I love credit cards so much! v6.0 - 2023 & 2024 (see first page for add'l details)

[jujubiee4]

Hi Im wondering if someone who is familiar with traveling internationally could help me with this question ASAP. We are flying back home in the morning from Rome to SanFran(SFO) then connecting to the next
flight to Southern Calif.

I have called repeatedly to ask United if we have to reclaim checked baggage then recheck clearing customs.
I have seen this on other travel forums especially cruises/reddit etc. But when i call United they said just walk
to the next gate and no you do not claim your bags until your final destination. I spoke with five different
agents but none seemed familiar with customs lol *When i first booked the tickets the agent told me bags
needed to be claimed but that was last year*

Anyone know? thank you

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Hi Im wondering if someone who is familiar with traveling internationally could help me with this question ASAP. We are flying back home in the morning from Rome to SanFran(SFO) then connecting to the next
flight to Southern Calif.

I have called repeatedly to ask United if we have to reclaim checked baggage then recheck clearing customs.
I have seen this on other travel forums especially cruises/reddit etc. But when i call United they said just walk
to the next gate and no you do not claim your bags until your final destination. I spoke with five different
agents but none seemed familiar with customs lol

Anyone know? thank you

If your flight is under one ticket, I think you do not need to collect luggage. A family member just flew Barcelona-Atlanta-Raleigh under one ticket on Delta and didn't have to collect luggage until final destination. Ask the check-in agent when you drop off your luggage to be sure.

 

[KPK02090]

Just booked Los Altos in Costa Rica for April 2025! It kept showing as an "Edit" hotel and Sold Out when I would try and book through the portal with my CSR. I decided to look using my CIP and it had plenty of availability! I ended up booking it with the 1.25/per point instead of 1.5 which was a difference of about $1k. Definitely a bit frustrating. I called Chase customer service to see if I could book with the CSR without the perks of an Edit hotel, but they just kept telling me it was sold out.

 

[KPK02090]

Now I need all the recommendations for activities to book in the Manuel Antonio area with three teens (13, 16, 17).

 

[GZanta77]

If your flight is under one ticket, I think you do not need to collect luggage. A family member just flew Barcelona-Atlanta-Raleigh under one ticket on Delta and didn't have to collect luggage until final destination. Ask the check-in agent when you drop off your luggage to be sure.

Hi Im wondering if someone who is familiar with traveling internationally could help me with this question ASAP. We are flying back home in the morning from Rome to SanFran(SFO) then connecting to the next
flight to Southern Calif.

I have called repeatedly to ask United if we have to reclaim checked baggage then recheck clearing customs.
I have seen this on other travel forums especially cruises/reddit etc. But when i call United they said just walk
to the next gate and no you do not claim your bags until your final destination. I spoke with five different
agents but none seemed familiar with customs lol *When i first booked the tickets the agent told me bags
needed to be claimed but that was last year*

Anyone know? thank you

This won't help your confusion, but unless something has changed very recently, then I believe you do have to collect luggage at your first point of entry, clear customs and then recheck it. They have special desks set up just outside customs where you give them your bags and they are sent to your connecting flight.

We had to do this as recently as April when flying from Panama - Atlanta - Boston all on one ticket with Delta.

 

[becauseimnew]

Hi Im wondering if someone who is familiar with traveling internationally could help me with this question ASAP. We are flying back home in the morning from Rome to SanFran(SFO) then connecting to the next
flight to Southern Calif.

I have called repeatedly to ask United if we have to reclaim checked baggage then recheck clearing customs.
I have seen this on other travel forums especially cruises/reddit etc. But when i call United they said just walk
to the next gate and no you do not claim your bags until your final destination. I spoke with five different
agents but none seemed familiar with customs lol *When i first booked the tickets the agent told me bags
needed to be claimed but that was last year*

Anyone know? thank you

At all the international airports I've come through bags need to be picked up before you go through passport patrol and customs. They will let you know, they are always people directing you to baggage claim before you can exit to passport control.

 

[jujubiee4]

This won't help your confusion, but unless something has changed very recently, then I believe you do have to collect luggage at your first point of entry, clear customs and then recheck it. They have special desks set up just outside customs where you give them your bags and they are sent to your connecting flight.

We had to do this as recently as April when flying from Panama - Atlanta - Boston all on one ticket with Delta.

Thanks everyone. I just spoke with another agent that stated yes you have to go through customs
at your 1st Domestic entry. We have an under 2 hours connection and I wouldn't have booked that
close had I known. We went to Rome several years ago and I don't remember having to recheck luggage.
But my husband just reminded me we flew nonstop up and back.

Worried that isnt enough time but fingers crossed. We all have global entry and mobile passport.
United just reassured me if we miss the connection they will put us on the next flight...the following
morning. Gee thanks. lol

 

[GZanta77]

Thanks everyone. I just spoke with another agent that stated yes you have to go through customs
at your 1st Domestic entry. We have an under 2 hours connection and I wouldn't have booked that
close had I known. We went to Rome several years ago and I don't remember having to recheck luggage.
But my husband just reminded me we flew nonstop up and back.

Worried that isnt enough time but fingers crossed. We all have global entry and mobile passport.
United just reassured me if we miss the connection they will put us on the next flight...the following
morning. Gee thanks. lol

I would hope that with GE that should be enough time. Safe travels.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Now I need all the recommendations for activities to book in the Manuel Antonio area with three teens (13, 16, 17).

My 15 yo said Manuel Antonio Park was his favorite, seeing the sloths especially. We used Manuel's Tours (booked through Chase portal) for a guided tour. Well worth it as they handle the tix but most importantly they have spotting scopes to see the birds and animals. We also did a private sail with AquaQuepos. We just did a sunset sail but they also have fishing excursions. We sailed a while, they anchored in a small cove and DH & DS did some snorkeling and swimming.
Other things we did in CR were tubing and zip lining, though not in Manuel Antonio you should be able to find something similar.

 

[CyndiLouWho]

Thanks everyone. I just spoke with another agent that stated yes you have to go through customs
at your 1st Domestic entry. We have an under 2 hours connection and I wouldn't have booked that
close had I known. We went to Rome several years ago and I don't remember having to recheck luggage.
But my husband just reminded me we flew nonstop up and back.

Worried that isnt enough time but fingers crossed. We all have global entry and mobile passport.
United just reassured me if we miss the connection they will put us on the next flight...the following
morning. Gee thanks. lol

Though not in SFO, with GE and PreCheck we have cleared customs in 10-15 minutes and gotten to our new gate in less than 30 minutes. Hopefully you'll be ok.

 

[mmmears]

Love Boston
with Bar Harbor you can do other coastal towns, Acadia, etc great weather in August!

DD spent a summer in Bar Harbor and she and her friends went to Acadia practically every weekend. She says it's just gorgeous. They also went and climbed Katahdin once.

Hi Im wondering if someone who is familiar with traveling internationally could help me with this question ASAP. We are flying back home in the morning from Rome to SanFran(SFO) then connecting to the next
flight to Southern Calif.

I have called repeatedly to ask United if we have to reclaim checked baggage then recheck clearing customs.
I have seen this on other travel forums especially cruises/reddit etc. But when i call United they said just walk
to the next gate and no you do not claim your bags until your final destination. I spoke with five different
agents but none seemed familiar with customs lol *When i first booked the tickets the agent told me bags
needed to be claimed but that was last year*

Anyone know? thank you

It's been years since I cleared customs with check in luggage, but I have cleared customs in SFO many times, including last month. I remember having to collect luggage in the past, but there is nowhere to do that in SFO. You kind of just get off the plane and go straight to customs, so I don't think you would need to get your luggage. Also it's been very quick and painless in the GE line. The regular line is another story entirely. I hope this helps.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Now I need all the recommendations for activities to book in the Manuel Antonio area with three teens (13, 16, 17).

We absolutely loved Nauyaca waterfalls, and it was an easy drive from MA.

 

[platamama]

Now I need all the recommendations for activities to book in the Manuel Antonio area with three teens (13, 16, 17).

We did something called the 10-in-1 Adventure and that remains my most favorite thing I've ever done in Costa Rica (in four trips there).

 

[wdwpluto]

Am I right in thinking that a 3 hour layover in LGW is not enough time for a self-transfer ticket (have to collect back and check in for next flight and presumably go through security). That seems tight to me.

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

I think we kind of want a bit of both worlds. We definitely would want to do Dollywood 1 or 2 days but also want to do a bit of hiking and the sky lifts. I don’t think we would do much besides Dollywood in Pigeon Forge. Anakeesta looks awesome and we would all love that. Ds still talks about the alpine coaster we did in Germany so the outdoor coasters would be right down his alley. We all tend to do better outside of crowded cities where ds can explore and slow down.

Do you think we should split our time between the two? Maybe when we’re at Dollywood stay right there and then move over to a cabin or something in Gatlinburg?

Sorry, I totally missed this! It sounds like maybe you guys should look for a cabin right around Gatlinburg. I know they have ones that are maybe 10 minutes from the main strip, but it's far enough away that you're in a peaceful "country" setting. You can get a nice mountain cabin and most of them have hot tubs on the patios/decks, so that's something your son might like too. Then you're not far from the entrance to the national park also. If you don't mind packing up and moving, obviously staying closer to PF those days you're at Dollywood is ideal. But if not, it's not that long of a drive to go from Gatlinburg to PF, maybe just morning traffic getting into the park would add a bit to it.

 

[Haley R]

Sorry, I totally missed this! It sounds like maybe you guys should look for a cabin right around Gatlinburg. I know they have ones that are maybe 10 minutes from the main strip, but it's far enough away that you're in a peaceful "country" setting. You can get a nice mountain cabin and most of them have hot tubs on the patios/decks, so that's something your son might like too. Then you're not far from the entrance to the national park also. If you don't mind packing up and moving, obviously staying closer to PF those days you're at Dollywood is ideal. But if not, it's not that long of a drive to go from Gatlinburg to PF, maybe just morning traffic getting into the park would add a bit to it.

Ds would love the hot tub! I’ve seen some cabins even have a heated indoor pool. Dh is trying to decide if he can take more work off this year since he just took so much off for Japan. If we go next year we may end up going in summer and dealing with the heat because I don’t really want to take ds out of kindergarten. I found out my sister in law took her kids last July staying in a cabin and she said they loved swimming in the creeks. I guess we will just have to plan for the heat if that happens

 

[Crazed4DisneyinSC]

Renting a car in Munich: can we use a regular US company like Budget / Alamo, etc? Or is it better to use a German company? Also, does the CSP cover primary insurance abroad? If not, we also have Amex rental protection that we can add on for $20 total, but not sure if that would cover abroad either...
Also, are roads in Germany crazy, ie. mountainous? We'd be driving to Austria (Salzburg) and Fussen to see the castles. But I hate steep, windy roads.

 

[Haley R]

Renting a car in Munich: can we use a regular US company like Budget / Alamo, etc? Or is it better to use a German company? Also, does the CSP cover primary insurance abroad? If not, we also have Amex rental protection that we can add on for $20 total, but also not sure if that would cover abroad...
Also, are roads in Germany crazy, ie. mountainous? We'd be driving to Austria (Salzburg) and Fussen to see the castles. But I hate steep, windy roads.

We rented our car from Hertz and I would never do that again. We waited in line for over an hour after landing in Munich. They took absolutely forever to help each person and it seemed like there were lots of issues. They gave our car away and the person at the desk was very unwilling to help us. They were very by the book and didn’t like to change things even though it was their fault. We eventually got a car but after a 9 hour flight that was not what we wanted to deal with. None of the other car rental lines seemed to be as long as Hertz was.

We didn’t think the roads were too bad. They are a little windy but not too steep. A lot of the ones near Fussen are one lane so we got stuck behind cars/campers going slow often and it was difficult to pass. Dh loved driving on the Autobahn

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

We rented our car from Hertz and I would never do that again. We waited in line for over an hour after landing in Munich. They took absolutely forever to help each person and it seemed like there were lots of issues. They gave our car away and the person at the desk was very unwilling to help us. They were very by the book and didn’t like to change things even though it was their fault. We eventually got a car but after a 9 hour flight that was not what we wanted to deal with. None of the other car rental lines seemed to be as long as Hertz was.

We didn’t think the roads were too bad. They are a little windy but not too steep. A lot of the ones near Fussen are one lane so we got stuck behind cars/campers going slow often and it was difficult to pass. Dh loved driving on the Autobahn

Yikes! We haven't had bad experiences with Hertz like we have with Budget, but I hear so many online that it gives me pause. Perhaps it is location specific? We try to rent electric cars whenever possible, and Hertz has consistently at least offered Teslas if not other options so that's why we have rented with them many times. Last times were Italy in November and Texas for the April eclipse, Teslas both times. Since that model is "guaranteed," I wonder if that's helped us avoid a situation where our car was given away?

Have two more reservations, a one-day rental from Anaheim and a weekend in Kansas City. Hopefully no issues... But I've noticed that other bands are starting to stock electric cars more and more so will start giving others a try.

 

[Haley R]

Yikes! We haven't had bad experiences with Hertz like we have with Budget, but I hear so many online that it gives me pause. Perhaps it is location specific? We try to rent electric cars whenever possible, and Hertz has consistently at least offered Teslas if not other options so that's why we have rented with them many times. Last times were Italy in November and Texas for the April eclipse, Teslas both times. Since that model is "guaranteed," I wonder if that's helped us avoid a situation where our car was given away?

Have two more reservations, a one-day rental from Anaheim and a weekend in Kansas City. Hopefully no issues... But I've noticed that other bands are starting to stock electric cars more and more so will start giving others a try.

That was our first time using Hertz but I would guess it’s Munich specifically. We normally rent with Avis because that’s who dh has status with through work. We recently rented a car in Orlando and our line was so much worse than the Hertz line.