WineCountryUA

Discretion of the agent, sometimes yes, sometimes no
Overnight is another exception

tr3k

I see. There is currently a 12hr 50 min connection, so that should be "safe" to get bags short-checked. But considering possible schedule changes.

dap891

Hi all, I'm trying to understand if we will be allowed to short check bags on the itinerary below. I've read all the info above but I was still not clear as it is an international connection.

The itinerary is UA metal SFO > FRA then a 5 hour 55 min stopover then LH metal FRA > DUB, all on one ticket. We would like to collect bags and recheck at FRA so we can access belongings during the long layover.

As quoted above the CoC state "except if the Passenger is making a connection to the first available UA flight departing from such intermediate point and the connection exceeds four hours, the Passenger may reclaim his/her Baggage at such intermediate connecting point".

In the discussion above it seems that people perceive this to only apply to domestic itineraries, although I am not sure why. And I suppose it could be argued we are not taking any UA flight from the intermediate point, since we are flying LH. But on the face to me it seems the spirit / intention of the rule would apply to us?

Thanks in advance!

WineCountryUA

correct but you have to quote the entire section
The permissable Stopover is the issue. For domestic flights that is 4 hours or more but for international flights it at least 24 hours. So your connection in FRA does not qualify as a Stopover. But 4 hours would on a purely domestic flight.

dap891

Thx for replying!

When I read this section, I thought the effect of the words "except if" are to create a further exception such that the "intermediate point" (FRA in this case) does not need to be a "permissable Stopover point" as long as the intermediate point has a connection exceeding four hours (and the pax is taking the next available UA flight).

I am not a lawyer so I might be completely wrong, but that was what confused me.

Was also not sure if anyone has tried asking for a short check with a >4 hour but <24 hour and non-overnight international connection and had a clear answer from UA.

jsloan

You are not taking the next available UA flight, so this exception would not apply to you regardless.

The intent of the rule is to prohibit hidden-city ticketing — that is, it’s quite possible (almost certain, in fact) that UA’s fare for SFO-FRA is more expensive than the fare for SFO-FRA-DUB. They don’t want people skipping the continuing flight.

If the city is eligible for a free stopover on that fare, UA knows there’s no point in trying to argue, because a conniving passenger would just book a stopover and get access to their baggage anyway.

So, if you’d like to argue the point, you’re going to need to look at the fare rules, see if FRA is a valid stopover point, and, if so, print those rules and the CoC and get to the airport an hour earlier than usual for the argument. Or, just put whatever you want with you inside your carry-on.

Note that if you were to miss your FRA-DUB flight, any further flights on that itinerary — e.g., a return flight — would be cancelled.

dap891

Ok thanks. Sounds like we shouldn’t rely on this - I’ll ask at SFO anyway just to see what they say and will report back here for the community! Flight is in a few months.

UAFLYER22

Not sure if this is right place to ask. I'm flying international with a domestic flight first. My first flight is on an A320 and my carryon is usually a tight squeeze, and sometimes ends up being gate checked. I'd prefer to have this bag with me on the international leg, so I'm trying to avoid getting it checked on the first leg. If it does, is there anyway to get it back when I connect in ORD? I have a 6 hour layover.

nomad420

Given the posts above I believe they will do that in ORD for a 6 hr lay away (It states greater than 4hrs).. I did this on an international flight were my "lay over" was 23 hrs.

UAFLYER22

Got it. I thought if any portion of the trip was international, they wouldn't allow it.

Thanks for the help!

jpezaris

If your bag is a tight squeeze on an A320 domestically, I would worry about it being denied as a carry-on when you check in for your return flight in Europe. The official rules are tighter in the EU and can be more strictly enforced, especially if your first leg is an intra-EU flight. Given that this is a UA forum, there's a decent chance that your return includes an LH flight, and I've found that they enforce the 8kg carry-on limit about half of the time. If your carry-on is disqualified for weight, you have three options: (1) check it, and any additional costs are on you, (2) shuffle things around with your personal carry-on and perhaps with your checked luggage and your companion's carry-on and luggage to meet the weight limit, and (3) abandon something. If your carry-on is disqualified for size, your options are reduced to checking or abandoning. I have never seen it done, but would imagine that abandoning something might trigger a security incident, so would caution against that.

Xyzzy

Sme airports have an easy solution for this problem:

emcampbe

if it’s a daytime layover, you might be denied. Where do you typically sit? IIRC, the way the Airbus’ are, the bins in the first few rows are narrower than those toward the middle and back, so bags that might not fit in, say, F cabin might a bit further back in E+ section.

Related to the short check part, we just flew SFO-EWR-YYZ, with a ~10 hour overnight layover in EWR. I was surprised that the self bag tag machine printed out a bag tag for the the connecting flight as well - I thought for an overnight like that the system automatically made you pick up at connection. An agent happily re-checked only to EWR, which I wanted, but was training a newer agent and explained that at <12 hour layover, even for overnight, it will automatically check through all the way. She noted that she would intervene and check the bag only to the connection point only because it was an overnight layover, and that otherwise, they can not do it (though am unsure if she was referring to the ‘can not’ do it referred to policy, or the computer would not let them).

justsawaufo

Hi All,

I'm currently booked on award ticket (I) that routes me LAX-LHR-ZRH-JMK

• There's 12hrs layover in LHR
• Another 7-8 hours layover in ZRH
• I booked another flight (BA), separately from LCY-JMK leaving 5 hours after my scheduled arrival to LHR, which gets me to JMK a day earlier.

Now what happens (checked luggage wise) if I keep the existing itin as "insurance" in case of delays and/or a scenario where I'll miss my LCY transit?

Option 1: I can adjust my original UA itin to strictly LHR-LAX, but won't have that "insurance" option.

Option 2: Leave the itin as is and ask to check the luggage to LHR?
Is that an option? Will I be able to ask the agent in LAX to simply check my bag to LHR due to the long layover in LHR?

Thanks!

rankourabu

Option 2 should work. 12 hours, you need your bag in the hotel.

If the agent gives you trouble - then you can still call and cancel the LX segments, no?