napierlass

I have bagged us some cheap NZ flights from London to Auckland, however over halfway through booking she informed me that the only reason the flights were cheap is because we have to collect our luggage in L.A and get on the next flight (in 2.5 hours), surely with U.S.A customs etc, queing, baggage, check in it must be nearly impossible to accomplish this with 2 kids? I had no clue it was 2 seperate flights and that they wouldn't check our bags through to final destination ( until I was committed.) Has anyone done this journey recently please who can advise ♡

MrsFychan

no experience of this but what happens if the first flight is delayed??

surely if you were not aware of all the information you can cancel due to being mis sold the tickets.

We were delayed on our flight over and mentioned it to the cabin crew that we had a connecting flight to get. They were very helpful and let us off the plane first where we were met by a member of airport staff who guided us through all the checks and passport control points. Not US though.

napierlass

Air New Zealand were very helpful when our internal flight was delayed, but yes I agree...what if the flight is late or is queing to land then does it become our fault if we miss the next flight. It was quoted online as London to Auckland so it must be feasible. Or does it only work for those who know how to que jump....I dont see why they can't book our luggage through to Auckland. And yes the dreaded USA to topp it all off...what have I done!!

Blade Down Under

That is utter rubbish but then again not surprising for Air Joke Zealand. I cannot believe they are going to take your luggage off the plane in L.A and you have to check it in again. Seriously

If you are booked all the way through to Auckland, your tag should have AKL on it. It should go from NZ1 onto NZ5 as per your boarding car, not have LAX and then check it in again. It may have LAX and AKL but I'd be shocked if it's LAX only. I'd question this again, as this makes no sense whatsoever.

Also, you are only going to be in transit through Los Angeles. Given the US and their airport security, I'd be shocked if US immigration allows you to go through the arrivals section of LA and then check in again.

I wouldn't be surprised if what you say is true, but it doesn't make sense at all. However, given you have to pay $200 per journey extra to have baggage and a meal on a 8 hour flight to Perth, it doesn't surprise me the slightest. National Airline ran Ryan Air style.

simonmarkellis

Who did you book the flights with?

When i booked last year to go back to the UK I flew Air New Zealand to Auckland and then again Air New Zealand from Auckland. But as i had made two separate bookings to save money (about $1000), my baggage wasn't checked through, I had to collect from the domestic terminal and then re book in again at International. Apparently it was policy if separate bookings despite being the same carrier....

napierlass

Thankyou Simonmarkellis, I booked it over the phone with air newzealand, we were having problens with their website so they did it over the phone, basically she just casually said you'll have to collect your luggage in L.A and catch your connecting flight, yes it has saved us alot of money. But I didnt ask for 2 separate flights I was just informed of it during the booking process.
My concern really is that I have read L.A is a chaotic airport and am worried that there won't be enough time to make the connection, but surely they can't sell/advertise routes that are impossible so I guess it's just luck on the day with ques etc.
Thankyou for your help.

napierlass

I am going to question it again with them, as it seems ludicrous, why not make the luggage transfer for us. And once through arrivals we'd be pushing to make the check in, unless they somehow have us already booked in, in which case why cant they take the luggage and call it a through flight. I wonder if there are others on the same flight who perhaps paid more money and get the full service?

marooned5

We did it quite recently - the check out / check in again thing is a US customs requirement - apparently they don't trust other countries to check baggage!
When we did it, it was time consuming and I think 2 hours or so will be the minimum required. We wasted a lot of time being lost and not knowing which terminal to transfer to - if you are clear and download a map of the airport before you go, it should speed things up.
You have to get your fingerprints done and collect and transfer your baggage and check in again (check the seats you are allocated as you might get the crappy ones).
But as to delayed flights, Air NZ will still have to find a new flight if you miss the second leg, so no worries there.
It might be worth it for the price - but I would never transit through the States again, given the option....

Paulfb

If you look at the air new zealand site you will see the process explained for transiting LAX . Basically for NZ1/NZ5 you deplane from NZ1 go through US immigration collect bags go through Us customs and then before you exit into terminal you drop your bags at the connections desk where they will be put through to NZ5. Once you hav e dropped your bags you go out to the terminal and find the departures level with boarding card and passport in hand to go straight through security to the departure gate. So no checking in of bags in LAX just the hassle of collecting bags and dropping them at connections desk plus the hassle of the immigration customs and depart security. Plus depending on passport you need a visa to even transit the USA or if a visa waiver country like UK an ESTA which costs. NZ1 all the way bags stay on the flight but as NZ1/5 is a pl ane change all above applies hence is usually cheaper for the inconvenience but dont take my word for it as is all explained on the Air NZ website.
L

napierlass

Many thanks Paulfb, I hadn't managed to find air New Zealands explaination, but yours is nice and clear. Thankyou for allaying my fears, I'm very grateful xxx

RobClubley

I've had to do similar before - coming from UK to NZ via Singapore I had to collect my bags, go out through customs into Singapore then back in again to check them in for the flight to NZ. I had 12 hours in Singapore though, so no rushing.
Also this year going to Brisbane via Sydney we would have had to check our bags through, but Qantas helpfully took them off the plane in Wellington and we got them 3 days later. Fun.
Not enough wind to take off with the plane's weight. In Wellington!!

napierlass

What..not enough wind in Wellington...NEVER!! Remind me not to fly international through Wellington RobClubley, I couldn't handle having no luggage for 3 days!!

RobClubley

It's very unusual, they said, but they count on a certain amount of wind to give extra lift. That morning it was dead calm.

It was a bit of a mess. 650 cases were stacked up in Sydney apparently.

Travelling with a 3 year-old and staying at a hotel with a water park and three pools onsite. No clothes, no togs, no sunscreen etc. You can imagine her reaction when we said she couldn't go swimming until we'd visited KMart

napierlass

Awe bless her. I'd have been stomping my feet too!!

Bit of an expensive inconvenience though for you, did you get compensated or was it classed as an act of nature (or lack of)?

RobClubley

They sent us a VISA gift card with AU$300 balance - which entailed two 45 minute phone calls to get then activate, and arrived the day after the luggage did.
Oh and a pack each with some Qantas T-shirts/shorts/deodorant/toothbrush/toothpaste to get us through the first night.

We spent about that at KMart. Amazing how it adds up just buying basics and cheap clothes for 3 people. At least we got a few new shorts/T-shirts/pants out of it!!
Plus it took over half a day of our holiday getting the bus to the shops. Ah well, all part of the fun of travelling!!