Checking Luggage to Final Destination
 

Flying back and forth to Africa I run into this issue:
When I am leaving the USA they check my baggage all the way to my final destination. However, when I am leaving Africa for the USA, they check my bag to the airport of entry. I collect it, clear customs and then must have it rebooked on the flight to my final destination.

Is there a way to have my bags ticketed to my final destination when I check-in in Africa without having to stop and have it rechecked to my final destination at the first airport I hit in the USA?

Too vague. Need more details such as which airlines are involved, the destinations, the origins, and connecting points.

First entry of airport in US = clear customs. There is no way around it

It's because in the United States (and Canada) Customs and Immigration checks are handled by the same person. So when you land at your first point of entry you have to take care of Immigration (you) and Customs (your baggage) at the same time.

In other jurisdictions like Europe all they take care of when you land is immigration - Customs is taken care of at your final destination... So in that circumstance they can check your bag "all the way."

Thanks, I know I have to clear Customs, it's the second stop to have my bags re-ticketed to my final destination I am hoping to avoid.

I fly out of Africa on Ethiopian Airlines or Air France to some place in Europe - Rome, Frankfurt, Paris or London.

Then I fly to the US via United, US Airways, or Delta to Dulles, Philly or Atlanta.

So, it hasn't mattered where I landed or which airline... I have to go to the airline after Customs, show them my boarding pass for the next flight to ORF, and have them pull the current sticker off my luggage and ticket it to ORF. (Half the time it doesn't make it here anyway.)

No. All passengers entering the US from anywhere have to clear Immigrations and Customs when they first arrive on US soil. (There are a few exceptions, such as clearance in Canada before boarding a US-bound flight.)

One way to manage the problem is to arrange flights so that you first land on US soil at your destination.

Eg if you start in Paris and end up in Los Angeles:

Fly Paris - London - Los Angeles
Insead of
Paris - New York - Los Angeles

Sometimes flying to US from smaller oversea outpost with local airlines you will get the bag only to entry point. This is due to the fact their tag computer/printing system is not set up for other US destinations.

We has a trip back to US into MSP where half of the team had to transfer to other airports in the mid-west. CZ in China could only print the tags as far as MSP. There was an offer to put a hand written tag on but I prefer the printed one with the barcodes at MSP transfer desk.

This has nothing to do with port of entry. There is no reason they can not check your bags to the final destination assuming it's the same airline or one they have an agreement with. It's done all the time.

When you arrive in the us you pick up your bags, clear customs, and drop them off already tagged for their final destination.

Give the flight and airline details and maybe we can come up with a reason, but it's done all the time, bags tagged all the way through, just picked up when you enter and dropped off after customs.

No. Luggage inspection is at first port of entry. Most US airports don't have intl. arrivals so it's not feasible to check luggage through.

Checking Baggage to Final Destination
 

I recently flew from Belize City to Toronto, via Houston. In Houston we went through customs, waited in vain for the bags, then figured they had been checked through. They were to my surprise. Went to boarding gate. There was no inspection of bags. Picked them up in Toronto. I past trips from Mexico, when connecting through the US I had to pick up bags before going through customs.

In the last few years in Miami and Houston, certain airlines/flights now have the ability to have bags transfered without picking them up on international to international flights if tagged all the way through. This wouldn't help the OP though as their final destination is in the US. He still has to pick up his bags at the initial entry point to the US.

To the OP, are your tickets from Africa to the US booked as one ticket or is it one ticket from Africa to Europe and then another ticket Europe US? If it's two tickets, that may be why they aren't willing to tag your bags through to the final destination.