bother with it.

LondonElite

But on an overnight layover, or obviously a change airport, you'll get your bags back.

JDiver

I wonder what it would cost to change the date for that final sector.

LondonElite

There are plenty of LHR/LGW airport changes for this reason!