Clearing Customs

Dan · June 6, 2006

Did you book the VCE-LGW as part of the same itinerary? I'm not certain that BA will check your luggage to LAX from VCE unless you are on a codeshare arrangement. In fact, you may have to do the customs thing in LGW as well, where you retreive your luggage and have to put it back in teh system afterwards. I'm pretty sure Heathrow has a sterile onward transit area, where you don't actually enter England, but not sure about Gatwick.

If the VCE-LGW leg is separate from the LGW-LAX itinerary, I can see you having to clear customs at LGW, go out and check-in again just as if you walked in off the street. I would check with AA to see if the VCE-LGW is a codeshare flight, or if it can be set up that way on your itinerary to allow you to check luggage and get boarding passes right at VCE all the way home.

If you can bring yourself to revisit the evil board, you could send a PM to greatam. She knows her AA stuff, since she flies them a couple hundred thousand miles a year.

zebra · June 6, 2006

Dan, we were on a code shared flight from Cape Town to Tampa. In Cape Town they tagged our bags right through to Tampa but told us even so that we had to pick up our bags at the "port of entry into the States", which was Atlanta - to check through customs before proceeding with the last leg of our flight. You don't recheck the bags, just reenter them on the beltway system after going through Customs as they are already tagged for the final destination. So code shared don't seem to make any difference - it's your port of entry that's the main criteria.

JoeyandDavid · June 6, 2006

If you can bring yourself to revisit the evil board, you could send a PM to greatam. She knows her AA stuff, since she flies them a couple hundred thousand miles a year.

Before I would do that I will call AA myself again....

Our flights take us from LAX to LHR on AA to BCN on BA operated by Iberia

The return is now VCE to LGW on BA the LGA to DFW on AA and DFW to LAX on AA

SKAOLboy · June 6, 2006

david here is the dept of homeland security customs wait time for international and domestic flights..... its one of those links you'll never throw away.

waittime.tsa.dhs.gov/xp/cgov/travel/wait_times/

info is updated every 5 mins.

JoeyandDavid · June 6, 2006

Nice link Skoalboy.....

BTW I am Joey ...(David never posts..take that back i got him to leave a ty message ONCE when everyone wished him well after surgury) just wanted you to know :wink:

Dan · June 6, 2006

I understand the re-entry to the US, whether codeshare or not. It's the transit in England that has me curious. They fly Venice to Gatwick on BA then Gatwick-Dallas-LA on AA. If the whole return flight isn't a codeshare on the same itinerary, I'm pretty sure they have to retrieve their luggage at LGW, clear British customs/immigration, and go right through the whole check-in process again. If it is codeshare, they likely have to clear customs with their luggage just as they will in Dallas, but they wouldn't have to go check-in again, since they should have been able to do that in Venice.

jbond · June 6, 2006

We have never had to clear customs in England on a change of flight at the same airport. We have landed at terminal 1 at LHR and transfered to terminal 4 for a different airline. We have always had our luggage transfered for us. The only time we have picked up our luggage is when we transfered airports, LHR to LGW. With the agreement between BA and AA I doubt you'll have to collect your luggage.

On your outbound leg, do you know which terminal AA leaves from at LHR?

We are on AA next week, LAX to LHR. I'll ask if you can check right through. It'll be a while before we get back, but well in time for your trip.

JoeyandDavid · June 6, 2006

thank you sir.. that would be terriffic......

On your outbound leg, do you know which terminal AA leaves from at LHR?

I was told by someone who is regarded as a knowledgeable person when it comes to London's airports, They said that we were to land at one and leave from another (terminals that is) but the distance between the two terminals was short in comparison to lets say changing terminals at DFW.. where you require a people mover.

So JBond any and all information will be greatly appreciated!

jbond · June 6, 2006

Changing terminals at LHR requires you getting on a bus. There are four terminals and there is about a five minute bus ride between each of them. LHR is much more spread out than DFW. The buses are really well organised and run every few minutes. You cannot walk between terminals like you can at DFW. I will certainly check it out for you.