Checked luggage & forced overnight layover

[CarrieR]

Have kind of a weird situation, hoping our transportation gurus might be able to provide some insight.

I made a scheduling snafu and need to attend a work conference immediately before a trip to WDW. Because of times, flights, etc I will be leaving the conference late one night, flying to an intermediate city on the last flight of the night, then leaving again on the first flight of the morning.

I'll be flying Southwest, and will be checking luggage (1-2 bags.) Flights are on different PRNs. Flight arrives 12:40A and next flight leaves 6:00A. Connecting airport is Pittsburgh, if that matters.

Is it possible for me to check my luggage in Denver and have it checked through to MCO? It looks like PIT is open 24hrs so I am hoping I can catch a few hours of sleep airside. If not, I'll have to collect my luggage, keep it for several hours until the ticketing desk opens, then recheck it and reclear security, all of which I'm hoping to avoid.

(I'm also considering a hotel - but having trouble justifying the price for 2-3 hours of sleep. In any event, I won't need access to my checked luggage for the overnight.)

Any experiences would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

With most airlines it's possible, but with SW.... it's a toss up. Since you are on two different reservations I would be prepared to go get your luggage and recheck. SORRY!

 

[NotUrsula]

IME, when you have a wonky kind of transfer that does not put you on the next available flight, but IS booked as a connecting flight, SWA tends to treat the movement of the person and the movement of the bags as a separate thing. If there is a long break between your flight segments for reasons of seat availability, your luggage is unlikely to be on your final flight with you; they will normally send it ahead on the first available plane. If it lands in the bag-room with a tag that says MCO on it, the handlers will be making every effort to send it to MCO as soon as it can get there, and a bag's ability to get there is not dependent upon there being an open passenger seat on the same flight. (As an example of this happening, I flew from CLT via DAL to STL, but we had a mechanical diversion to ATL on the CLT-DAL leg that resulted in a change of aircraft. There were no open seats on the late-night flights from ATL-STL, so I was still sent to DAL to spend the night before continuing on. My bags, however, went straight from ATL-STL, and ended up locked in the STL baggage office overnight.

If, however, you have booked this as two separate one-way trips and have no formal connection booked between them, which appears to be the case based on your explanation, then your bags are likely to end up on the carousel when you land at PIT. The only way to get a bag sent on to MCO without re-checking it is to make sure that it is tagged for MCO when you leave DEN. Normally you would have to connect your two one-way itineraries into a single one-way in order to do that, but I don't know if they will let you do that with a planned overnight stop. Normal SWA online ticketing doesn't allow one-way itineraries like that, but there may be an option for operator over-ride at the ticket counter. I think you can ask and they might be able to do it for you, but you should be prepared that they might not be able to. Spending the night land-side is much harder to do, though -- very often you simply will not be allowed to sleep in the land-side of an airport, so Security might make you leave. (There is a Hyatt conference hotel directly attached to the airport, so I suppose you could try claiming that you are waiting in the lobby to check in, but they tend to frown on that; it's likely that the connecting door will become key-card only at that time of the evening.)

Are you going alone, or can you have a family member take your "vacation" bag to MCO for you? That's what we usually do if one of us has to take an alternate routing because of business travel.

PS: Here is the "Sleeping in Airports" page for PIT. http://www.sleepinginairports.net/usa/pittsburgh.htm#servicesFacilities
This website is a good guide to what the situations are late at night at various airports, even if you don't plan to sleep there.

 

[DebbieB]

I live in Pittsburgh and the airside is pretty dead late at night. I don't think anything stays open in the food court past 10:00. I kind of doubt security would let you stay there, I think you might have better luck in baggage claim.

 

[Shanti]

Have kind of a weird situation, hoping our transportation gurus might be able to provide some insight.

I made a scheduling snafu and need to attend a work conference immediately before a trip to WDW. Because of times, flights, etc I will be leaving the conference late one night, flying to an intermediate city on the last flight of the night, then leaving again on the first flight of the morning.

I'll be flying Southwest, and will be checking luggage (1-2 bags.) Flights are on different PRNs. Flight arrives 12:40A and next flight leaves 6:15A. Connecting airport is Pittsburgh, if that matters.

Is it possible for me to check my luggage in Denver and have it checked through to MCO? It looks like PIT is open 24hrs so I am hoping I can catch a few hours of sleep airside. If not, I'll have to collect my luggage, keep it for several hours until the ticketing desk opens, then recheck it and reclear security, all of which I'm hoping to avoid.

(I'm also considering a hotel - but having trouble justifying the price for 2-3 hours of sleep. In any event, I won't need access to my checked luggage for the overnight.)

Any experiences would be appreciated! Thanks!

Even if you could check your luggage that way, I would not recommend it. Your bags would have a high chance of going MIA with that arrangement. I recommend picking up your luggage, then getting a room. Is there a hotel in the airport, by any chance? If that wouldn't work, I personally would reschedule the flight(s), rather than spend the night in the airport. Not a nice way to start your vacation.

 

[JessM]

You can ask but I doubt they will check the baggage thru for you. I've been able to check a bag thru with 2 separate reservations before but the flights were the same evening (also work/vacation scheduling issues). I've also heard rumors that the new system won't let them do that anymore but I can't confirm.

 

[cedricandsophie]

The rule seems to be that the luggage must be on the same plane as the customer. The agent might be willing to make an exception but I would not count on it.

 

[DebbieB]

The rule seems to be that the luggage must be on the same plane as the customer. The agent might be willing to make an exception but I would not count on it.

That's only International. She would be on the plane with it, she's just asking them to hold the bag overnight and put it on her flight in the morning.

 

[CarrieR]

Thanks all for your input!

When I looked at the sleeping in airports page (prior to this thread,) it listed PIT as 24 hours, which is why I assumed there would be no issue there. I just verified with the PIT website and security is open 24/7 so I shouldn't have any problem staying airside.

Not concerned about the baggage traveling separately from me. If they were able to somehow route it differently from my originating airport to MCO, it would go to my resort via DME. If it gets "lost in the shuffle" and misses my flight, it will be at my resort before I'm back from the parks. One bag may be with traveling companions (meeting me at MCO,) but will be traveling for almost two weeks and need professional attire for the conference and casual for Disney - so I'll have a checked bag. I'm pretty attached to using DME for luggage delivery (and also, liquids.)

Rescheduling the flights is not on the table; I've put in a ton of work to find this arrangement which allows me to follow through on both work and personal commitments. (The only other alternative is to do the same thing through BNA, which is not a 24/7 airport.) Just hoping to not have to trek to baggage claim just to get a bag and then turn around and give it right back. I've looked at the Hyatt and that's an option - I just hate to spend $150 for three hours in a hotel room! Yes, I'll be exhausted, but I've come to the conclusion that I can pick two of the three: attend a work engagement, sleep, or honor a personal commitment. Exhaustion wins!

Sounds like I should prepare to need to grab the bag, but I will be fully prepared to be told no.

Really appreciate everyone's input!

 

[NotUrsula]

Just hoping to not have to trek to baggage claim just to get a bag and then turn around and give it right back.

And therein lies the rub: usually you can't give it right back at that hour. According to the airline's website, the SWA check-in desk opens at PIT 2 hrs. before the first flight of the day (which is a flight to MCO at 5:05 am). The airport building itself is open 24 hours, but the airline desks are not. Normally the airlines close their check-in desks after their final flight departure of the night, or by 10 pm, whichever is latest. SWA's last scheduled flight out of PIT each night is normally at 8:20 pm. That would mean getting your bag off the carousel and settling down land-side to babysit it until 3 am, when you can re-check it and go through security for your flight.

An odd suggestion that I've heard floated by some mileage-runners is to rent a small car via Priceline for one day, pick it up, drive it to the short-term parking garage so that you can sleep in it for a few hours overnight, then drive it back around to the rental car return when your nap is over in the morning. (Obviously, this unusual strategy is only remotely feasible at times of the year when sleeping in a car wouldn't be a temperature problem.) Not free, but much cheaper than a hotel room.

PS: I've managed to wear one and pack two suits plus the needed blouses and undies, and one set of easy-to-hand-wash casual clothes into a 22" rollaboard for business trips; if you have the hotel do your laundry, you should be able to get by for several days on three suits that are all in the same color family, so that you only need one pr. of dress shoes. If you decant your liquid/cream toiletries carefully to use them all up by the end of your business trip (or box them on checkout to go FedEx from the hotel), then you might be able to manage with just a carry-on and your briefcase. (Better yet, go with ponte knit suit separates/dresses. Still professional-looking, a lot less hassle than tailored suits for conferences, washable, and much cooler in the summertime. Thin scarves are your friend for changing them up.)

BTW, there is one other option worth considering, if you're an easy size to fit: renting most of the work wardrobe. If you use a rental service like GwennieBee or LeTote, you can get the clothes delivered to your home, take along a flattened shipping box, and then mail them back from your hotel in Denver, eliminating a good chunk of your load.

 

[CarrieR]

Yep, exactly. "Give it right back" is oversimplified - but the whole thing is why I'm hoping to check it straight through.

Conference is pretty casual (save the part where I'm presenting,) but renting is an idea I hadn't considered. Thanks!

 

[DaisyJ]

Yep, exactly. "Give it right back" is oversimplified - but the whole thing is why I'm hoping to check it straight through.

Conference is pretty casual (save the part where I'm presenting,) but renting is an idea I hadn't considered. Thanks!

Can you take just carry-on? That would eliminate 95% of your problem.

 

[DaisyJ]

Or another idea, only take what you need for those couple days in carry-on and have your vacation suitcase go with whoever else you are meeting in Orlando, since everybody gets 2 free checked bags on SWA.