pezgb

In December, I'm flying from LHR to LAS on Delta, thru SLC. I have a completely separate booking on American to fly from LAS to PHX. My connection time in LAS is only 1 hour. That obviously won't be enough time for me to collect my checked bag from Delta in LAS and recheck at the American check-in counter for my flight to PHX. My understanding is that Delta will not check my bag all the way to PHX because Delta and American do not have an "interline baggage agreement" that covers this type of trip.

So what are my options? Could I gate-check the bag on American in LAS? It will be a full-size bag, not carry-on size. Obviously, I would like to find a way to get my bag to PHX without incurring extra cost/hassle.

Thanks for your help.

Recurve

Delta will only check your bag LHR-SLC-LAS. You will have to pick up the bag in SLC because you are entering the US, and then drop it back off after customs. Unless you fly a direct flight SLC-PHX or the same airline for both SLC-LAS-PHX, your bag at SLC can only be checked SLC-LAS, and then it will be delivered to the baggage claim at LAS. If your bag is full sized, you can't gate-check it at LAS because you'd need to take it through security. So you'll need to exit the secured area to claim your bag at LAS, then go to check it in at the AA counter, which you could theoretically do since most domestic flights these days only require you check a bag 30 minutes in advance, but if there's any delays along the way, you're SOL. Furthermore, having only a 1 hour connection in LAS is already probably too close on separate tickets, since if your flight SLC-LAS is delayed neither airline will cover you if you misconnect.

ecaarch

Your options are:

1. Carry-on
2. Change one of the itineraries so that you have a longer connection.

I would go with #2 . 1 hour connection is barely enough under ideal circumstances, and if the DL flight is late, you'll miss the AA flight and have no recourse.

artrw

Would it be possible to change the American flight to a later option? 1 hour is a fairly short connection time, considering that you'll need to change carriers, even before considering the need to re-check the bag. Small, routine delays of ~20 mins could really screw up this plan. Keep in mind that Delta is only liable to get you to LAS and AA doesn't owe you anything if you misconnect.

Re: gate checking: are you asking whether you can pick up the bag at baggage at LAS, then go through security with it to check it at the gate? The answer is no; security won't (or at least shouldn't) let you get through with a bag that is clearly too large to be a carry-on.

Often1

This won't work. AA requires that bags be checked by T-45 and OP only has an hour from scheduled arrival. This gives him 15 minutes to collect his bag, drag it to AA, stand in line, and check it in (T-45 is checked in, not in line).

1. This is not a connection because it is on separate tickets.
2. AA & DL do have an interline agreement, but neither will check bags across separate tickets.
3. I would generally recommend at least double the MCT for separate ticket transfers as all of the risk is on OP.

Bottom line is that OP won't be able to take the bag (full size) to the gate.

I would not recommend doing a 60-minute unprotected transfer without checked luggage, but with it, it's not even really worth running.

pezgb

Thanks for the replies.

Carry-on only is not an option. I really need to check a bag.
Changing itinerary is expensive. $200+ to switch to later LAS to PHX flight on American.
I found a non-stop on DL from SLC to PHX for about $130 main cabin. Departs 4 hours after I arrive in SLC from LHR.
Maybe that's my best option. But I was hoping to find a no-cost solution.

That raises another question.... If I book the new DL flight from SLC to PHX, should I inform DL and AA that I will not be taking the SLC to LAS and LAS to PHX flights, or just not show up? Is there any kind of penalty for not showing up for a flight without informing the airline ahead of time?

tearex

Assuming you are on a non-refundable ticket-

To change an itinerary on American, it is probably the change fee PLUS any fare difference, if any.

You maybe able to use the "flat tire" policy in LAS, but that's a stretch honestly.

If you buy a DL ticket from SLC-PHX while still holding your original itinerary LHR-SLC-LAS, you are risking the cancellation of one or both tickets due to overlapping itineraries. Consider changing the original DL itinerary, which will also incur change fee ($200+) plus fare difference.

If you go with the "all-DL" option, you should be able to reuse the AA ticket for a future flight with some limitations, less change fee, but perhaps an AA-expert will correct me on this.

jebr

There's no no-cost solution to this, other than hoping the stars align and that your flight's in early enough (earlier than scheduled,) your bag comes down to the carousel early enough, and rechecking on AA is completely seamless with no lines. I give the chances of that being successful at around 5-10%.

It might be worth calling Delta and seeing if they can change your end destination of LAS to PHX, and what the cost would be to do that. If it's cheaper to just abandon the ticket, you'd still need to find a way to get that last segment to disappear somehow, otherwise you run the risk of DL cancelling one or both due to an impossible ticket situation (basically, DL will see that you can't reasonably fly both, and so will cancel one or both of them.) The AA ticket I just wouldn't cancel unless it cost over $200 - there's always the chance that a significant delay on that flight will allow for a refund of the ticket price day-of, and it's unlikely a refund or credit would garner much, if anything.

jebr

Can DL simply drop the last segment without a change fee? If so, it might be cheaper to do that versus changing the ticket.

tearex

That, I am not sure of. My guess is that it would depend on the fare rules. There are likely examples in older threads/posts - someone else can probably chime in on this.

TTT

Do you have a return on this ticket? If so, you can't skip the SLC-LAS segment as the rest of the ticket would be cancelled.

If there is not a return on your LHR-SLC-LAS ticket, then there is a Southwest SLC-PHX flight at 17:55 (checked mid-December date). That might be an option as it's a separate airline so no risk of Delta cancelling for a dupe booking. Also bags are free whereas they would be charged on Delta for the SLC-PHX flight assuming you don't have status.

Another option is booking a separate Southwest LAS-PHX flight (they look to be $49-$75) that is later than your current AA booking.

TTT

I have had them do it for me once but as an exception. It's a ticket change and will reprice the itinerary at the current fare to the new destination (SLC in this example). I'm betting LHR-SLC is quite a bit more expensive than LHR-SLC-LAS.

pezgb

Thanks again for all the replies. TTT, I like your Southwest LAS-PHX suggestion. I checked flight times and fares and that looks much cheaper/easier than trying to change my existing itineraries on DL or AA. Think I'm going to do that. I just won't show up for the AA flight (and no, there's no return flight, so no risk of itinerary being canceled).

CarmenOM

The Southwest LAS-PHX option is the safest. The SLC-PHX option falls apart if there is anything (such as December weather!) that diverts the LHR-SLC flight to a different routing to reach LAS.

MarkCron

If there has been a significant schedule change to departure or arrival (I forget if it is 60 or 90 minutes), or one comes up, you should be able to change your DL itinerary, if that helps.