We are looking at booking flights from Leeds Bradford airport (LBA) to Phoenix (PHX) travelling via Dublin (DUB) and Dallas Fort Worth (DFW). The connection in Dallas is a 15hrs 50minute overnight (when we will book a hotel and leave the airport). The flights will all be booked as one ticket through from Leeds to Phoenix.

The first two flights are Aer Lingus/Emerald with an American Airlines flight on to Phoenix.

We understand that we will clear US Immigration and customs in Dublin using their pre-clearance.

We thought that as we have got pre-clearance in Dublin that we will not have to collect our bags in Dallas nor go through immigration but when I have asked American Airlines they tell us we would have to collect our bags in Dallas.

Can anyone please help?

Because you have a long (almost 16 hour) overnight layover connection the airline requires you to claim and recheck your bags the following day in Dallas. Sorry, there's no way around that.

Since you don't say what time your inbound and outbound flights arrive/depart we can't tell if you'll actually have very much time to see or do something in Dallas. If most of your layover time in the evening/early morning hours and you don't actually have any meaningful sightseeing time you might want to consider staying at one of 2 hotels on Airport property, The Grand Hyatt is inside Terminal D, just steps away from the TSA Security Checkpoint and very convenient. There is a Sky Tram inside the secure area which links all terminals. Last time we stayed there we were able to get a TSA security Pass which allowed us to access the secure area of the terminal where there are more than 20 dining options (all the way from Fast Food Outlets to full service restaurants) and at least two dozen shops. There is also a Hyatt Regency located in a separate building near Terminal C.

For what it is worth there are a number of the usual chain hotels off airport property that are anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes away. Some have free shuttle service.

Welcome to Fodors. Not every AA (nor any airline customer service agent for that matter) has the rights answers. I'm 100% not sure because the only times I've flown out of DUB I was originating there so had my luggage, but I think you would not see your bags at DFW. This definitely sounds like a place to HUCA (hang up / call again).


It might not have anything to do with pre-clearance, but because of the length of your connection. AA's rule used to be 16 hours maximum lay over for bags to be checked through. Perhaps that has changed to 12 hours or something??

I might register on Flyertalk (same company as Fodors but you'd need a separate account). They know everything (EVERYTHING) about Air travel.

was posting the same time as RoamsAround . . . He's given you more details

I hope you have a long layover in Dublin. A couple of years ago, I had just over 2 hours in Dublin. I barely made my connecting flight because of that damn pre-clearance. I walked very fast across the airport, and my only stop was for the bathroom. The problem was the line at pre-clearance. Having Global Entry/TSA pre-check didn't help at all. I did ask the about Global Entry, and I was told that everyone goes through the same endless line. By the time I got through this process, I ran to my gate as they were already boarding.

As most of you know, with Global Entry you can sail through customs in the US, then TSA is much faster too. But unless things have changed in Dublin since 2023, pre-clearance isn't always good. But maybe I was there on a bad day. I hope it's better for you.

You’re right that Dublin pre-clearance handles immigration, but American is correct—you’ll still need to collect and recheck your bags in Dallas after the overnight since it’s your first entry point for luggage in the U.S. Pre-clearance just saves you from going through immigration again.

Emphasis mine:

That is incorrect. When landing at DFW it is just like a domestic arrival. Luggage would normally be through-checked and one does not see their bags until the final destination. It isn't like international arrivals from other non-pre-clearance airports where one has to claim and re-check bags. The issue here is not through checking -- it is the length of the layover which exceeds AA's maximum for through-checking. If they were say only 10 hours on the ground the OP wouldn't see their bags util PHX.

Adding to what I said above, the only good thing (for me) about pre-clearance was that when I landed at Washington Dulles, I did not have to get my bags and re-check them. Unlike the OP, I didn't have an overnight layover. Since I had already cleared customs and TSA back in Ireland, it was no different than arriving on a domestic flight. I simply got off the plane and went to my connecting flight.

I realize we've always been told you have to pick up your bags at your first point of entry in the US, but that's so you can take them through customs. Pre-clearance is US customs outside of the US. So if you go through pre-clearance, it's like you're already in the US. You do not have to pick up your bags and you do not have to re-clear TSA.

There's one thing I don't understand. Both this year and last year I had overnight layovers in London. Both times I checked my bag through to my home city in the US, and of course, I just took my carry on to the hotel in London. Back in 2019 I had an overnight layover in Frankfurt, and once again, my bag was checked to my home city. My layovers in London were over 16 hours. So I'm surprised the OP is being told this isn't possible. On these trips I was flying BA through London and Lufthansa through Frankfurt, so maybe their rules are different. I think it's worth asking upon check in.

That is usually airline specific. Some will through check bags for up to 24 hours , some 12, some 16, etc. Has little to do with whether it is an ovenight transit - it s the airlines's time limits.

. . . I personally wouldn't my luggage sitting is an airport luggage facility for 15 or 20 hours - that's for sure. But then again, I travel almost exclusively carry-on only so seldom have any issues.

I hope the OP will ask about this at check in, then post back and let us know how it turned out.