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Do I need to get my luggage from a connecting flight to the US?

No matter what airline you're flying, if you have a connecting flight that arrives in the United States from an international destination, you'll need to pick up your bags and recheck them on your next flight.



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If you checked a bag, you'll have to collect it from baggage claim from the international flight. You'll need to clear customs and immigration. Next, you'll recheck your luggage for the domestic flight.

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For a trip that includes one or more connections: We'll check your bags to your final destination and apply the charge for checking a bag from your origin to your destination. For a trip that includes a voluntary stopover: We'll check your bags to your stopover point, where you'll collect your bags.

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You will need to reclear TSA security once you arrive in your departure terminal. For international arriving passengers, you must claim all checked bags at Customs and recheck with your departing airline, even if the bags are checked to your final destination! To learn more about the AirTrain system, click here.

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When layover flights are booked with the same airline, your baggage will be automatically transferred through to your final destination. However, if the two flights are with different airlines, you may have to claim and re-check your baggage during your layover.

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Recheck baggage If you have a connecting flight, recheck your baggage with your departing airline (even if it has been through-checked to your final destination) which is located outside of the US Customs processing area.

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The United States Department of Homeland Security requires Visa Waiver Program (VWP) travelers to obtain approval from the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) at least 72 hours prior to check-in for a flight to the U.S. or connecting through the U.S. An ESTA is required even if you are immediately ...

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The United States Department of Homeland Security requires Visa Waiver Program (VWP) travelers to obtain approval from the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) at least 72 hours prior to check-in for a flight to the U.S. or connecting through the U.S. An ESTA is required even if you are immediately ...

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If you have a connecting domestic flight, you must collect your baggage and follow the 'Domestic Connections' signs. You will then need to recheck your baggage at the airline counter. If you have an international connection to a city outside North America you do not need to claim your bags.

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While these terms are often used interchangeably, they are not the same thing. A layover is the time you spend at the airport between two flights. A connecting flight is the next flight in your itinerary that you're waiting at the airport to take.

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If you have checked baggage, you must recheck it between flights:
  1. Collect your checked baggage at the transfer airport. ...
  2. Leave the transit zone and take your baggage to the check-in counter (or baggage drop) for your next flight.
  3. Go through security and customs to the gate of your next flight.


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For international layover flights, you will normally have to go through customs and immigration at the connecting airport. For flights with a layover in Canada or the USA, you will need to go through immigration and fill out the necessary customs paperwork even if you are not staying in the country.

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To put it simply, having a connecting flight means you will have to change planes. You will not be flying directly from A to B, but there will also be C. You will fly from A to C, and then from C to B. Sometimes there will be more than a single stop.

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You don't need to go through customs in Copenhagen; whether or not you need to go through immigration depends on your final destination: if your final destination is in a Schengen country, you will go through immigration (passport control) in Copenhagen. Copenhagen is a nice, smallish airport.

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You won't be going through customs at Schiphol until you return from your trip. Unless you're travelling to another Schengen country, you'll be going through passport control after the security check.

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Arriving international connecting to International:
When connecting from outside of Canada to another country (excluding the United States), if your baggage is checked-through to your final destination you may not need to claim your checked-bags in Toronto.

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When entering the United States from overseas, you must obtain your luggage and bring them through Customs and Border Protection (CBP). You will need to check them back into the airlines to make your next flight. Baggage not obtained after your international flight will not get to your final destination.

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Why international travelers must collect and recheck bags for their U.S. connecting flight. The foremost reason fo rechecking your bag after an international flight is security. “It's part of our efforts to protect the country,” Tammy Melvin, a CBP public affairs spokesperson, told AFAR.

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By default all connecting passengers have to go through security and plenty of airports do this for everyone regardless of where you come from (London (LHR), Paris (CDG), Doha (DOH), etc.)

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Good to know: most connections are booked as a single journey and don't involve transferring baggage, check-in or passport control.

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