Please walk me thru checking in to a connecting flight

[CdnDisneyFan]

Hi all,

My friend and I are headed to Nashville in June, and since Southwest's dingdangity schedule is STILL at May 10th, we are considering flying Continental, and they have a great rate with a connection in Cleveland.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I've flown nothing but non stop flights for the past few times, can someone PLEASE walk me thru a check in for a connecting flight? It'd be greatly appreciated!

Thanks bunches,

Jules

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, I've flown nothing but non stop flights for the past few times, can someone PLEASE walk me thru a check in for a connecting flight?

Normally, here's how it goes...

1. At your originating airport: Check in just as if you were flying on a nonstop. You'll check your bags through to your final destination. You'll get two boarding passes per passenger, one for each of your two flight segments.
2. At your connecting airport: When you exit from the aircraft, look for monitors with departure gate information. Go to the departure gate for your next flight segment. You should not have to go through security again because your arrival gate and your departure gate are typically both within the same secure area. Ideally, you'll have time for a meal.
3. At your destination airport: Go to baggage claim, just as if you had flown in on a nonstop.

There are three down-sides to connections:

• Connections often add 3 or 4 hours to your total travel time for the day, even if the time on the ground at the connecting airport is only 1 or 2 hours.
• If you miss a connecting segment because your first segment is delayed, your arrival at your destination can be substantially delayed. (The next flight to your destination could be 6 hours later, and it could already be sold out.)
• Connections increase the chance of luggage delays. If your first flight is delayed, you might still make it onto your second segment -- but that doesn't always mean your bags will make it too.

 

[Disney Daniel]

Should be a fairly easy process for you. I assume you will be departing from Pearson so you will be flying out of Terminal 3 with Continental. When you check in at Pearson you will receive your boarding pass for both flights and you should clear US Customs in Toronto. You will then put your bags on a conveyor belt and will not see them again until you are in Nashville. You will cross through security, board your flight, land in Cleveland, where you will still be in the secured area. As you (most likely) will have cleared customs in Canada, your experience will be much like a domestic traveler, and you can simply find your departing gate, board, and land in Nashville.

The process will work the same way coming back to Canada, you will go through the normal airport security screening in Nashville, connect in Cleveland, and pass through Canadian customs back in Toronto. (I have had some agents try to tell me that I would complete Canadian Customs when I check in at the US airport, this will not happen, and your Canadian Customs inspection will take place in Canada).

Enjoy!

 

[CdnDisneyFan]

Actually Disney Daniel, we'll be flying out of DTW, it's too much of a hassle and cost to get a shuttle to Toronto when the airport in Detroit is so much closer, but thanks for the heads up.


Thanks for the help Horace, we're leaving early in the morning, and our flight gets us to Nashville at 9:49, so with a 2 hour layover in Cleveland, we can grab a bite to eat, and hope that the flight isn't delayed or anything.

Jules

 

[Lewisc]

As usual HH had a well written post.
1) When you get off the plane look at the board (computer screen). Does your airline have an earlier flight? Maybe one that's in the final boarding process. Maybe a flight that was delayed. Run to the gate and see if they'll let you fly standby, without an extra charge. Works great if you're using DME. This won't work if you have checked luggage and aren't using DME. You'll have to get yoru own bags when your original flight arrives.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

As usual HH had a well written post.
1) When you get off the plane look at the board (computer screen). Does your airline have an earlier flight? Maybe one that's in the final boarding process. Maybe a flight that was delayed. Run to the gate and see if they'll let you fly standby, for free. Works great if you're using DME. This won't work if you have checked luggage and aren't using DME. You'll have to get yoru own bags when your original flight arrives.

Excellent point! Especially of you're connecting onto a route with frequent service (such as Delta between ATL and ORD or American between DFW and ORD), you may be able to catch an earlier connecting flight.

And, as Lewisc noted, whether or not you and your luggage are on the same flight, your luggage will be delivered to your room -- if you apply the yellow DME luggage tags before you check your bags at your home airport. That's another big advantage of DME.

 

[CdnDisneyFan]

As usual HH had a well written post.
1) When you get off the plane look at the board (computer screen). Does your airline have an earlier flight? Maybe one that's in the final boarding process. Maybe a flight that was delayed. Run to the gate and see if they'll let you fly standby, without an extra charge. Works great if you're using DME. This won't work if you have checked luggage and aren't using DME. You'll have to get yoru own bags when your original flight arrives.

LOL, it would help if I was going to Disney, but I'm flying to Nashville, and I figured this would be the best place to ask my question. I thought I had made it clear enough in my original post about my destination. I WISH I were going to Disney, but that's not till Nov 08, and most likely be flying SW!

Thanks for the heads up tho!

Jules

 

[RachelEllen]

As usual HH had a well written post.
1) When you get off the plane look at the board (computer screen). Does your airline have an earlier flight? Maybe one that's in the final boarding process. Maybe a flight that was delayed. Run to the gate and see if they'll let you fly standby, without an extra charge. Works great if you're using DME. This won't work if you have checked luggage and aren't using DME. You'll have to get yoru own bags when your original flight arrives.

I've noticed lately that you cannot do this if you have any luggage checked at all. Airlines don't care if you are separated from your luggage because of thier actions. But, for security reasons, you cannot purposefully separate yourself from your luggage.

 

[Cruisin]

Thanks for the information about connecting flights.

I have never done it before and was wondering exactly how it worked.

Now I know.

 

[Werner Weiss]

I've noticed lately that you cannot do this if you have any luggage checked at all. Airlines don't care if you are separated from your luggage because of thier actions. But, for security reasons, you cannot purposefully separate yourself from your luggage.

I see airlines allowing passengers with checked luggage to volunteer to be bumped, and I see airlines allowing passengers with checked luggage to stand by for earlier flights.

The airline then has the option of moving the passenger's checked bags to the passenger's new flight or leaving them on the passenger's original flight.

For a while, there was a rule that a passenger and that passenger's bags had to be on the same flight. That rule has been relaxed now that all checked bags are x-rayed and are subject to additional inspection.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

LOL, it would help if I was going to Disney, but I'm flying to Nashville, and I figured this would be the best place to ask my question. I thought I had made it clear enough in my original post about my destination.

Although your specific question involved Nashville, threads such as this one are read by many people. So it's likely that this thread is being read by people with connecting flights to Orlando for WDW vacations. I thought Lewisc made a good point about how DME luggage delivery eliminates the problem of having to wait at the airport for a passenger's bags are still on that passenger's original fight.

 

[Lewisc]

You have it reversed. Now that all checked bags are screened the TSA allows passengers to be voluntarily seperated from their luggage.

Some airlines care, they got tired of responding to passengers who expected the airline to pay to send the bags to the passengers home or hotel.

I've noticed lately that you cannot do this if you have any luggage checked at all. Airlines don't care if you are separated from your luggage because of thier actions. But, for security reasons, you cannot purposefully separate yourself from your luggage.

 

[crashbb]

You have it reversed. Now that all checked bags are screened the TSA allows passengers to be voluntarily seperated from their luggage.

Some airlines care, they got tired of responding to passengers who expected the airline to pay to send the bags to the passengers home or hotel.

It must depend on the airline. I know that Air Canada will not allow you to volunteer to be bumped if you have checked luggage. Not sure about the stand-by thing.

 

[RachelEllen]

You have it reversed. Now that all checked bags are screened the TSA allows passengers to be voluntarily seperated from their luggage.

Some airlines care, they got tired of responding to passengers who expected the airline to pay to send the bags to the passengers home or hotel.

I definitely could have it wrong, but I don't think I have it backwards. I've just been in line between two people in the past 6 months who were attempting to stand-by on an earlier flight and were told pretty much what I related. That they were not allowed to 'volunteer' to go on a separate flight than their luggage for security reasons. But I can't claim this is an accross the board policy.

 

[Lewisc]

TSA allows passenger to voluntarily separate themselves from their luggage. This doesn't apply to international flights and might not apply during higher alert status.

In general it's an airline rule. Airlines got tired of passenger lying and insisting the airline never told them they'd have to get their luggage from the airport. I don't deny the airline might have told the passenger it was a security rule but it's not a government security rule.

I definitely could have it wrong, but I don't think I have it backwards. I've just been in line between two people in the past 6 months who were attempting to stand-by on an earlier flight and were told pretty much what I related. That they were not allowed to 'volunteer' to go on a separate flight than their luggage for security reasons. But I can't claim this is an accross the board policy.