I'm looking at a flight departing Bordeaux (Schengen area) transferring in Brussels (Schengen area) and London (non-Schengen area), before arriving in San Francisco. I understand I do not have to collect my luggage and check them again so long as the airports are Schengen area. But what about London? Will I need to collect my bags and then find the designated area to check them in again before boarding the flight to San Francisco? This may be a sticking point for me as my husband and I are in our mid 70s and early 80s and we don't move nearly as fast as we use to! Any info regarding bag collection or the various airports would be much appreciated.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11946 posts
The key issue is, is it ONE ticket from Bordeaux to SFO? If it is, and all you are doing at LHR is changing planes, you won't see your checked bags until you get to SFO.
Posted by
OP
Berkeley, California, US
656 posts
Thank you, Joe! And yes, this would all be on one ticket. Of course we could still miss the flight but at least this way I believe the airline is required to get us on the next available (whenever that is) flight.
Posted by
11606 posts
It is the airlines the responsibility to transfer your luggage and have it waiting for you at your final destination.
Posted by
Sidney, BC, Canada
993 posts
LHR can involve walking long distances, you might want to request your airline for assistance (golf cart) when transferring, especially if there is a terminal change.
Posted by
London
358 posts
Don't presume you don't need to pick up bags in London - even on one ticket there are occasions when you do have to uplift a bag in the middle of a route and it will vary according to airline and terminals. Do check with the airline now if you can but especially when dropping bags.
I regularly use BA from CPT via LHR - 4 out of 5 times I don't see my bag until final destination. 1 out of 5 I have had to pick up. That's the same airline and same airport each time.
However, if you do need to transfer your own bags, firstly on one ticket they should have factored that in and secondly the assistance available at Heathrow is excellent and you should contact your airline for that.
Posted by
OP
Berkeley, California, US
656 posts
Thanks everyone. I'm going to look for route with a plane change may be in Zürich or Amsterdam but at least in the Schengen area. That might be the simplest solution if such a flight can be found. There would simply not be enough time, given my and my husband's age for me to collect and redeposit my bags at LHR should that be required. Thanks for the heads up, jgdh. Suki: what you said is perfectly reasonable. Unfortunately, as I've learned after my recent trip to Europe, the airlines do not always honor their responsibility. So I'm following the caveat "hope for the best, plan for the worst." Thanks for the suggestion about the golf cart, Lesley. I wish I'd thought of that as I was running and hoping my husband could hobble along quickly enough with his cane from our arriving flight at PHL to our connecting flight to CDG. Late does not even begin to describe our arrival time at PHL. All because American airlines decided to use a smaller plane thereby changing our business class seats in row 6 to what turned out to be economy seats in row 6 in the new smaller plane! Ergo much angst and stress and time spent on the phone and online with AA. Had to change our connection from DFW to PHL resulting in a completely dreadful experience. Okay, I'm through ranting. Thanks again for your help, everyone.