Luggage Transferred For Europe Flight?

[KAYEF]

Princess is flying us from Portland, Oregon to Dulles via United and then on Austrian Air to Vienna and on to Barcelona.

Will our luggage be transferred by United to Austrian or will we be expected to claim it and then check it onto Austrian Air ourselves?:confused:

Any advice or reassurance would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Keith1010]

Your best bet is to contact United Airines as this is the first airline for your leg. They can look up how your ticket was set up and let you know if they can do the check in for you in Portland to allow your bags to go all the way through. All of this is based on how the tickets were prepared and the agreements that the airlines have with one another.

 

We recenlty flew to Copehagen using American Airlines and Swissair. Whether or not our luggage was checked through all the way was based on how I ordered the tickets in the first place. Knowing this I did this so that I could have them checked in all the way but to do this I had to get paper tickets based on the type of agreement that American and Swissair had in place.

 

In short, if you have now been ticketed by Princess just call United so they can look up your information.

 

Keith

[Globaliser]

Princess is flying us from Portland, Oregon to Dulles via United and then on Austrian Air to Vienna and on to Barcelona.

Will our luggage be transferred by United to Austrian or will we be expected to claim it and then check it onto Austrian Air ourselves?

Keith's advice is good. If you are travelling on a single ticket that covers both airlines and all three sectors, both transfers should be done automatically. But if the travel is split across two tickets, then whether one airline will transfer to the other airline will depend on airline policies.

[Cruisergal1208]

I have been told by the airlines that we have to claim our luggage and recheck it with the same airline for the connecting flight when we fly from JFK to Milan to Barcelona. Since Milan is our first stop after leaving the US, that is where we have to reclaim and recheck. They said it is done in the first place of arrival if continuning on to another city or country. We would not be able to check luggage all the way from JFK to Barcelona.

[FlyerTalker]

I have been told by the airlines

Which one(s)??

that we have to claim our luggage and recheck it with the same airline for the connecting flight when we fly from JFK to Milan to Barcelona. Since Milan is our first stop after leaving the US, that is where we have to reclaim and recheck. They said it is done in the first place of arrival if continuning on to another city or country. We would not be able to check luggage all the way from JFK to Barcelona.

Look back at Keith's and Globaliser's posts. They spell out that it's a matter of how the connecting tickets were issued. Since you say it is the same airline, I tend to disbelieve what you aver that they are saying. I would assume you are flying on Alitalia for both legs, as they are the only people I know of that service both JFK-MXP and MXP-BCN. Perhaps it was a language issue.

 

Now, on the return TO the USA, all passengers must clear customs and immigration at the first point of arrival in the USA. In that case, you would have to do your formalities at JFK, and redeposit your luggage after customs at the recheck desk just outside the customs area, for the flight(s) to your final destination.

 

I think you got information confused between the two directions of your trip, which have different rules applicable to each.

[KLLund]

At least you are leaving from Portland .. so there will be lots of help at the airport (great airport).. But i would call your carrier and ask the same question ahead of time.

 

We are leaving from Portland in a couple weeks and flying to Canada and then on to Japan and I still don't have a handle on how we do immigration and where .. so I am calling Air Canada again tomorrow and if I don't really know at that point I am going to drive to the airport and ask a PERSON!!!!!!!!!

[Globaliser]

I have been told by the airlines that we have to claim our luggage and recheck it with the same airline for the connecting flight when we fly from JFK to Milan to Barcelona. Since Milan is our first stop after leaving the US, that is where we have to reclaim and recheck. They said it is done in the first place of arrival if continuning on to another city or country. We would not be able to check luggage all the way from JFK to Barcelona.

If you're flying on the same airline and on one ticket for the journey, I think this is likely to be incorrect.

 

You will clear immigration at Milan, because that is where you enter the Schengen common immigration area. You do not clear immigration again at Barcelona because the Milan-Barcelona flight is "domestic" for immigration purposes; there is no immigration border between those two cities.

 

Similarly, there is no customs border between any EU countries. But EU customs regulations normally permit uncleared baggage to be transferred directly at the entry point; your baggage will clear customs at Barcelona where it may well be delivered at a special carousel for baggage that has not yet cleared customs.

 

What you were told is correct for a flight from Europe to the US, connecting to a domestic flight within the US. If an airline agent in the US told you this, it'll probably be yet another example of the depressing tendency of some agents to assume that just because that's how it's done in the US, that's how it's done everywhere.

[KAYEF]

Well, I called United (geez, I hate that electronic man on the 'phone:eek: ) and was informed that United and Austrian are "partners" and that we won't see or touch our luggage until we (HOPEFULLY;) ) claim it in Barcelona.

So, everyone put a positive thought in that it will make all three legs of the flight

OR you may get tired of seeing us in the same clothes every day.:p

Thanks for the help.

[kruzin']

:) traveling a similar itinerary ...did all go as stated...did you get frm your starting point to Barcelona without having to retrieve you luggage?..we are doing wash to vienna to rome on austrian air lines and are curious -quote=KAYEF;7892929]Well, I called United (geez, I hate that electronic man on the 'phone:eek: ) and was informed that United and Austrian are "partners" and that we won't see or touch our luggage until we (HOPEFULLY;) ) claim it in Barcelona.

So, everyone put a positive thought in that it will make all three legs of the flight

OR you may get tired of seeing us in the same clothes every day.:p

Thanks for the help.