Flying to Hawaii with two different reservations

[MAYNARDS99]

I'm sure someone on here can help me regarding my checked bags. All of our flights are on Delta.

We have one ticket from Raleigh to Los Angeles. We have a second ticket, with a different confirmation number, leaving Los Angeles three hours later going to Hawaii.

Will Delta let us check our bags ALL THE WAY THROUGH from Raleigh to Hawaii, or must we pick the bags up at baggage claim in LA and recheck them for the flight to Hawaii? We do not have to pay for checked bags.

 

[Tara]

Yes you will have to go claim your bags, check them again and then clear security.

Another wrinkle- if your first flight is delayed or canceled you have no recourse for the second one. It will likely work out but you should be aware of the possibilities with this type of itinerary.

 

[MAYNARDS99]

Tara...Thanks! That's what I thought I would have to do. In regards to flight problems, I'm plan to purchase no exclusion travel insurance.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Well, you may or may not have to reclaim etc...

When you check in, skip the skycap and go to the counter. Stand in the line for a human (allow extra time for this) and then tell them what you did. They can, and may, merge your records. They don't have to so.. nice is good

If they do that they can check your luggage all the way which will save you a lot of time. LAX is not known for either efficient luggage delivery or efficient TSA checkpoints!

 

[tinka-belle]

If you are booked on the same airline (or a partner airline) you should be able to get your bags checked through to your final destination when you check in for your first leg. OP is correct to advise you to see a human at the check-in counter.

They should also be able to notate both records of the continuing flight, but this doesn't mean they actually merge them into one record. You still have two different flight reservations that still carry the same risk of not being accomodated on your connecting flight if one flight is late since they were not sold together as connecting.

 

[Lewisc]

You said you don't have to pay to check luggage. If for some reason Delta won't check your baggage through to Hawaii without payment PAY.

Your luggage must be fully checked 45 minutes before your flight (LAX).

Not a problem if your flight arrives on time, or early. An issue if your flight is delayed 30 minutes and a disaster if your flight is delayed much more then an hour.

I don't think Delta offers any N/S flights RDU-LAX. You'll have a real problem if you don't make your connection.

NO-EXCLUSION TRAVEL INSURANCE??? The benefit you're looking for is trip delay coverage. Either a flat dollar amount, actual expenses up to a maximum or actual expenses with a high limit are only paid if your delay exceeds a threshold. 3-6 hours is common with some bargain polices only paying if the delay is 12-24 hours. Your delay can be long enough to miss your flight from LAX but not long enough to be covered by travel insurance.

 

[SteveMouse]

And I'd read the language on trip delay VERY carefully- I wouldn't be surprised if there were exclusions based on interline transfers and/or different tickets such as your situation.

I'm thinking of a scenario where one would book a airline ticket into Miami arriving 4pm and a cruise leaving same day @ 5:30pm with an all aboard @ 5p.

Barely "doable" in the best of circumstances.

 

[MAYNARDS99]

Lewis...the connection at LAX is over four hours. Our flights from the East Coast are the first of the day. I plan to watch the on time performance and if it's poor we'll just do carry on. Thanks for the info that bags at LAX have to be checked in 45 minutes before, not 30.

 

[Lewisc]

Lewis...the connection at LAX is over four hours. Our flights from the East Coast are the first of the day. I plan to watch the on time performance and if it's poor we'll just do carry on. Thanks for the info that bags at LAX have to be checked in 45 minutes before, not 30.

leaving Los Angeles three hours later going to Hawaii.

What about your flight from RDU-LAX? Is there a stop or a connection? Pay to check luggage, if that's what it takes to have it checked through to Hawaii. Make sure your carryon luggage has enough stuff for a day or two in case your luggage doesn't make it.

I have no idea what happens if your luggage doesn't make it to LAX in time to make your flight to Hawaii.

 

[Laz]

I have another suggestion. Would you consider shipping your luggage early by UPS or something company similar? Ship it a day early and it will be waiting for you when you arrive at the hotel? These compaines may cost more that the baggage fee, but consider you may have to pay 2 baggage fees if you have to claim and recheck your luggage.

 

[Lewisc]

I have another suggestion. Would you consider shipping your luggage early by UPS or something company similar? Ship it a day early and it will be waiting for you when you arrive at the hotel? These compaines may cost more that the baggage fee, but consider you may have to pay 2 baggage fees if you have to claim and recheck your luggage.

The OP already said she doesn't have to pay to check her bags on Delta. I checked with FEDX. The price to ship 50 lbs is 170 (one way) for ground (6 business days). I don't know if it will go via ship or air on a space available basis.

You're suggesting shipping it a day early. Next day air is $318. The price assumes pick up and drop off at a Fedx location. I'm not sure how much extra to have it picked up at home and dropped off at the OPs hotel.

edited to add the OP is checking more then one bag. I'd be surprised if the OP is willing to spend that much money. I got the rates from the FEDX website. It's possible the OP has the availability of a discount. That said I don't think even a 50% discount would be enough to motivate me to think even once.

 

[alaska8]

I would call delta and have them merge both reservations into one. This will mean bags can be checked all the way thru to your final destination (plus makes it easier to track lost luggage and have luggage returned to your destination and not the mid point) Also if your flight is delayed or cancelled delta will know that that is not your destination and will be able to rebook and/or reroute (sometimes while you are in the air and haven't even arrived at the midpoint yet) ( if you wait, in this scenario, until you land and are able to talk to an agent you may run the risk of a full flight )

 

[MAYNARDS99]

Thank you all for the advice. I will post here how it all works out.

 

[happymommy]

If you decide to do just carry on bags, I can tell you from my experience that we've done that for several two week trips to Hawaii (we go every other year). And we stay in a condo. My kids also have their own rolling carry on bags, and they're used to it. We just bring what we need (you don't need much in Hawaii) like shorts, swim suits, a sundress for me, a pair of sandals, then buy our toiletries at the Super Target by our condo (in Kapolei, right next to the new Disney Aulani resort).

I liked the fact that I didn't have to worry about bags getting lost or late, and we also didn't have to wait at the luggage carousel.

We've shipped a box back a couple of times, and it wasn't expensive. I recall a fairly large one costing about $35 with USPS. Also we've shipped a small box for very little (flat rate box of jams we bought at the flea market). UPS is much more expensive than USPS is.

Hope you have a great trip! Remember, you don't need much in Hawaii!

 

[uva185]

This is actually very simple. Have a printed copy of your LAX-Hawaii reservation when you check in at RDU. See an agent and ask for your bags to be checked through to Hawaii and show them the copy of the reservation. I've done this across various airlines that did not even have any partnership agreements with each other, like AA and US. Never had a problem!

 

[QueenElinor]

If you decide to do just carry on bags, I can tell you from my experience that we've done that for several two week trips to Hawaii (we go every other year). And we stay in a condo. My kids also have their own rolling carry on bags, and they're used to it. We just bring what we need (you don't need much in Hawaii) like shorts, swim suits, a sundress for me, a pair of sandals, then buy our toiletries at the Super Target by our condo (in Kapolei, right next to the new Disney Aulani resort).

I liked the fact that I didn't have to worry about bags getting lost or late, and we also didn't have to wait at the luggage carousel.

Hope you have a great trip! Remember, you don't need much in Hawaii!

This is what we do, too. We've been to Hawaii many times and only take carry-ons. I think it helps the kids be more responsible. As you said, you don't need much, but then, we do this everywhere we go and it works out pretty well.

This is actually very simple. Have a printed copy of your LAX-Hawaii reservation when you check in at RDU. See an agent and ask for your bags to be checked through to Hawaii and show them the copy of the reservation. I've done this across various airlines that did not even have any partnership agreements with each other, like AA and US. Never had a problem!

Yes, we have also done this on separate airlines to Hawaii. I remember it well because we started out on an airline that did not charge extra for scuba gear (Frontier) and switched to one that did (Hawaiian). We checked the bags in Montana and they went all the way through with no extra fees.

The only time you actually HAVE to collect your bags in the middle of a trip is going through customs after an international flight. We almost missed our connecting flight last year because of this- the only reason we didn't was that by some miracle it was ALSO delayed!