15 hour overnight layover in DFW, what about my suitcases?

[gerelmx]

I will be flying from LHR to MTY with a layover in DFW, will AA check my bags to the final destination or do I need to pick them up in DFW and check them again the next day?

Edited May 5, 2023 by gerelmx

[JM0115]

It depends on the airline and the specific itinerary. You should check with your airline to see if they offer luggage storage or transfer services during layovers. Some airlines may allow you to check your luggage all the way through, while others may require you to collect your luggage and re-check it for your connecting flight.

[FlyerTalker]

There are reports that AA has a policy of a 16.5 hours maximum for connecting bags.  There are also reports of a 12 hour maximum.

 

In any case, you will still need to collect the bags at DFW to process through USA customs.  Whether you will be able to drop them off for AA to keep overnight is unknown,as I can't seem to find the specifics on the AA website.

[CruiserBruce]

7 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

There are reports that AA has a policy of a 16.5 hours maximum for connecting bags.  There are also reports of a 12 hour maximum.

 

In any case, you will still need to collect the bags at DFW to process through USA customs.  Whether you will be able to drop them off for AA to keep overnight is unknown,as I can't seem to find the specifics on the AA website.

I didn't comment because it sounds like the traveler is "in transit", ending at MRY. Does someone in transit have to clear Customs, or just do a passport check?

 

Of course, if I was in transit that long, I would be looking for an airport hotel. Then I might have to claim my luggage and clear Customs as well. Global Entry saves the day. 

[6rugrats]

You always have to pick up your bag, and clear customs at your first point of entry to the US, unless you’ve arrived from an airport with US preclearance.

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

I didn't comment because it sounds like the traveler is "in transit", ending at MRY. Does someone in transit have to clear Customs, or just do a passport check?

 

First immigration, then customs after you claim your luggage.  Unless you have, as 6rugrats noted, come from a pre-clearance airport.  Which is not the case with LHR.

 

If your bag has been through-checked, you then drop off the bags at the bag drop outside the secure customs area.

 

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

Of course, if I was in transit that long, I would be looking for an airport hotel. Then I might have to claim my luggage and clear Customs as well. Global Entry saves the day. 

 

GE has no bearing on your need to clear or not clear immigration & customs procedures.

 

MANY moons ago, there was a sterile transit area at MIA that allowed Iberia passengers to make transit connections without going through USA immigration/customs.  But that was dismantled by US govt edict - and that ended the Iberia "mini-hub" that they used for many connections into Latin America.

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

I didn't comment because it sounds like the traveler is "in transit", ending at MRY. Does someone in transit have to clear Customs, or just do a passport check?

 

First immigration, then customs after you claim your luggage.  Unless you have, as 6rugrats noted, come from a pre-clearance airport.  Which is not the case with LHR.

 

If your bag has been through-checked, you then drop off the bags at the bag drop outside the secure customs area.

 

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

Of course, if I was in transit that long, I would be looking for an airport hotel. Then I might have to claim my luggage and clear Customs as well. Global Entry saves the day. 

 

GE has no bearing on your need to clear or not clear immigration & customs procedures.

 

MANY moons ago, there was a sterile transit area at MIA that allowed Iberia passengers to make transit connections without going through USA immigration/customs.  But that was dismantled by US govt edict - and that ended the Iberia "mini-hub" that they used for many connections into Latin America.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

2 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

GE has no bearing on your need to clear or not clear immigration & customs procedures.

 

I didn't say it did. I simply meant it would make the process faster and easier.

[FlyerTalker]

3 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

I didn't say it did. I simply meant it would make the process faster and easier.

 

Just clarifying for those who may be reading.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

And my confusion was I was thinking that the OP was asking about Monterey Mexico,  not Monterey California. That is the basis for my "in transit" comments. Does that change the baggage forwarding situation?

 

I am very aware one needs to go through Immigration and Customs at the first US soil touch, except for pre clearance airports. My error on that confusion. 

[gerelmx]

From my experience in an international to international connection, the bags go directly, from an international connection to domestic (USA) the bags do have to go through customs, but in this case the international to international connection is at night and lasts 15 hours.

 

Thanks to everyone for your replies

[CruiserBruce]

19 minutes ago, gerelmx said:

From my experience in an international to international connection, the bags go directly, from an international connection to domestic (USA) the bags do have to go through customs, but in this case the international to international connection is at night and lasts 15 hours.

 

Thanks to everyone for your replies

Thank you for the clarification...it was MTY in Mexico!!

[FlyerTalker]

21 hours ago, gerelmx said:

From my experience in an international to international connection, the bags go directly, from an international connection to domestic (USA) the bags do have to go through customs, but in this case the international to international connection is at night and lasts 15 hours.

 

Not completely correct.

 

In many airport around the world, an international to international connection does provide for a transfer of bags without the involvement of the passenger.

 

However, in the USA, even for international to international, you still must go through US immigrations and US customs.  So Mexico to London via a connection in Dallas, regardless of the length of the connection, requires that all passengers be processed through C&I.  And the same with the reverse.

 

 

[Globaliser]

50 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

Not completely correct.

 

In many airport around the world, an international to international connection does provide for a transfer of bags without the involvement of the passenger.

 

However, in the USA, even for international to international, you still must go through US immigrations and US customs.  So Mexico to London via a connection in Dallas, regardless of the length of the connection, requires that all passengers be processed through C&I.  And the same with the reverse.

 

So what's happened to the arrangement at MIA, by which ITI transfer bags were automatically transferred to the next flight without the passenger having to collect them? The passenger still had to clear inbound immigration and customs and then be security-cleared, but they didn't have to wait for their bags.

 

(For clarity, this was different from the sin-bin arrangement that you mentioned earlier, which was truly horrible.)

 

IIRC, there may have been a complexity along the lines that AA-->AA ITI transfer bags didn't fall within this arrangement, but it's been a long time since I last arrived in MIA so I can't now remember.

[FlyerTalker]

3 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

So what's happened to the arrangement at MIA, by which ITI transfer bags were automatically transferred to the next flight without the passenger having to collect them? The passenger still had to clear inbound immigration and customs and then be security-cleared, but they didn't have to wait for their bags.

 

No...it was a completely sterile transfer facility.  The connecting pax never left the connection area, so there was no immigration processing.  Like an international connect at LHR or an extra-Schengen to extra-Schengen at AMS or FRA - you never actually "entered" the USA, you truly were "in transit".

 

It was unique in the USA, as I can't think of another one like it.  And it was solely for Iberia to Iberia connections, and I think that IB paid for the cost of the facility.

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, FlyerTalker said:

No...it was a completely sterile transfer facility.  The connecting pax never left the connection area, so there was no immigration processing.  Like an international connect at LHR or an extra-Schengen to extra-Schengen at AMS or FRA - you never actually "entered" the USA, you truly were "in transit".

 

It was unique in the USA, as I can't think of another one like it.  And it was solely for Iberia to Iberia connections, and I think that IB paid for the cost of the facility.

 

Yes, I know about the sin bin. I actually used it for an AA-->AA once, but that was back in the mid-1990s.

 

But MIA had another arrangement, where ITI bags would go through without having to be collected by the pax, even though the pax still had to clear immigration, customs and security. I remember this being in operation in the mid-2000s to mid-2010s. Has this been withdrawn?

[FlyerTalker]

23 hours ago, Globaliser said:

Yes, I know about the sin bin. I actually used it for an AA-->AA once, but that was back in the mid-1990s.

 

But MIA had another arrangement, where ITI bags would go through without having to be collected by the pax, even though the pax still had to clear immigration, customs and security. I remember this being in operation in the mid-2000s to mid-2010s. Has this been withdrawn?

 

Yes.  All bags must now be retrieved and processed.

[zdcatc12]

On 5/7/2023 at 11:43 AM, FlyerTalker said:

It was unique in the USA, as I can't think of another one like it.  And it was solely for Iberia to Iberia connections, and I think that IB paid for the cost of the facility.

DFW had one in the 90s-00s, I believe was the time frame. These were the highest numbered gates in the 2E (now A) terminal, right before the moving sidewalks that connect to what is now C. I believe that there were three or four gates, connected to each other, enclosed with glass walls. I believe the frames for the walls are still there, though they probably got rid of them during the terminal A reno.