colleenk

I made a reservation to fly to Edinburgh thru London in Sept. I got a good price but after I booked it, realized that I really needed to go to Aberdeen. I cannot change the tickets without incurring a large penalty. So my question is-when flying to London from US with a change of airlines in London, do you pick up your own bags and proceed thru customs to the next airline-or does the orginal airline transfer your bags to the connecting airline and you go thru customs at your end destination? If I can get my bags in London then I could opt for an alternative way to Aberdeen (or elsewhere should I choose) and just not use my London to Edinburgh tickets. Is this a possibility?
colleenk

kaudrey

Well, if I understand you correctly, your luggage will go automatically to Edinburgh. This is assuming that you bought a round trip ticket from US to Edinburgh with a stopover in London that happens to change airlines.

The only way you would have to (or be able to) pick up your luggage in London is if you bought R/T ticket to London, and then separately bought a R/T ticket on a different airline from London to Edinburgh (because the first airline wouldn't know you did this - so they'd give your luggage back).

Since I assume you did the first choice, I think you are stuck. Sorry.

mclaurie

I'm not sure I agree with Kaudrey. With heightened security, airlines want to make sure bags don't travel without passengers, so I think you'd have to retrieve bags in London, particularly switching to a different airline.
That issue aside, I'm not sure it makes any difference. If you're prepared to "lose" the second leg of your trip, I think that should be your choice. Just tell them when you check in you only want bags checked to London.

Derek

If you miss the London to Edinburgh flight, some airlines may cancel you remaining portion of your reservation. If you ask the airline, they often make a note in your reservation record which makes it difficult for you.

Before you permanently change anything, look in the internet about how to travel between Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

colleenk

Thanks for your thoughts. I am hoping kaudrey is right. Anyone else have experience with continuing on from London (not a stopover), switching airlines thru the orginal booking and being able to get their bags in London?

colleenk

Meant to say I hope kaudry is incorrect. Didn't think about the possibility of the airline cancelling the return ticket home to the States-can they really do this if you have a paper ticket in hand?

jody

Yes, they can cancel if you don't do a portion of your trip. Doesn;'t matter if paper or e-ticket. Why don't you just fly to Edinburgh, then take alternate transport to Aberdeen. They are not that far apart.

colleenk

Thanks, Jody that's what we'll probably end up doing if losing the last leg puts the return trip in jeporady. It's a little more complicated because I was also trying to find an inexpensive way to get to Norway for a side trip which I can do from London without backtracking from Aberdeen. Oh well!

Ann41

I always connect through London to Belfast, and my luggage has always been transferred automatically--UNTIL my last trip. What a nightmare. I flew Virgin, and we were told at Dulles that Virgin no longer transfers luggage to Belfast, and that we would have to pick up the luggage in London. Our connection was tight (just two hours), so we talked the desk person into giving us a fast track ticket for immigration. Good thing we did, as our flight was delayed (for no apparent reason). We literally ran through Heathrow, and got to baggage claim. While my husband waited for our luggage, I went to the Virgin desk and asked if they could check on our luggage. I was told that it had been checked through and to go directly to the gate, and that she had no idea why we were told it wouldn't be checked through. By this point, the flight basically had closed, but British Midland opened it up for us. However, when we got to Belfast, we discovered that our luggage was still in London!

We got our luggage later that night, but what a hassle. So now I have no idea what to believe on luggage transfer. British Midland transferred our luggage without question on the return leg.