[adrian]

Next week I'll be flying SYD-LAX on QF107, arriving in LAX at 6.40am ,and then departing sameday 5.50pm on BA282 from LAX-LHR.

I figured I would go out of the airport for the day to kill some time - hire a car or whatever.

I have a couple of questions I am hoping someone can help me with:

1. will QF in Sydney be able to check me all the way thru to LHR?

2. after I go thru customs & immigration in LAX, will I be able to check my bags straight back on for the BA flight, even though it is not until 11 hrs later, or will I have to carry the bags with me for the day.

3. If I wasn't able to checkin in Sydney for the LAX-LHR flight, will I be able to do it in the morning in LAX, before I leave the airport for the day?

4. Assuming I have checked in for my BA flight either in Sydney or LAX in the morning, how long should I leave myself to get thru security and whatever else for the evening BA flight?

Sorry for so many questions. Hope they make sense. Thanks

[Kiwi Flyer]

1. Should be able to but not guaranteed.

2. Only if bags already tagged through. Use the bag drop past customs.

3. No. BA will not have check in open until a few hours before the flight. (Whereas in Q1 you are remote checking in.)

4. Lots of flights from LAX TBIT terminal in the evening. If have to check in and deposit bag then I'd allow 2 hours. If already checked in then I'd allow 75 minutes.

[mabunji]

Originally Posted by adrian

3. If I wasn't able to checkin in Sydney for the LAX-LHR flight, will I be able to do it in the morning in LAX, before I leave the airport for the day?

Some years ago I attemped an early morning checkin for an evening flight on United (BOS/LHR). Not possible. The operator was not able to access details of the flight, allocate seats or issue luggage tags. He phoned his supervisor looking for a means of overriding the system and was told it could not be done. The reason give was that this far ahead of scheduled departure the airline had no certainty that the allocated aircraft would be available -the flight could be cancelled and I could be re-booked via another hub, or a change of aircraft type with a different seating configuration might render my boarding pass useless. The earliest I could check in was 4 hours prior.

This was United, but I would assume it is consistent with other carriers ?.

Hopefully you will be able to book the luggage through from Australia. No idea what options you have for left luggage in LAX. In Boston the only option was coin operated lockers (pretty useless as they only permitted a maximum of 4 hours). Post 9/11 I suspect you may have some issues leaving your luggage anywhere in LAX for a significant amount of time.

[NM]

It is important to note that the process of being checked-in for a flight and having your bags tagged to the final destination are not one and the same process. QF should be able to tag your bags through to LHR, even if they cannot check you in for the flight.

Even though the bags should be tagged to LHR, you will need to collect them at LAX for customs processing. When exiting the customs hall you can leave them with the TSA for screening and delivery to your next flight (so long as they are tagged to LHR).

So even if you don't have a boarding pass for the BA flight, don't be concerned. You will not be able to collect the BA boarding pass until about 3 hours before scheduled departure time, so go and enjoy your day and return to the airport in time to check-in (2 hours before departure is normally a good target). Note that BA will need to see the baggage check receipt so they can update the details in their system to know they have your bag on board.

If QF has been able to issue your boarding pass, then you only need to be back at the airport in time to clear security, and in my experience at LAX TBI, I would aiming for 1 hour before departure time.

[adrian]

Thanks for your help eveyone.

I didn't realise you could have the bags tagged to final destination, without having caheck in all the way through, so that really helps.