jackal

I can't speak to SFO in particular, but I've never seen wrapping services at any U.S. airport, only in other airports in places where theft is more of a problem (not that it's not a problem here, but it's still the rare exception rather than the rule).

And I get love notes from TSA in my checked bags about 30% of the time, so I wouldn't count on it not being opened. But maybe that's because when I check a bag, it's usually stuffed to the gills and has an inordinately high amount of liquids (which is why I'm checking it ).

sbm12

You should travel more.

I've definitely seen it at JFK and SFO. I'm betting it exists at others, too.

ChicagoDave

Hi,

I have an upcoming trip and am trying to figure out the "best" option for my one checked bag. I have a UA ticket to IST with 23 hour layover in EWR. Is it better to leave the bag checked through to IST or pick it up in EWR & recheck the next day? I want to minimize the chance of losing the bag, and I've never had a 23 hour connection before.

The second question is for the same itinerary. After I land in IST I have 6 hours before my next flight on a different ticket/PNR on TK (purchased through united.com). Is there any way to have the bag automatically transferred, or do I need to go through immigration/customs to get the bag, so I can recheck it at the TK check in counter?

Thanks for the help

edcho

I don't think you can check it through IST -- you will probably have to pick it up at EWR and recheck the next day. However, you should be able to interline EWR-your destination on TK. Just provide the UA agent your itin when you recheck your bag at EWR.

sinoflyer

A 23-hour connection in EWR is not out of the ordinary. I would check the bag ALL THE WAY to the final destination. Have the TK PNR on hand so that the UA agent can properly tag the flight number for the cxn at IST. By the way, I'm not even sure that you can tag your bag only to IST, considering that you need a Turkish visa in most instances except for 24-hour transit.

ChicagoDave

Not sure if my initial post was clear or not, but I have two tickets. One is ORD-EWR-IST on UA & the 2nd is IST-MUC on TK. It sounds like there won't be an issue checking the bag all the way through from ORD. I will have all my ticket and confirmation numbers available for check in. Thanks

aerosmith

Hi all

A quick question, apologies if this has been asked and answered previously. I am from Asia and will be travelling to the USA with a few UA domestic flights within the trip.

Will be departing from IAH with final destination in EWR via MEM. However this trip will be through 2 separate PNRs, i.e. 1 ticket from IAH to MEM, and the other ticket from MEM to EWR. Transit time in MEM would be 85 minutes. Both flights are on UA metal.

I have mixed responses from the call centre staff. Thus my questions below to seek clarification from you guys:

1. When I check-in at IAH, can I interline my check-in luggage all the way to EWR, without retrieving it at MEM?

2. When I check-in at IAH, can I also get my boarding pass for the MEM-EWR sector?

Thanks in advance for your response.

UAPremExecflyer

1. Yes. Show the check-in agent your second PNR.
2. Yes. Unless the system is down or there is some other technical hiccup.

jackal

It's not really "interlining" if both flights are the same carrier, as interlining specifically refers to dealing with joint arrangements between multiple carriers involved in your trip. In this case, it's just two separate tickets. They'll have absolutely no problem checking your bag through in this case--just show them the second itinerary as UAPremExecflyer described.

If you have access to a printer in IAH, it wouldn't hurt to do OLCI and bring the printed BP for both segments with you to the IAH check-in counter; it would probably make the agent's job slightly easier.

FlyingNone

-------------------------------
Showing the agent the two BP's is informative but the two PNRs are not combinable (UA to UA). It only works UA to another carrier (i.e., UA to DL or UA to BA). There is another thread (in depth) about this -- see

"United not able to combine 2 UA itineraries to send baggage through"

This has not been fixed yet. We have to call our help desk to do this -
The last time I had this problem it took almost 90 minutes with two Help Desk agents. What really added to the mix was that the passenger's name was SMITH/JANE on one PNR and SMITHJONES/JANE on the other. Essentially in SHARES, the bagtag will only read the ticketed segment on a PNR so adding or even selling the additional segment into the same PNR will still not print the tag to the final destination because that additional segment is ticketed on the other PNR. I honestly don't know what the Help Desk has had to do to tie these two together but it's not quick and I certainly wouldn't say "they(will) have absolutely no problem....."

jackal

Wow. I never would have guessed.

Link to the thread in question: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ge-though.html

FlyingNone

---------------------------------
Thanks for putting in the link. I emphasize it is all okay if one is interlining UA to any other carrier that has baggage agreements with United; however UA to UA on separate PNRs is not possible without the Help Desk doing what they do or you are lucky enough to get a CSR who knows how to do it.

Some agents just tell the passenger to pick up the bag at the connecting point and recheck it but this is very risky if passengers have less than a two hour connection and even that can be dicey depending on the airport. I certainly wouldn't recommend it at an international airport. ORD, EWR, IAH would be a nightmare getting to baggage claim and rechecking it. I'll always do what I can by calling the Help Desk but be warned - allow a lot of time at your originating station and feel free to tell any CSR to call the Help Desk to do it.

kekurutz

Hello,
Not sure if this is more appropriate for the SQ or UA forum, but, next week I'll be flying the following itinerary:

ORD-SFO on UA (3.5 hr layover at SFO)
SFO-SIN-DPS on SQ

What can I expect with:

1. Baggage:
When I checkin at ORD with UA, will/should they be able to check my bags all the way through to DPS? Or, should I expect to pick them up at baggage claim in SFO and recheck with SQ?

2. Checkin:
When I checkin at ORD with UA, will/should they be able to check me in with SQ? Or, should I checkin with SQ at SFO to obtain my boarding passes?

Thanks!

kekurutz

I ended up calling UA. Got a friendly CSR that seemed as if she knew what she was talking about.

She stated that the bags could be checked all the way through seeing as SQ is *A.

She also said that UA will be able to check me in for the SQ flight at ORD and issue boarding passes.

I feel a bit more comfortable about the baggage being checked all the way through but am still a little in doubt about the UA checking me in for my SQ flight, and issue boarding passes, at ORD.

I'd love to hear any first hand experience as to whether or not this is truly the case.

...lets say UA doesn't check in or issue BPs for the SQ flight at ORD. Could I get this accomplished at the SKL at SFO, or would I have to head to the checkin counter?

northpole999

Ok, here's a quesiton for the collective institutional knowledge of my fellow FTers. I frequently do separate PNR TATL's on UA with connections to/from another *A carrier. I have never had much of a problems and I know that it's allowed (so long as there are not ticketing violations), and clearly the UA system and other *A systems I've used can handle it, at least when the staff knows which buttons to push.

I often check 3 bags at 70 lbs. on the UA-origin flights to Europe. I have never had much of a problem, but I'm wondering what are the official rules governing bag limits with separate PNR interlined *A bag checking. I've sometimes feared getting hit with high extra-bag charges and it would be nice to know what the rules are. Again, I've never had an issue or been questioned, but I really would like to know what the formal rules say.

I think IATA is pretty clear on baggage policies for single PNRs (originating carrier, most significant carrier, etc.). I'm not sure what the deal is for separate PNRs, however. Does the baggage policy of the originating carrier apply, or is the bag-checking carrier officially supposed to check the policy of the carrier on the other PNR and apply the lesser of the two allowances?

I hope the question is not too arcane and the explanation not to convoluted. Many thanks!