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Luggage and International Trips
MegaMan001
CRNARochester, MNRegistered User regular
CRNARochester, MNRegistered User regular
Tomorrow I'm taking the good woman out to Montego Bay, Jamaica for a week at a nice resort. We're flying from Boston to Philadelphia and then connecting from Philadelphia to Montego Bay. We're planning on checking two bags at Boston.
1) Do we have to get the bags once landing in Philadelphia and transport them to the flight that leaves for Jamaica? We're flying US Airways the entire way, no switching companies.
2) When do you end up going through customs? This is my first international trip.
1) Do we have to get the bags once landing in Philadelphia and transport them to the flight that leaves for Jamaica? We're flying US Airways the entire way, no switching companies.
2) When do you end up going through customs? This is my first international trip.
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1) Nope, the airline will handle the baggage.
2) When you land in montego bay.
More likely than not your luggage will be taken care of through the layover, so you shouldn't worry about it. If that's not the case, they'll definitely let you know at registration.
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Thanks @Darkwolfe for the tips on the carry-on. We'll have a little set of stuff to survive for a few days if we lose our luggage.
It could conceivably be slight overkill, but it's really easy to do, and if an emergency DOES happen, they'll know what you were supposed to be up to and can act accordingly. I've definitely done this every time I've been abroad (except going back and forth between Canada and the US because I'm doing that via a short ferry ride), so don't feel too silly about it!
And yeah, international travel is actually much simpler than everybody else thinks, so don't worry too much about it! You'll be fine as long as you don't try to smuggle anything through customs. But yeah, like any time you travel via air, have your necessities in your carry-on (although don't forget about the liquid/gel restrictions of course) in case something weird happens with your checked bag. One time, a long time ago, I actually had a checked bag get shredded because a strap got caught in a conveyer belt somewhere, soooo...
Go to most places: bags go right to your final destination, wait at baggage carousel, grab bag, determine if you have something to declare (probably not), walk out of airport
Returning to US: stand in line for passport check (making sure you're in the US citizen line), go through passport check, wait at baggage claim, grab bag, stand in line for customs, go through customs with fancy form filled out on plane, submit bags for connecting domestic flight, get to last airport, wait for bags at carousel again, walk out of airport
The only thing I'd be worried about is if you have a connecting domestic flight in the US on the way back, because - depending on your airport and how many international planes arrive at the same time - you may be in a time crunch actually getting set for your connecting flight. Usually there are plenty of airport personnel around to direct you wherever you may have to go.
Oh, this reminds me. If you can fit everything you want for the actual trip in carry-on, this leaves you with the possibility to either take or buy an empty piece of luggage to put souvenirs or what-nots in for the return.