Clearing customs in the U.S. with onward connection

stoneman

Now I have been traveling internationally for some years, and the golden rule is that when flying from the UK to the US you have to clear customs at your first port of call even if you have an onward connection on the same ticket (or not, unless you pre-clear in Dublin).
So my dismay while doing online chat to a Virgin America agent trying to find out how to pay for luggage on a flight to LAS from LAX, which went like this


Wendy: Hello stoneman. It's a great day to Elevate when you fly the Virgin America way. Please visit our new Elevate Fly Store at; https://flystore.virginamerica.com Thank you for visiting our website. I will be happy to assist you.

stoneman: i am about to book some flights but can not find how to add baggage to the price

Wendy: You do not add baggage during the booking process. Baggage can only be added during check in. You can check in either online 24-hours prior to departure or at the airport on the day of departure.

stoneman: ok thanks, we are coming in from london on Virgin to lax so will have 3 checkin bags with us, we are heading to las

Wendy: You are very welcome. Are you connecting with our flight on the same day?

stoneman: yes

Wendy: Once you check your baggage with Virgin Atlantic, let them know about our flight and they can tag your baggage all the way through so you won't have to touch your baggage again until you reach Vegas.

stoneman: i am not sure that is correct, you need to clear customs at your first port of entry which will be lax

Wendy: Yes, that is correct. The baggage will go through a check as well but you should not have to touch it again until you reach Vegas. They are an interline partner and we do it all the time.

stoneman: i know that when we leave the us we can ticket our bags straight through to london, but on entry to the us we have to present ourselves to customs with our bags, then we have to take them to a transit place, we do this all the time as well, unless virgin have a special agreement with TSA

Wendy: Virgin America and our airline partners have teamed together to create a seamless travel experience for guests connecting from international destinations to or from the United States. Through our "interline" agreements with these partners, with a purchased through fare from the partner airline or a travel agent, your baggage will be automatically transferred from one flight to the next.

stoneman: ok, if you are sure

silvercar

Would be good but not sure it happens. Maybe their definition of "touch" is an Americanism.

We changed in Huston and the check in girl said we could have had our bags tagged to our final destination but would still have had to collect them and deposit in bag drop at Huston.

So your bags may not need to be "touched" as in messed around with/ luggage tags changed but they would still need to be moved.

johnmcga

Yeah, that does not sound right at all.

Every time I've connected like this in the US, I've had to pick my bags up at the first US airport I arrive in and clear customs.

There's usually then a badly-signposted, poorly-located connecting flights conveyor belt to dump my case on. And then it generally seems to make its way to the right final destination.

I don't think I've ever had to check my bag in with a new baggage sticker or anything, but I've always had to collect my bag and then drop it off again.

photome

Stoneman, like you, I think its wrong, of course that doesnt help you with your original question

callum9999

photome wrote: »

Stoneman, like you, I think its wrong, of course that doesnt help you with your original question

It says you pay at check-in. Though how Virgin Atlantic know you've paid, and therefore know whether they can interline the bag or not, I have no idea!

My guess would be that they will need to check-in online for their Virgin America flight before they drop their bags off in London, make sure they tag the bags all the way through to Las Vegas, pick them up in LAX and go through customs, drop them off at the baggage transfer belt and then make their way to the plane.

EDIT: Though now I've said that, the Virgin America website says you can prepay online but also that it must be paid in person at the airport in the same paragraph...