DME & late flight HELP!!!

[rosiep]

I'm aware of the new policy: If you arrive after 10 pm you need to retrieve your own bag. I am due to arrive at 9:44 pm and would really like DME to handle my bags. I understand that if I don't get my bags, DME will STILL p/u my bags and deliver them in the morning.

Experiences wanted: Have you done this? Has your flt arrived late and did you leave your bags? If the timing was as close as mine is were the bags delivered that night or the next day? Will I have to call bell services the next day for my bags or will DME delver them?

Thanks

 

[Lewisc]

If your flight lands after 10p there is no official way to let DME get your bags and deliver them the next morning.

Unofficially bags that aren't picked up from the caroseul wind up in the unclaimed luggage office. DME picks up tagged bags from those offices. Occasionally an airline will "lose" bags. Generally those bags wind up on a later flight. At least some of those bags wind up on a flight that lands after 10p. In other words there has to be (and is) a system to get bags from the unclaimed luggage office to DME to WDW.

The only issue. Passengers with missing luggage are required to make a preliminary claim prior to leaving MCO. I don't know what would happen if a thief stole your luggage off the caroseul. I don't think that happens a lot but I suspect you'd be out of luck if that happened. As far as your airline is concerned your bag arrived at MCO and you left MCO without reporting the bag as being lost.

 

[rosiep]

I'm just wondering how close DME allows you to get to that 10pm mark. If my plan lands before that am I safe? Do they make the last sweep of the baggage area at 10pm? Will the DME desk know if my bags have been (or will be) gotten?

 

[Brian Noble]

If it were me, I'd tag the bags. If you arrive on time, you're good to go. If you arrive late, ask at the ME desk when you check in what you should do, and they'll direct you. As always, pack enough in your carry on to get through the first 24 hours of your trip.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

If your flight lands after 10p there is no official way to let DME get your bags and deliver them the next morning.

Unofficially bags that aren't picked up from the caroseul wind up in the unclaimed luggage office. DME picks up tagged bags from those offices. Occasionally an airline will "lose" bags. Generally those bags wind up on a later flight. At least some of those bags wind up on a flight that lands after 10p. In other words there has to be (and is) a system to get bags from the unclaimed luggage office to DME to WDW.

The only issue. Passengers with missing luggage are required to make a preliminary claim prior to leaving MCO. I don't know what would happen if a thief stole your luggage off the caroseul. I don't think that happens a lot but I suspect you'd be out of luck if that happened. As far as your airline is concerned your bag arrived at MCO and you left MCO without reporting the bag as being lost.

Is this right? If so, then thieves would have a heyday pulling luggage with DME tags off of the carousel!!! And NO ONE would use DME because almost everyone leaves MCO without knowing whether DME has all of their luggage or not - there's a 3 hour (?) allowance for DME to get your luggage to your room.

No, luggage with DME tags are set aside and do not make it onto the carousel.

Now, as for the OP - quite honestly, coming in that late I would NOT want DME to handle my bags. It's doubtful that you'd be heading to a park that night anyway, so why not just spend 20 minutes at the carousel and grab your bags? There was one trip in which our plane landed around 11 am and our bags didn't make it to our room until 1am the next day. They woke us up to deliver our luggage.

 

[Lewisc]

No, luggage with DME tags are set aside and do not make it onto the carousel.

DME luggage handling stops at 10p. It's my understanding the CM's who "set aside" the bags are off the clock. In other words there aren't any CMs working to pull the bags. Unclaimed bags wind up in the unclaimed luggage office.

 

[rosiep]

Thank you for the information... Brian I think that's exactly what I'll do. In fact I think I may even call DME after I deboard the plane to ask so that if I do need to pick up my bags I can do that before heading to the buses.

 

[puffkin]

We always arrive late. It is my understanding, and what I have witnessed, that after 10 pm, all bags come out on the carousel, even those with DME tags. We never tag ours since we always arrive late, but I saw plenty that were tagged.

On another carousel nearby, DME bags were circling and all passengers were gone. Someone was there collecting the bags and it appeared to be a DME employee (this was about midnight). Looks to me like they do collect them and hold them until morning. I do not like the idea of my bag being available for anyone to grab, so we never let DME move them except for the rare occassions we arrive earlier in the day.

 

[seashoreCM]

If it were me, I'd tag the bags. If you arrive on time, you're good to go. If you arrive late, ask at the ME desk when you check in what you should do, and they'll direct you. .

Safe to consider as cut and dry, hard and fast, rules:

1. Arriving after 10, go to the carousel first.

2. If you don't find your bags at a carousel then file a claim before leaving the area.

Now you may ask why. Because it may be a long walk back to the carousel from the welcoming area.

 

[Brian Noble]

Because it may be a long walk back to the carousel from the welcoming area.

Good point. We normally land B-Side, so that's not an issue for us, and I totally forgot about it. If you come in A-Side, it's a *loooong* walk.