Flying in same day and luggage tags

[CruisinChris]

I am going to disagree with many here. Do NOT put the tags on before the flight. They could easily interfer with the tag readers that the airports use to sort and direct luggage to the proper flights. This is all automated these days. The last thing you want to do is something that has the potential to interfer with that process. The airlines, in fact, generally make you take all other tags OFF when you check luggage.

 

Put your itinerary or tags in the outside ID pocket on your luggage and another copy on top of your clothes inside the bag.

 

Put your Princess tags on after you claim your bags in Ft Lauderdale.

[CruzVinnieCruz]

I am going to disagree with many here. Do NOT put the tags on before the flight. They could easily interfer with the tag readers that the airports use to sort and direct luggage to the proper flights. This is all automated these days. The last thing you want to do is something that has the potential to interfer with that process. The airlines' date=' in fact, generally make you take all other tags OFF when you check luggage.

 

Put your itinerary or tags in the outside ID pocket on your luggage and another copy on top of your clothes inside the bag.

 

Put your Princess tags on after you claim your bags in Ft Lauderdale.[/quote']

 

Princess luggage tags will not interfere with an airline luggage system bar code scanner since the tags do not contain any information that can be processed by the luggage system nor is it in the correct format.

 

The information that is encoded on the Princess luggage tag is the cabin number and the booking number.

 

Airlines will have one remove old airline luggage tags since that information will be read by the luggage system as being valid and could possibly route you luggage incorrectly.

 

Vinnie

[Roce48]

I would not be flying in the day the ship sails, because I think that's taking a chance of possibly missing the ship because the airline messed up and didn't get me there in time.

 

But if I were, I would print extra luggage tags and attach one set, strengthened with package sealing tape, to my checked bag(s), and keep the spares in my carry-on.

 

If, heaven forbid, your bags don't arrive with you in the port city, the airline would know where you will be going, and can arrange with the cruise line to get you luggage to you at the first possible port.

 

Additionally, I would type up an itinerary and place in in an outside pocket of each checked bag, and make sure to include my cell phone number.

 

With all the negative posts about flying in on the day of departure, I imagine a lot of us may be getting nervous about missing our ship. Thank you for adding some stress to our plans. :(

 

I wonder what percentage of cruisers fly in on the day of departure? There always seems to be an awful lot of people grabbing cabs to get to the port when we cruise. :):):)

[bhopal21]

We almost always fly in day of departure; but we make that decision based on a number of factors such as the flight arrival time, whether or not the flight has connections, distance to port from the airport and also the time of year and weather conditions.

 

I think it all boils down to what you are comfortable with as well as having alternative plans should changes be necessary.

 

Mike:)

[paul929207]

With all the negative posts about flying in on the day of departure, I imagine a lot of us may be getting nervous about missing our ship. Thank you for adding some stress to our plans. :(

 

I wonder what percentage of cruisers fly in on the day of departure? There always seems to be an awful lot of people grabbing cabs to get to the port when we cruise. :):):)

People ask for an opinion, so others give them theirs. The purpose is not to cause stress, it is to warn people of the potential problems flying in the day of the cruise. If reading such advice causes you stress, than I suggest you avoid any thread that deals with flights.

[Roce48]

People ask for an opinion, so others give them theirs. The purpose is not to cause stress, it is to warn people of the potential problems flying in the day of the cruise. If reading such advice causes you stress, than I suggest you avoid any thread that deals with flights.

Sorry if I seemed critical of negative posts. It just seemed to irk me.

But I will continue to read the posts and also try to respond with a positive tone. :)

[Happy ks]

heck the airlines keep removing our little zipper pulls so i don't trust them with our cruiseship luggage tags

 

Be thankful the zipper pulls were detached, it was done by a machine, not an airline employee. The zipper pulls are designed to detach at a certain point of pressure, usually around 70 lbs. If the zipper pulls did not detach, your luggage would be stuck on the conveyor belt, taking hits from other pieces of luggage and quite possibly destroyed or badly damaged, especially the zipper itself.

 

Zipper pulls are easy to replace, good luggage even has a notch where you can snap a new one into place. Luggage companies even provide them free of charge. The luggage store where I work we carry a few brands that we will give away to customers.

 

If you zip your luggage so the zipper pulls are at the top or side of the luggage, where the grab handles are, the pulls are in a more protective place. They won't be as close to machinery that will possibly grab onto them. Many people zip the luggage so the pulls are at the bottom, or even the corner of the bag, leaving them more exposed.

[Bethcb]

Why leave it to chance or an airline employee to search through all the black (or blue) bags to find yours? It's so easy to print out a tag and stick it on. It'll make the airline's job of finding it that much easier. Anything you can do to make it easier means it'll be identified and get to you faster.

 

We had an issue once in FLL where we put on our luggage tags at home but were staying one night in FLL. Princess saw our luggage with the tags and assumed we had paid for transfers and placed our luggage on a cart headed directly to either one of their hotels or to the ship. We happened to see it and were able to retrieve our bags but if we didn't see it, we may have not gotten our luggage until on the ship.

[coo359a2]

Sorry if I seemed critical of negative posts. It just seemed to irk me.

But I will continue to read the posts and also try to respond with a positive tone. :)

 

I've always read the CC posts on whatever topic- negative or not - and made my own mind up after considering all the different inputs. I decided sometime ago that I could not handle the stress of flying in the day of a cruise. With potential for weather delays no matter when in the year, plane problems and other flight delays that happen all to often, I didn't want to have that added stress. Everyone handles each situation differently and that is what is so good about CC. Read, digest and decide for yourself. I feel more comfortable putting my cruise luggage tags on right before turning them over to the porters. I do keep copies of the itineraries inside the luggage and in a plastic sleeve attached to a handle to help with my stress thinking about my luggage not making it to the cruise port.

[caribill]

We had an issue once in FLL where we put on our luggage tags at home but were staying one night in FLL. Princess saw our luggage with the tags and assumed we had paid for transfers and placed our luggage on a cart headed directly to either one of their hotels or to the ship. We happened to see it and were able to retrieve our bags but if we didn't see it, we may have not gotten our luggage until on the ship.

 

They were probably headed to a different ship before you retrieved them from the cart.

[san diego sue]

I put luggage tags on only if we fly in same day. This is extremely rare

but did so on a recent flight from San Diego to San Francisco. Even though our flight not delayed, there were several others going to same location that got cancelled.

We put our luggage tags on just in case of a problem.

Normally, if we go a day early, no tags. However, if it is a Foreign country location always put itinerary tags on the suitcases.

:D

[caribill]

I wonder what percentage of cruisers fly in on the day of departure? There always seems to be an awful lot of people grabbing cabs to get to the port when we cruise.

 

I thank the majority of passengers do fly in the day of the cruise. Some because they cannot take additional time off from work. Some because of the cost and hassle of a hotel room for a night. Some because they do not realize the risk of travel disruptions, even when the weather is perfectly fine.

 

We have usually flown in the same day when:

o The departure port is in the USA

o A direct flight is available (no change of plaves somewhere)

o There is at least one alternative later flight in case of a problem with our flight

 

We always fly in a day or more in advance for cruises that start outside the mainland USA.

 

For those who wonder what could go wrong on a perfect flying day, here are some examples from past news stories:

 

 

It must've been quite a scene on a Iberia flight last week after a man stripped naked and created a ruckus on a Thursday Madrid-to-Frankfurt journey.

 

The flight never made it to Frankfurt, however, as the pilots decided to return to Madrid to have the unidentified man taken off the plane. The incident occurred Thursday and was picked up by media over the weekend.

 

"A German passenger took all his clothes off on the plane, an Iberia spokeswoman tells AFP. "Staff on board tried to dissuade him but he became aggressive and finally locked himself in the toilet. The pilot then decided to turn around and land in Madrid."

 

She says that once the plane landed at Madrid, police entered the aircraft and "took him away." However, authorities tell AFP that the man was cooperative and was not arrested.

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A 37-year-old author of children's books is considering a lawsuit after he was booted off a regional Delta Connection flight for swearing, the Detroit Free Press reports.

 

Robert Sayegh says the incident happened Sunday as he was returning to Brooklyn from a cousin's wedding in Kansas City, Mo. He was flying Delta Air Lines home via Detroit, which is where he claims a flight attendant had him removed from a flight to Newark that was operated by Delta regional subsidiary Atlantic Southeast Airlines (ASA).

 

Sayegh says he used the F-word twice while discussing delays affecting the flight, but says the comments were made to a fellow passenger and not directed at the crew.

 

One of those two instances apparently came after the flight had been waiting at the gate for about 45 minutes. According to various news reports, an attendant heard Sayegh say: "What's taking so (expletive) long to close the overhead compartments?"

 

The Detroit News writes "the plane eventually taxied to the runway, but soon returned, where airport police boarded the plane and Sayegh was escorted off."

 

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Passengers on a United flight operated by Continental Airlines made an unexpected stop in San Antonio last night. That came after a man on the flight apparently couldn't make it the whole way to California without a cigarette. The incident delayed the flight's arrival by about two hours.

 

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BOISE, Idaho (AP) Boise Airport officials say an American Airlines passenger jet traveling from Chicago to Seattle carrying 141 passengers and crew landed in Boise on Saturday after the pilot reported an engine failure. A Boise Airport spokeswoman tells KTVB-TV that the MD-80 landed safely at the Idaho airport. Officials say passengers are being rebooked on other airlines to get them to Seattle.

 

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Delta Air Lines pulled one of its flight attendants off a Buffalo-to-Atlanta flight after a security screener thought the attendant was behaving erratically. The screener reported the attendant because he thought he might not be fit to fly. Passengers hadn't yet boarded the plane. It left three hours late with a replacement for the attendant.

 

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A long flight to nowhere ... that just goes in endless circles for four hours. CBS News reports that a JetBlue flight from Los Vegas to New York had hydraulic problems immediately after takeoff, and needed to return to Las Vegas for an emergency landing. Unfortunately for the passengers, the pilots had to burn off fuel before being able to land, which meant they had to circle around for hours to burn off fuel.

 

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A Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) Airbus A330 jet made an unexpected landing in Bangor, Maine, on Wednesday. The SAS widebody was en route from Newark to Copenhagen when it diverted to Bangor International after smoke filled the flight's cockpit, The Associated Press reports.

The Bangor Daily News – which has three photos of SAS's Star Alliance-themed A330 on its website – says the flight had 230 passengers and 12 crew on board, according to Tony Caruso, Bangor International's interim director. Several passengers and crew were checked for smoke inhalation, but no injuries were reported. The flight landed around 7:30 p.m. ET and passengers spent the night in Maine.

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It must really stink to hate your co-worker—and have your shared "office" be a tiny cockpit that you can't leave. The Daily Mail reports that two Qantas pilots allegedly got in a fight over take-off calculations, and their argument caused the flight to be delayed until the next day. Two replacement pilots had to be called in to fly, and the flight ended up arriving 18 hours late.

 

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Another flight also had some trouble aboard this week—an American Eagle flight was delayed after a passenger locked himself in the cockpit for several hours. The Huffington Post reports that Andrew Alessi, a ticketed passenger on a flight from Baton Rouge to Dallas/Fort Worth, allegedly pushed past crew-members and locked himself in the plane's cockpit, where he remained for hours until the police and FBI convinced him to come out. Workers cut power to the plane, so Alessi couldn't start the plane.

 

 

[Pmorton3360]

Some of those are just crazy. You never know. We fly in a day early because it is too crazy to get there from here. And I mean anywhere. Usually end up coming in late afternoon. This cruise the Ruby leaves at 4:00 . The earliest we have ever left. We have gone in the day of out of San Juan. Those ships both left at 10:00. I think now I am older and wiser. We put the ship tags on at the port also. We bring a small stapler,but the guys there have them ready to go. There ar 9 on this cruise and there was no way I would try the same day. We have 3 different flights and should all be in FLL by 9:00 pm. Not great, but the best we can do. I will be putting tags on the side compartment though. Good plan.

[pablo222]

I'm pretty sure that some of the posters here fly in a day early,

and then sleep in a rental car in the parking garage at the port

... just to be safe.

 

And, of course, buy insurance, just in case the elevator in the garage isn't

working.

 

I know that's what I always do.

[Times Prince]

I would not be flying in the day the ship sails, because I think that's taking a chance of possibly missing the ship because the airline messed up and didn't get me there in time.

 

But if I were, I would print extra luggage tags and attach one set, strengthened with package sealing tape, to my checked bag(s), and keep the spares in my carry-on.

 

If, heaven forbid, your bags don't arrive with you in the port city, the airline would know where you will be going, and can arrange with the cruise line to get you luggage to you at the first possible port.

This is exactly what we do - we ALWAYS put the luggage tags on before leaving home.

 

Here's why - we had one cruise out of FLL where we booked Princess Air and transfers prior leaving over 4 hours of time between scheduled arrival in FLL and when all-aboard was to happen. The air included a connection in Atlanta. Delta Airlines delayed both flights, missing the connection in Atlanta, then also had flight delays, resulting in an touchdown at the FLL airport at 5 PM - the time our ship was supposed to leave. :eek: We had kept the in-transit desk at Princess aware of each delay, and when we arrived at FLL we were met by a Princess rep who gave us the option "Do you want to make the Ship or wait for your luggage?" We chose the ship, and were the last passengers onboard. However, as we were checking in at the Pursor's desk, our luggage came up the ramp, and then the door slammed shut immediately after in preparation for sailaway. Princess was able to identify our luggage by the tags, and one rep (who we will forever be thankful for, although we don't know her name) retreived the luggage and drove with a private car to the pier. :D

 

Moral of story: One never knows what will happen with flights, so always put the Princess tags on before leaving home. It may save your cruise. :)

[Yukonbear]

[quote name='RichP']Twenty cruises, all flying on cruise day, always put the tags on at home.
Have never had a problem with airlines or lugage.[/QUOTE]

Congratulations Rich. And I am sure you don't even buy insurance either so you save that money. I hope your string of good luck continues.

[muti]

We will always put the luggage tags on the bags before we leave home. In November we were in the Atlanta airport and saw that flights out of JFK were being cancelled due to the noreaster was heading to NYC -- where we were to catch our connecting flight to Venice. Well, we changed flights but the bags did not make it. The first question we were asked in Venice was "do you have the luggage tags on your bags for the cruise?" Though it took 3 days for the bags to find us, having the tags on made it much easier for the airline to get the bags to us. The best thing I ever bought for our travels were the luggage tag sleeves. They are tough and appear to be able endure any kind of treatment.

Jackie

[highheel girl]

We never put tags on until the port city.

[Cruisin' Chick]

[quote name='coo359a2']I've always read the CC posts on whatever topic- negative or not - and made my own mind up after considering all the different inputs. I decided sometime ago that I could not handle the stress of flying in the day of a cruise. With potential for weather delays no matter when in the year, plane problems and other flight delays that happen all to often, I didn't want to have that added stress. Everyone handles each situation differently and that is what is so good about CC. Read, digest and decide for yourself. I feel more comfortable putting my cruise luggage tags on right before turning them over to the porters. I do keep copies of the itineraries inside the luggage and in a plastic sleeve attached to a handle to help with my stress thinking about my luggage not making it to the cruise port.[/quote]

We feel the same way. If we're leaving from anywhere other than the Port of LA, we're going to go in at least a day early so we won't be stressed out. We would leave from LAX, which generally has many flights, but if something happens there, such as a major security scare (which seems to happen at least a few times every year at the least), then we would have to go through the hassle of figuring out a last-second flight out of Burbank or Long Beach, which would be expensive. And there could be weather issue, even at LAX (fog) or at our destination airport.

So far from being negative, those of us who are cautioning against flying in the same day are actually trying to help others who may be inexperienced flyers who might not be aware of the different ways flights can be affected.

To us, the cost of a pre-cruise hotel, as well as perhaps any time to do a little sightseeing in that area, is well worth it. We make sure we have that day off from work or school -- better than taking the time off and not making it to the cruise on time.