Baggage Check In??

[patm95]

I was watching a YouTube video of the riviera resort and the video pointed out a spot to check your bags for your flight at the resort. I’ve never heard of this. Is it still available??

 

[crvetter]

That video must have been a resort opening video. It stopped with Covid (maybe even a tiny bit before) and hasn’t come back.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I was watching a YouTube video of the riviera resort and the video pointed out a spot to check your bags for your flight at the resort. I’ve never heard of this. Is it still available??

Disney offered that service pre-Covid at all resorts. It was straight up magic for adults. They did not bring the service back when resorts reopened and the company they contracted with for it went out of business.

 

[gottalovepluto]

That video must have been a resort opening video. It stopped with Covid (maybe even a tiny bit before) and hasn’t come back.

With Covid. It was not on the chopping block prior to Covid.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Bags, Inc was the company Disney used for the resort airline check-in service. They are a national company that does baggage and valet services for all sorts of things - airlines, airports, hotels, etc. Disney still uses them for certain valet and bell services positions. For whatever reason (presumably the cost/benefit analysis in their view, or Bags was unable to fulfill their staffing requirements given the chaos of the time), Disney opted not to bring back the service after Covid.

I do miss it. But I don’t necessarily miss the long lines and occasional baggage pile up/chaos it would create during certain peak times.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Bags, Inc was the company Disney used for the resort airline check-in service. They are a national company that does baggage and valet services for all sorts of things - airlines, airports, hotels, etc. Disney still uses them for certain valet and bell services positions. For whatever reason (presumably the cost/benefit analysis in their view, or Bags was unable to fulfill their staffing requirements given the chaos of the time), Disney opted not to bring back the service after Covid.

I do miss it. But I don’t necessarily miss the long lines and occasional baggage pile up/chaos it would create during certain peak times.

Interesting, I’ve heard it repeated so often they went bankrupt I dug a touch. So it looks like RAC handled it run by Bags, Inc. Wonder if RAC was some sort of Bags Inc subsidiary and they put RAC in bankruptcy when Covid hit?

 

[Brian Noble]

I suspect it is just one of those things that Everyone On The Internet Knows.

 

[patm95]

That’s too bad. This would be such an awesome perk!!

 

[CarolynFH]

Within the last few years (after reopening) someone here on DISboards reported they were peripherally involved in setting up Magical Express and the Resort Airline Checkin, as a subcontractor for one of the components. They wrote a detailed post about the process, which was quite complicated. There were many moving parts, not the least of which was obtaining approvals from TSA. I got the impression that similar arrangements are not likely to be approved in future, even though Bags. Inc. still exists.

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Interesting, I’ve heard it repeated so often they went bankrupt I dug a touch. So it looks like RAC handled it run by Bags, Inc. Wonder if RAC was some sort of Bags Inc subsidiary and they put RAC in bankruptcy when Covid hit?

I’m not sure about that part - I thought resort airline check in was just the functional name and it was operated/staffed by Bags, Inc. They still advertise a resort airline check in service on their website. Bags, Inc. was bought by a public company - SP+ - in 2018. SP was taken private earlier this year by Metropolis, which looks like some kind of private equity shop.

No doubt the Bags, Inc. division was probably in terrible shape during Covid - being at the heart of the travel industry, their business (not just Disney) had to be in shambles, everyone laid off, etc. Who knows if they could have even fulfilled their contract with Disney if Disney had wanted them to. The ‘they went bankrupt’ comment got repeated constantly around here, but they’re very much still functioning. Our friends at Disney just decided to not pay for it and let us drag our own bags.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

I’m not sure about that part - I thought resort airline check in was just the functional name and it was operated/staffed by Bags, Inc. They still advertise a resort airline check in service on their website. Bags, Inc. was bought by a public company - SP+ - in 2018. SP was taken private earlier this year by Metropolis, which looks like some kind of private equity shop.

No doubt the Bags, Inc. division was probably in terrible shape during Covid - being at the heart of the travel industry, their business (not just Disney) had to be in shambles, everyone laid off, etc. Who knows if they could have even fulfilled their contract with Disney if Disney had wanted them to. The ‘they went bankrupt’ comment got repeated constantly around here, but they’re very much still functioning. Our friends at Disney just decided to not pay for it and let us drag our own bags.

Another consideration occurs to me. When the Resort Airline Check-in was initially offered, Bags, Inc. was also handling the luggage transfers from the airport to the resorts as part of the Magical Express service. That gave them the benefit of sending truckloads of carts loaded with luggage in both directions, so there was some economy of scale from their viewpoint. Without the airport-resort baggage transfers for Disney’s Magical Express guests, providing RAC service would necessarily be at a higher cost than the earlier operation. In any case, there is no interest on Disney’s part to incur these costs to provide a guest benefit that does not translate into increased revenue.