sken

I have 3 flights booked with Qantas, all on the one ticket. I am flying from Vancouver, LAX (with a 11 hr wait in LAX), then to Sydney, and then Canberra. I am wondering if my baggage will be checked all the way through from Vancouver to Canberra? As I have an 11 hr wait in LAX I thought I'd go out and do a bit of exploring but obviously can't do that with 2 big suitcases! I have heard that storing bags at LAX is no longer available? I have also been told that I will pre-clear customs in Vancouver for the US but not quite sure what this means.

Mwenenzi

Others will advise about LAX. USA does not have transits like most other countries.
Your bag will probably be tagged with all the flights.

At SYD you have to go through Australian immigration, customs & quarantine with all your checked/hand bags. At SYD you enter Australia. Exiting the immigration hall turn right and go the QF domestic check in desk in the international terminal. Check in for your SYD-CBR flight. They will take your baggage. Then get on the free QF air side bus to the domestic terminal

Adam1222

I presume you are flying American from Vancouver to LAX? They should be able to print bag tags for the whole trip, unless Qantas has a policy against 11 hours storage. The place to ask that question would be the Qantas forum, not this forum which is dedicated to questions about using miles and points.

Contrary to Mwenenzi's suggestion, since YVR is a preclearance facility, you do NOT have to collect your bags at LAX. You will arrive in LAX as you would on a domestic US flight.

irishguy28

Mwenenzi did not suggest that the bags would have to be collected at LAX.

Adam1222

Thanks for the helpful critique, and our apparent disagreement that "suggest" means "insinuate, hints" as opposed to "say."

My apologies that I did not phrase my helpful response the way you liked. Do you prefer "the point that was made that the USA does not have transit like other countries is irrelevant to your particular scenario"?

Please let me know who to direct my posts to for preclearance in the future to avoid the shame that comes from your public criticism.

Often1

OP - To stick with your questions:

1. AA should be willing to check your bags through to your final destination. You have a connection, not a stopover.

2. You will process through US immigration and customs at YVR and thus arrive at LAX as a functional domestic passenger. You are free to do whatever you want at LAX, including heading out. There will be no formalities at LAX on arrival.

3. The US has no departure formalities. Your documents will be checked by your carrier to make certain that you are admissible on arrival, but there is no passport control to clear outbound.

JDiver

Yep. And at the Qantas international terminal, the OP turn right and nearly to the end of the hallway, as Mwenenzi says, will check bags, check in, pass through security and the bus to the domestic security actually arrives at an airside gate - a nice convenience.

JerryFF

If this is a single ticket with a single published through fare from Vancouver to Canberra, then you should at least be able to check your bags through to Sydney and probably to Canberra. However, I am guessing that you will have to clear Australian customs and immigration in Sydney, which means you would have to pick up your bags and carry them through customs in Sydney. I don't know the situation in Sydney, but they may have a simple drop off for continuing passengers that does not require another formal stand-in-line recheck for your Canberra flight.

Mwenenzi

Yes. As post 2. It is not a “simple drop off” like common in the USA.
At SYD the international & domestic terminals are some distance apart. Depending on the airlines you can you use the QF bus, VA bus or pay $$ for a bus or train between terminals.


Depending on date QF fly YVR-SYD http://www.ausbt.com.au/qantas-mulls...couver-flights (but I not checked the timetable)

I did a RPB to move to the QF forum about 12 hours ago. Would get a better responce

oopl

You can check your bags to infinity and beyond!
I mean, you don't need to collect your bags in LAX. They should go through to Australia.

MSPeconomist

I'm not so sure. Some carriers have rules about when bags must be collected on long international connections, for example with eight hours being the threshold for DL. If that's the case, OP would arrive into LAX on AA probably at T4 and then take the bags to TBIT to recheck them. It's a short and easy walk, or there's a free terminal bus that goes the long way around. The problem is that the QF check in counter won't open until 3-4 hours before the first QF departure from LAX and might not accept bags (again, it's a common airline rule, for example DL) until about four fours before departure.

I don't know whether LAX has some sort of baggage storage facility in T4 or TBIT. Maybe the easy way would be for the OP to rent a car to explore the area, so that bags could be locked in the trunk during the layover.

beckoa

Welcome to Flyertalk sken,

As most of your travel involves flying QF, (and probably the 1st segment is a codeshare on QF operated by AA or AS), we'll relocate your post.

~beckoa, co-moderator Information Desk

Himeno

Bags can be checked through on upto 4 sectors, subject to length of connections (length varies by carrier and airport) and customs requirements.

QF LAX check in opens at 4pm.

AustralianPoochie

Seems a million times, we mention that internationally on arrival to Aust, that bags cannot be directed put/checked through onto an Aust domestic flight from an international flight, without first passing immi and customs checks at SYD/MEL/BNE/PERT esp with QF.
On another post, it was meitoned bags have to be picked up, at the first international point of arrival in Aust, and yet on here, someone mentions that bags can be checked through to CBR!

serfty

Welcome to FT

Your bags will be tagged through to Canberra but you will need to collect them after immigration in SYD, go through customs and then take them to the 'seamless' transfer facility (after exiting customs into the arrivals hall turn right and follow the signage for Qantas Domestic connections).

There you'll will deposit your bags and wait to be taken by bus to the Qantas domestic terminal.

Note that you will not see your bags in LAX.