Caribbean (preclearance to US) - ORD - Canada (overnight layover in ORD)
 

Will I have access to checked luggage in ORD in this scenario:

Caribbean (preclearance to US) - ORD

Overnight layover 12 hours

ORD - Canada throwaway

Only if the luggage is only checked to ORD; otherwise, with a pre-clearance airport your arrival in the US is treated as a domestic connection.

you’d have no trouble getting the UA check-in agent at NAS to accept your request to tag your luggage to just ORD. a gal needs her suitcase during an overnight in Chicago.

Ok, I understand how the preclearance is treated.... my question is different: how is a domestic to ORD (overnight layover) to Canada connection treated anyway? Do you automatically have to get your luggage anyway in ORD with UA? Or would they ever hold it overnight?

Some of these agents in Caribbean airports are not very flexible. Are you pretty sure about that? And my question is more what the default is in ORD with UA. Do they hold bags overnight as a default?

by default, i’d suppose the UA agent’s computer at NAS would print a bag tag to just ORD. however, regardless of default, there no UA check-in agent in the world that would refuse a request to tag a bag only to the city where you are spending the night. people need luggage to overnight somewhere. everyone and his dog accepts that.

ORD has no impact on this, it is what the agent does at the origin. The UA default for an overnight is not to check thru. But it is a bit at the agent's discretion, so there is a small risk the bags will be checked thru to the destination -- you can ask not to be checked-thru, but best not to state you are gaming the fare by HCT.

The other gotcha for IAD is that if you have a checked bag, you have to clear immigration/customs in the basement of terminal C, not the main terminal. There is no way out of the airport with your checked luggage from there. You have to recheck it and then clear TSA security into terminal C. If you have no checked luggage, you can go to the main terminal.

Agreed, but, also, the IAD pilot program could easily be introduced at any other airport without notice. They didn't warn travelers about the IAD program -- they just put a sign up saying "if you're connecting from A, B, or C to another international flight, your bags have been transferred automatically" or somesuch.

US airports seem to be moving more and more toward a combined immigration / customs check prior to baggage claim, where they will flag people who need additional screening once their bags have been unloaded. It's not a stretch to think that they will start to transfer bags automatically for all passengers except those who get flagged.

Someone considering HCT has to weigh many risks. This is one. It may not be a large one, but it's still a risk.

it is zero risk when easily ticketed with an under 24 hour overnight at the hidden city, something permitted on all international fares

I noticed this at SFO although didn't really process it since I was at a hurry. I showed my GE slip at immigration, walked past baggage claim, and there was no further check or gate between that and landside.

Correct, assuming that there is (a) another flight to the "destination" within 24 hours of arrival and (b) availability on that flight in the correct fare class. I do recommend that anybody trying HCT to an international destination use investigate that approach, though.

Exactly. I suspect we'll see more of this as air travel volumes continue to increase.

IAD is somewhat special due to the midfield terminal immigration. Was there a time where midfield immigration didn't exist, and it behaved like any other airport (everyone has to go thru normal customs/immigration, pick up bags, then either exit airport or recheck for next flight)

That saying, MIA has I-I transit without having to touch bags, they could extend I-I to more airports, or even for I-D, given your comments about the new customs/immigration workflow

IAD has that also, if you're flying in on an airline that uses the A terminal. It's just the *A flights that go to midfield.

Houston also has I-I transit without touching your bags. (As does Guam, but that's a bit of a special case because Guam has special immigration and customs rules).

So I'm looking at the following options:

A city in on the Italian/German/Austrian border to a city in Germany to Seattle and then to a city in South Western Canada. However I may get off in Seattle....

OR

Munich to Frankfurt and then just to Seattle. Both price out the same.


I'd be coming from Northern Italy, so the airport in Austria is closer. Do you tell anybody my family decided to pick me up in Seattle instead of the other city? I figure if I have a bag, I have to collect it on international arrivals anyway.

Hidden City Additional Loophole - Return Flight
 

Booked a last minute hidden city ORD->NYC->YYZ departing in 3 hours to get from ORD to NYC.
ORD->NYC itself cheapest option was $258, hidden city had it at $75.

Seemed to find another loophole here that I don't plan to use but could be valuable, yet unethical way more so than the last minute hidden city flight.
Since I "missed" my connection to Toronto, United lets me choose an alternate routing. It's unclear if there is some sort of waiver in place and I did not see any additional fees associated with this, but I have the option to book NYC->YYZ with a connection in ORD up to 4 days later.

Essentially, I now have a last minute RT ticket from ORD->NYC for $75.
Not to open debate between ethical, legal or not as it relates to hidden city, but curious if this has been used successfully in the past for a RT ticket between popular cities.