AmericanAirlines Advanced Bag Check-in

[vmom]

It used to be that in the Port of Miami you could just bring your bags over to the AA building next to the RCCL baggage area and AA would check your bags for free and get them to the airport. By what I am reading I guess this is no longer possible? Sounds like you have to sign up for this either on ship or after you get your bags.

 

Just wanted to make sure, since last time we were in the Port of Miami (March 2004) you could bring them to the AA building and have them checked in for free.

[WhiteSoxFan]

Earlier this year when we did our Explorer cruise RCCL did not offer the Luggage Valet service but we used the pier check-in for $5 pp. I am trying to summerize all that I have read, if it is wrong please correct it.

 

Luggage Valet service offered by RCCL - for $10 pp they give you your boarding passes and luggage tags on the ship. You place the tags on your luggage and set it out the night before. After disembarking you collect your bags you take them to the AA counter and continue to the airport.

 

Pier Check-In - Place your bags out the night before. After disembarking you collect your bags and take them to the AA counter where they will tag your bags and print your boarding passes for $5 pp. You then continue to the airport.

 

If the above is correct the only thing you get by paying the extra $5 pp to RCCL is your boarding passes earlier an maybe you don't have to stand in line at the AA counter at the pier.

 

I'm not a cheapskate but I'll save the $5 and do everthing once I get off. As I said we did this in March and it was well worth it not to have to take the bags to the airport or stand in any lines at the airport (except security of coarse).

[redcat72]

I don't mind paying the fee, I just hope our bags won't be delayed or lost after getting home. I read one person got their bags late, anyone else have any troubles? We are on an AA non-stop flight, so hopefully it won't happen. We'll probably try this on our cruise next week!

[momofslg]

We TRIED to use this service in San Juan and what a crock!!! We paid $10.00 pp. We were the first group off the ship (group 1 called off at 8:50am)and when we got through customs(9:35am we had to wait for the customs agents to arrive to work) we proceeded to the AA check in and were told that the bus has already left for the airport and we would have to take our bags there ourselves. The rep then proceeded to remove all our preprinted airline tags off our bags and left. I was PI$$ED. I demanded a refund and a RCCL employee said she would take care of it. (We'll see if that actually happens)

We hauled all our bags to the airport and went up to the self check kiosk and then another problem... the airline already had us checked in and said we met our luggage allowance already... so we had to wait 30 minutes for the agent to sort things out.

We weren't the only ones this happened to. There were 3 other couples at the airport with the same problem as us. Hopefully the next cruise we take we can use this service.

~Lisa

[Murphy]

We did this last week when we got off the Freedom in Miami. It was $10 per person up to 2 bags per person. I thought it was FABULOUS! We did get to the airport about 8:30 and our flight wasn't until 1:40, but the 2 flights were overbooked so we wouldn't have been able to fly standby anyway. Our 1:40 flight had 65, YES 65 people on standby! How on earth can that happen! Anyway, at the port of Miami we went thru customs and immigration before we collected our bags (which was kind of weird that customs wasn't after we claimed our luggage) then you go to the baggage carousel area and the luggage carousels are like at the airport. We found our bags right away and rolled them about 50 ft to the AA check in. We didn't need a porter to drag them that far and we probably would have given the porter at least $5, but in my "justification" mind, the service really only cost us $15 and we avoided all the luggage checkin problems at the airport. We got our boarding passes delivered to our cabin the night before with some luggage tags (but not the AA luggage tags, just luggage tags stating we were flying out of MIA on AA). The AA agent scanned these and then applied the airline luggage tags.

Everything arrived home safe and sound!

[jdrow]

It used to be that in the Port of Miami you could just bring your bags over to the AA building next to the RCCL baggage area and AA would check your bags for free and get them to the airport. By what I am reading I guess this is no longer possible? Sounds like you have to sign up for this either on ship or after you get your bags.

 

Just wanted to make sure, since last time we were in the Port of Miami (March 2004) you could bring them to the AA building and have them checked in for free.

 

This is what we did this past January. There was a special check in for AA right there for no charge. We were at the airport by about 10:30 AM for a 1:30 flight to DC. Of course only half our luggage made it on the flight home for some reason and we didn't receive the rest of it until the next morning. Major pain.

[balanceok]

Is Valet service available in Fort Lauderdale, too?

[balanceok]

Is Valet service available in Fort Lauderdale, too?

[lizstas]

Don't always count on the valet service. We just sailed the Freedom with a group of 25. All 25 requested valet service and only 1 person was approved. All of us were booked on the same AA flight out of MIA to ORD. The cruiseline said that the airline determines who is approved and who is denied. We thought it was very strange. We had booked our own transportation through Miami Sunshine and fortuantely I was able to contact him early Sunday morning and he did come prepared with a trailer.

[KandMGIn]

Has anyone done this service AND had an RCCL excursion? We are doing the Everglades Airboat tour and don't have to be back to the airport until 4pm. I am sure the excursion will run from 9:30-1:30 ish or so. We hope to have enough time after we claim our bags to get them to the AA counter and get on the tour bus. Anyone done this?

[bartelbee]

KandMGIn--If you're on an RCCL excursion, you shouldn't need this service. You and your luggage should both go on the bus and they drop you (and your luggage) off at the airport when you are done.

[KandMGIn]

That is exactly the problem!!! We will be dropped at the airport around 1:30pm and do not need to be there until 4:00pm. We want to leave and go over to SoBe for a couple of hours and then return.

[msraye]

I used the valet service on Holland America on our Thanksgiving cruise and it worked like a charm.. $15 per person and WORTH IT!! We received boarding passes and tags the night before, put our bags out in time and saw them again when we arrived at the San Jose airport. they were the first off the carousel.

[audome78]

Does AA have this for cruises that leave out of San Pedro for the Mexican Rivera? (LAX is the departure airport for us)

 

As of last March, no...

[balanceok]

Yeah, but it is offered at Port Everglades for FLL departures????