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L'aviateur
13th Nov 2010, 09:02
I'm flying BCN-LHR-HKG-CEB with BA and the final leg with CX next week. My sister will be coming to LHR to meet me and wants to give me a suitcase with presents, Christmas Crackers and Christmas Puddings to take home with me to Cebu.
Can I check in a bag whilst in transit?

Chuchinchow
13th Nov 2010, 10:59
If you are "in transit" you will presumably stay airside. If that is the case you will not be able to make contact with any person landside - including a sister lugging a suitcase.

If on the other hand you elect to enter the country by going through passport control etc you could collect Santa's sack and check it in.

Does your time in transit allow for that?

robtheblade
13th Nov 2010, 11:27
Something similar that has been on my mind.

If I were to buy an item from the duty free that was too big to carry on and needed to go into the hold, what is the procedure?

If for example at Dubai, can I go through passport control without having a visa to check in my purchase or do the duty free people check it in for me?
Thanks.

L'aviateur
13th Nov 2010, 15:42
Hi, yeah for reasons that I don't know, the BCN BA flight comes into T3, and the HKG flight goes from T5, so will just clear immigration meet up with my sister (got 4 hours) have a coffee and then go back through.
To add complication I'd like to add one bag in Barcelona and a second in London.
If any BA Checkin staff are reading, would be interested to know what the situation would be with this.
If I don't find out the answer, I'll definately post the result next weekend.

Hartington
13th Nov 2010, 18:58
Interesting conundrum. I would expect that checking 1 bag through from BCN and then checking in a 2nd bag at LHR would cause all sorts of problems. The alternative would be to check in at BCN only as far as LHR, pick up your baggage, collect 2nd suitcase and then check in again. But that 2nd routine is also a bit fraught if there are any delays.

In either case, what are you going to say when asked at checkin at LHR "Did you pack this yourself? Have you been given anything to take on the plane?" If you're honest I would strongly reccomend that nothing in the bag collected at LHR is wrapped. In fact, thinking about it, if you try and add the 2nd bag at LHR it's going to be blindingly obvious that you did NOT pack it with all the attendant problems that will cause.

L'aviateur
13th Nov 2010, 19:30
I agree; what I may do is check the first suitcase in as far as LHR, and put the additional items into it at LHR and recheck it in. Hopefully they will allow me to do this, with the excuse of a 4 hour transit.

Out Of Trim
14th Nov 2010, 23:09
Might have a problem with the Christmas Crackers too! Think.. Fire Hazard!

The airline has rules about what Dangerous goods can be carried; the quantity and where etc.

I would strongly advise that you check with the airline concerned and declare these items when checking-in!

Alsacienne
15th Nov 2010, 06:09
Christmas crackers and 'Party Poppers' are prohibited items both in hand and hold baggage. They fall into the explosives category.

L'aviateur
15th Nov 2010, 09:58
Alsacienne, I'm afraid that is incorrect.

Do I have to check my Christmas presents into the aircraft hold?
No, Christmas presents can be taken as hand baggage if they are unwrapped (for security purposes) and do not exceed your hand baggage allowance.
Please note that there are still controls on the volume of liquids that can be carried in your hand baggage - this regulation will apply to any gift items with liquid in them, as well as any liquid items you carry for your personal use. You can read more on this, on ba.com (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/liquidbaggagereview/).

Can I take Christmas crackers in my hand baggage?
The contents of some Christmas Crackers may contain items, which are in breach of the security requirements therefore, to avoid security issues,
passengers can carry crackers as ‘checked baggage’ only
Please note the following restrictions:

Maximum 2 boxes per passenger
The crackers must be commercially manufactured
The crackers must be in the manufacturers original packaging
The crackers are for personal use only
Homemade crackers are not permitted.Can I take party poppers in my hand or checked baggage?
Party poppers are not allowed on any British Airways aircraft.

http://www.pprune.org/cabin-crew/399457-christmas-crackers.html

https://tradeuk.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/tradeuk.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2440&p_created=1165846459

Diplome
15th Nov 2010, 12:47
I am surprised that Christmas Crackers are allowed. I'd avoided sending them with friends traveling to the States because of what I thought would be an obvious refusal to allow them onboard.

Something new learned today.

Load Toad
15th Nov 2010, 13:00
I thought the standard questions when checking in included 'Is this your suitcase, did you pack it yourself, has it been out of your sight?' If the answer is, 'No it's my sisters, she packed it, I only just saw it when she gave me it a few minutes ago, actually I'm just transiting through this airport.' What would / should the reaction by check-in staff be?

ConstantFlyer
16th Nov 2010, 09:12
Your sister could maybe post the items to your destination.

Avitor
16th Nov 2010, 09:38
What happened to 'Did you pack this bag yourself'? Did anyone get access to it before it arrived at the airport?
Many thresholds to cross. If I was on the flight, and knew the bag had been accepted, not all my weight would have been on the seat. :=

Apologies to Load Toad...did not see your post.

L'aviateur
21st Nov 2010, 12:05
OK. My allowance was 2 bags. Checked one in at Barcelona and the second one in at Heathrow Terminal 5, absolutely no problems.
Although we had a discussion a few weeks ago about the 'did you pack this yourself?', I did check the bag before accepting it. Terminal 5 is excellent in providing a 'repacking' area!
However I was not asked whether I'd packed it or whether it had been tampered with at either BCN or LHR.

Hartington
21st Nov 2010, 16:57
Isn't security wonderful?!

Load Toad
21st Nov 2010, 22:28
So after you picked up a suitcase purportedly given to you by your 'sister' at a transit airport and you checked that in after giving it a cursory 'check' and repack I guess you had to go through the X-Ray machines, take off your belt, shoes, have your genitals touched up by security, couldn't carry and fluids, pastes or lip balm through to airside - but your sisters suitcase was OK?

Great.

alcockell
22nd Nov 2010, 19:08
As basic SLF - my first thought was "freight" as well.

Would it simply be a matter of submitting it as Air Mail at a local post office?

L'aviateur
23rd Nov 2010, 03:46
For security, remember it's a deterrent more then anything, since there are so many loopholes in the system. Let you feel safe, and think that it's serious business, but as we see time and again, it's far from that.
I needed some items, I gave them a quick check before checking them in at Heathrow, wasn't particularly concerned. Airmail to the Philippines isn't an option... Although even on arrival CEB, it appears that quite a few bags had been pilfered between landing and reaching the conveyor.

Joao da Silva
23rd Nov 2010, 05:43
Am I the only one on the forum who would trust my sister not to blow me up?

Load Toad
24th Nov 2010, 06:07
Do you think 'It's my sisters' is a good enough explanation when checking in luggage not your own?

WHBM
24th Nov 2010, 17:41
Regarding Christmas Crackers, large quantities of these go westbound across the Atlantic every December as they are not generally available in the USA, or indeed many other countries. I think most go in hold baggage and people think nothing about it. As far as I am aware there's never been any mishap. Unlike smokers desperate for a cigarette who regularly set off the smoke detectors in the toilets. Should we ban smokers from flying ?

For checking in baggage after the initial check-in, I often wonder at the large number of items sold in duty-free, after security, which are larger than the hand baggage sizing frame. All of those must make it into the cabin. In Europe it's not so much of an issue, but in Asia I have seen all sorts sold airside, full-sized suitcases, television sets (yes, honestly), and similar.

Regarding "did you pack this bag yourself", and "been with you at all times", there are large numbers of older generation men who have their bags packed by their wives, and honestly have little idea which shirts and suits are inside this time. Meanwhile check-in staff every day can see road coaches unloading outside the terminal door, with all the bags being taken from the underfloor compartment, and then the whole coachload step across to check-in. "Bag with you at all times ?". "Oh yes". Now did you ever hear of any problem arising with this ?

Bealzebub
24th Nov 2010, 18:23
If I were to buy an item from the duty free that was too big to carry on and needed to go into the hold, what is the procedure?

Oversize carry on baggage is often tagged and sent to the hold, however if you purchase something in duty free that will not conform to your contractual carry on limits, the airline is under no obligation to do so.

A case of caveat emptor, in that your purchase is little more than a contract between you and the retailer (duty free shop.) It has nothing to do with your contract between you and the air carrier, nor does it modify the latter in any implied way.

You might normally expect common sense to apply, however if the passenger attempts to carry on an article that will not comply with the normal carry on rules, or is likely to involve the carrier in extra cost or inconvenience, then the carrier would have the right to refuse carriage of said item, or to charge the passenger for the additional item, at its absolute discretion.