mtnbrkmama

We are flying from BHM to DUB through ATL, and returning the same way. On the return, we have a 15+ hour layover in Atlanta. We want to ditch the last leg of the flight, rent a car, and drive the two hours home, instead of waiting in Atl. I am not really concerned about being "caught" by the airline, since it will be a one-time thing, and we don't fly that much anymore. But I am assuming they will pull any checked baggage off the flight to BHM when we don't show up. Is that right? I am assuming we will therefore not be able to check a bag on the return portion. Or can I simply tell the gate agent what we are doing and get the bag in Atl? Thanks for any suggestions.

Sweet Willie

Welcome to Flyertalk mtnbrkmama^

nerd

If you pre-clear customs in Dublin, wouldn't your checked luggage automatically get sent through to your ATL-BHM flight?

ksu

I have never connected INT/DOM at ATL, but at all US points of entry, you will have to reclaim your luggage and carry it through US Customs yourself. If the bags are tagged through to the final destination, you will recheck them immediately past customs (in a sterile area before exiting to the public area of the airport). Thus, by not rechecking at ATL, you can take your bags onto the rental car yourself. If they separate the luggage of arriving and connecting passengers (as they do at IAD AFAIR), this will not be possible. Locals to ATL will know, though!

mtnbrkmama

Well that's what I'm asking. Since the bags will go through Atl, presumably they will be held in Atl until the next leg on to Bham the next morning?

Rcling28

If you check bags, it will have to go all the way to your end destination. Not flying all the way, might have consequences for immigration, so beware of that. With regards not boarding and your bags being taken out, not sure...

pinniped

I've done exactly this at ORD before. Was ticketed LHR-ORD-MCI but decided to spend a weekend in Chicago and just buy another CHI-MCI ticket for later. I claimed my bag, proceeded through customs like normal, and walked out of the airport.

I don't see how this causes problems for immigration or customs. They're done with me at the point I proceed through the customs area with all of my luggage. My bags and I are now fully in the U.S., together. Considering that I've also had LHR-ORD-MCI itineraries where the airline lost my bag in Chicago but the flights still operated normally, I am pretty sure that my doing this doesn't create operational problems for the airline either. No passenger, no bags. Just a no-show. The only "problem" I can see is if I hand my bags back to the airline and then decide to no-show the domestic flight. Now the airline sees a passenger who physically checked bags and then never boarded the plane...I suspect they'd need to offload the bags.

IAD is the only place I've ever entered the U.S. where there was any distinction between connecting pax and those terminating at IAD. I do not believe ATL is this way. I entered the U.S. there in 2006 and it wasn't then. Probably get a 2nd opinion from recent DL fliers.

nerd

It looks like the pre-clearance in Dublin might be Immigration only, meaning you'd still have to grab your luggage and take it through Customs:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...al-dublin.html

MSPeconomist

I would be cautious about putting too much weight on these experiences which AFAIK were before DUB opened its new terminal. The procedures could have changed as a result, since presumably DUB now has more space for the USA preclearance procedures.

Often1

Lot's of bad advice above, to make this simpler and correct:

1. DUB is a pre-clearance port, so you will arrive as a domestic pax at ATL.

2. Your bags will be checked through from DUB to BHM and you won't see them at all in ATL.

3. Your bags won't be off-loaded from your ATL-BHM flight because you aren't onboard (that ended a good 7-8 years ago on domestic flights).

4. You need to be at BHM when your scheduled flight arrives. Otherwise, when baggage folks bring the bags back as unclaimed, DL will check the manifest and note that you never boarded in ATL. While ordinarily, nobody gets caught on hidden city violations the first time, you become the exception because your bags are a red flag.

5. There is a distinct likelihood that your tickets will be refared. That may or may not matter, all depends on how the fares play out.

If you want to do this, best bet is not to check luggage and you will avoid the problem.

CyBeR

Really? All that TSA rubbish and they're letting one of the few things that might actually do something, go?

FlyerChrisK

They screen checked baggage.

CyBeR

Not to get into a thread-derailing argument here, but then if they're so confident their screening is so wonderful and great, why do they still do this for international baggage?

Often1

Yes. Really. OP's question relates to what happens if he skips the segment, not a debate about TSA's policies (by the way, TSA will have screened the luggage).

mikew99

I have never done preclearance at DUB, so I don't know how it works. But it sounds as if the OP's ticketed 15-hour connection in ATL is overnight.

Normally, agents won't short-check luggage without good reason, but given the overnight connection, I can't believe they wouldn't short-check the OP's luggage to ATL on request. (They might even insist on it.) If so, then the OP is in the clear. Anyone know for sure?