IndigoEyes

I have talked to two different UA Agents and have received 2 different answers to this question-

We are flying IAH-ANU with an overnight connection at EWR (there is no possible way to get to Antigua from Houston without an overnight stay at EWR, as the flight to ANU leaves EWR at 8:45 AM). My wife and I are travelling with our 3 children (4,6 and 10) and my two elderly parents - so to incur as little hassle as possible we would like to check our bags all the way through to Antigua from Houston, so that we don't have to claim our bags at night at EWR, then re-check them to ANU at EWR the next morning. Both segments are on UA metal.

Agent Number One told me that yes, since the layover is less than 13 hours, and since there is no itinerary possible from IAH-ANU which does not require an overnight connection we would be able to check them all the way through to Antigua from Houston. (she could not direct me to anywhere on UAL.com where this policy is specified, that it was something that only Agents can see on their end, however that this is definitely the policy.)

Agent Number Two however told me know, that bags for ALL overnight connections must be claimed and rechecked the next day (The policy at UAL.com DOES seem to state confirm this. "Baggage will be checked to a customer's final destination or to a permissible stopover for the fare paid. Customers making connections which involve an overnight stay must claim baggage at the intermediate point and re-check baggage for the connecting flight on the following day.")

Still, a 3rd agent told me that it will be up to the Check-in agents at IAH how this will be handled.

How we pack/what size bags/# of bags will depend upon knowing the answer to this question in advance.

Does anyone know the definitive answer to this? Currently I'm just going to have to assume that we are in fact going to have to claim and re-check our bags.

Any insight/knowledge shared is appreciated. Thanks! IE

mauiUAflyer

I have checked bags with an over-night connection.

bmr12

I had to explicitly have my bag short-checked to avoid it being automatically checked through to my final destination on an overnight layover. I am pretty sure agent #1 is correct as long as it is all on one ticket.

manneca

While it's a hassle, I don't think I'd want my baggage left at the airport overnight. It's too easy to have it pilfered.

garykung

Regardless, I would ask UA to offload the baggage at EWR, if I were you.

I simply don't want give a chance to people becoming a thief.

FWIW - you can do IAH-ANU without overnight in EWR - IAH-SFO-EWR-ANU.

Think the FT way

IndigoEyes

UPDATE:

When we checked in at IAH, our bags were automatically checked through all the way to Antigua. We weren't even asked if we wanted to claim our bags at EWR.

Everything worked out perfectly for us - all of our bags made it all the way through to ANU and nothing was pilfered from them

Thanks for all the replies.

spizder

I consider United flight from SFO to Europe with 10 hours layover (8am to 6pm) in EWR.

Of course, I don't want to deal with my bag during the layover. Will United check it at SFO all the way to Europe?

That's what their website says:
"Baggage will be checked to a customer's final destination or to a permissible stopover for the fare paid. Customers making connections which involve an overnight stay must claim baggage at the intermediate point and re-check baggage for the connecting flight on the following day."

What exactly does 'permissible' mean here?

goodeats21

United will check your bag all the way through to Europe on the itinerary you consider.

You will not have to claim your bag...or deal with it at all...in EWR.

And Welcome to Flyertalk !

SAN 1K

I don't think you'll have a problem if you want to check your bag through.
"Permissible" stop-over, in this context, means they won't check your bag to a stopover in most cases. This is to avoid having people pick up their bags and skip the last segment of their ticket.

IAHtraveler

Agree with the above posters. I was just on a:

NRT-SEA (12.6 hr layover)
SEA-ORD redeye (8 hr layover)
ORD-Final

I was leaving both SEA and ORD airports and NRT didn't have an issue checking the bags to the final from NRT.

chavala

Has anyone ever had any luck checking bags through if it's overnight if it's less than 12 hours? I never understood the "overnight rule" -- what's the difference what time it is?
It's no problem at other international airports I've been through (BKK, SIN...)
Doing last flight to IAH, o/n Marriott, and first international flight out in the morning -- it would be great not to deal with bags.

username

My concern/question would be "will everything in my checked bag still be there with a long stopover"

Also consider the hot weather if this happens in the summer. Don't want any expensive toiletry to go bad...

PTahCha

Ditto! Just realize that your bag will be hanging out wherever in EWR, and make sure contained items are leak/melt proof for the potential heat.