International Flight Check In 101

[Leo&Farah 0]

I am about to head to US to finally join Leo but I absolutely have no international travel experience.

There are three stops from where I am to where he lives but I am buying one ticket from United, which covers all three. I assume I'll be getting three separate boarding passes.

Each flight is under United but 2 of them are operated by different airlines: Asiana Airlines for the Asia part and US Airways for the domestic flight.

My question is, if I check in baggage at my first departure airport with United/Asiana Airlines, do I have to pick them up again at each airport and recheck them in again? Or does United handle the transits for checked baggage even though its operated by another airline? I'm so confused. I tried calling their customer support but can't seem to get a live person.

Some help for a newbie?

Thanks in advance.

[Dennis&Dane 0]

Normally if you have all of your flights on one itinerary the airline will trasnfer your luggage... but upon entering the US you must claim your luggage and carry it through US customs.. at your POE you will go to immigrations first then to a luggage claim area..then to a US Customs line... then right after that you just re-check your baggage with the airline you are flying with... (In Detroit the recheck location is located right after the customs desk)

Even US citizens must go thru this same process..

hope this helps

[Dave-n-Oksana 49]

I am about to head to US to finally join Leo but I absolutely have no international travel experience.

There are three stops from where I am to where he lives but I am buying one ticket from United, which covers all three. I assume I'll be getting three separate boarding passes.

Each flight is under United but 2 of them are operated by different airlines: Asiana Airlines for the Asia part and US Airways for the domestic flight.

My question is, if I check in baggage at my first departure airport with United/Asiana Airlines, do I have to pick them up again at each airport and recheck them in again? Or does United handle the transits for checked baggage even though its operated by another airline? I'm so confused. I tried calling their customer support but can't seem to get a live person.

Some help for a newbie?

Thanks in advance.

You shouldn't have to worry about your baggage until you arrive in the US and go through customs. Since you purchasing the entire trip from a single source you will not have to worry about them on the international legs of your trip. When you arrive in the US you will have to claim your bags before going through customs. As soon as you exit this area, there should be a place to recheck your bags the rest of your destination.

Relax and enjoy your flight.

[Leo&Farah 0]

Thanks for the advice. I think I understand the process more now.

On the subject of baggage, I'm afraid of having overweight bags.

Does anyone know any economical way to ship things from one country to another? I'm not even sure what it would be called. I think it goes by ship or something, not sure.

Any suggestions?

[redglasses 1]

I shipped my stuff by surface (ship) and it took about a month and a half from Japan to NV.

[NCWife 0]

After you have landed at your POE, go through immigration and then claim your baggage before going through customs. At the customs, you will have to put your bags through the machines and answer a couple of questions from the customs officers there. Usually they ask about if there is any food and if you packed your bags yourself. Once you're clear from customs, just follow the signs and you will see something like connecting flights baggage transfer or something similar.

As for shipping, it depends on how much stuff you have and how soon you want them? You can either send by sea, by air etc. When I moved to the US, I had 2 big bags, each weighing close to 70 lbs and one box also weighed around 70 lbs. I didn't want to use sea or the regular freight since I wanted those stuff to be with me asap so I had a choice to either use FedEX for faster shipping (3 days) or pay the airline's excess baggage. In the end I picked airline's excess baggage option since it was cheaper than FedEX and it will be on the same flight as me so no hassle of picking it up days or months later at another location. I think I paid $140 for the excess baggage. It was well worth it since I didn't have to worry if it arrived or went through customs fine.

Let me know if you have further questions. I am from Kuala Lumpur by the way!

Cheers.

[Leo&Farah 0]

Hi NCWife,

Wow, 70 lbs is heavy. I am flying United from Kota Kinabalu-Seoul-San Francisco-Charlotte NC (Yeah, what are the odds). It's 19 hours of flight, 33 hours of travel. So the airlines would be United (operated by Asiana Airlines)-United-United (operated by US Airways).

They said the baggage allowance depends on the first airlines you check in with, so that would be Asiana Airlines I guess. Keep trying to get customer service but it's all in Korean. I think max allowance are 2 bags each at 23kb (50lbs) max.

So when you paid excess baggage for those two 70lbs bags was it USD140 total or per bag? Read somewhere that United charged 150 per bag from 50lbs-70lbs. (overweight baggage). No idea how much Asiana will charge though.

I might look into freight, honestly not too sure. I think I will have 2 big bags and my backpack but their are borderline 50lbs.

[NCWife 0]

Aahhh.... I was thinking and I made a mistake in my earlier post. The two bags that I checked in were 50 lbs each. Those two bags were in their free baggage allowance so I didn't have to pay. I also had one carry-on for all my cameras and stuff and another big purse. Then I had a box that I checked in as excess baggage. That box weighed around 70lbs. I paid $140 for that box and they allowed up to 70 lbs max, so I was stuffing everything in until it was so full, just to get my money worth. Weighted at the counter and I remember I had like a couple of lbs. to spare.. LOL.

I flew Korean and Delta Airlines so my itinerary was like Kuala Lumpur-Seoul-Atlanta-Charlotte. I can't remember how many hours it took me but it was looooooong! Everything was timed well though, all on time.

Have you tried emailing their customer service? I emailed Korean Airlines to ask about baggage allowance just so I have a written response that I can take with me to the airport, just in case of conflicting info. It took them a couple of days to respond but got all my questions answered. When are you flying?

Are you going to be in Charlotte too?

Cheers...

[Leo&Farah 0]

Hi again,

I think the mental stress from a recent interview and packing to leave the country the first time within a week got to me. That or I'm an idiot. All this time, I had been worrying about excess weight because my bags went over the 23kg limit. I JUST found out after a day of packing and constant weighing that all this while, I had been trying to keep my bags under 23lbs.

I feel like a world class idiot. But at the same time, it means I can bring more stuff and worry less. It just boggles my mind how something which was actually 23lbs felt like 23kgs to me. It felt extremely heavy. Maybe I'm too tiny (I only weigh 80lbs, so each bag would be 2/3 of my weight).

I havent tried emailing them yet, I have the ticket booked for the 6th, this Friday. Maybe I'll email them after this. That's a good idea to have proof.

And nah, we'll be in Morganton, NC. I prefer quiet, country life hehe.

Thanks for the help so far!

[NCWife 0]

Oooh take it easy girl... I have made that mistake before, looking at the wrong measuring unit, lbs instead of kgs. LOL. It took me a week to figure what to leave behind, what to take with me, pack, organize.. etc etc. It was such a pain!

You are pretty tiny... Well, make sure you buy a lot of clothes and shoes back in Malaysia before coming. Man, it's almost impossible for me to find anything that fits me here and I am not as tiny as you... That's another pain LOL.

Happy packing and enjoy all the yummy Malaysian food while you can!!!

Cheers..

[Leo&Farah 0]

I'm definitely stuffing myself of things I will crave before leaving.

Hey I have another question concerning the flight. We're supposed to carry over the x-ray to show at POE. I'm only bringing a backpack as carry on for ease and since only one carry on is allowed on Asiana Airlines.

How did everyone travel with their x-ray? Can you roll it up and put it in some kinda tube? Where would it even fit in the cabin? o_O. Looks kinda too big for the pamphlet pocket infront of the seat.

[adeese660 0]

It should fit in the overhead,or,like you said,you can put it in a tube and carry it that way,I have a few questions for you,how much money did it cost you for your medical,what shots did you need to get,where did you go to get the medical,how long did it take?right now,she is waiting on the conduct letter,then I hope it will not be long after that she gets interview date.And one more time,congrats on the visa,thats really good news.

[Leo&Farah 0]

It should fit in the overhead,or,like you said,you can put it in a tube and carry it that way,I have a few questions for you,how much money did it cost you for your medical,what shots did you need to get,where did you go to get the medical,how long did it take?right now,she is waiting on the conduct letter,then I hope it will not be long after that she gets interview date.And one more time,congrats on the visa,thats really good news.

My medical cost me RM260. I had to take a chest xray which cost RM20, an eye test for RM20 and the rest went to the panel physician who took a blood test testing for HIV and Syphilis. The medical took me a week because the results from the blood test had to go from Sabah to KL and back. Medical depends where you are located. With packet 4, they will provide you a list of panel physicians. There is 1 in KL, 1 in Sabah, 1 in Sarawak and 1 in Penang. Your medical could cost more or less depending where you are. I cant quote you an exact cost.

I had to take an MMR shot, that is it.

Edited November 3, 2009 by Leo&Farah

[NCWife 0]

Actually you don't need to show your X-ray at POE since a radiologist is the only one who can "decode" the x-ray. You just need to give your big brown envelope to the immigration officer, which also contain your medical report inside. If you want to take your X-ray film with you, just roll it up in a tube and stuff it in your backpack. I brought mine with me, rolled it up in a postal tube and carried it in my carry-on, the I kicked my carry-on under the seat in front of me

Cheers...

I'm definitely stuffing myself of things I will crave before leaving.

Hey I have another question concerning the flight. We're supposed to carry over the x-ray to show at POE. I'm only bringing a backpack as carry on for ease and since only one carry on is allowed on Asiana Airlines.

How did everyone travel with their x-ray? Can you roll it up and put it in some kinda tube? Where would it even fit in the cabin? o_O. Looks kinda too big for the pamphlet pocket infront of the seat.

[NCWife 0]

It all depends on where your fiance is located. I did my medical in KL since I lived there. Also, it also depends on her age. Last year, I paid $361 total for my medical, X-ray, MMR shot and both Varicella shots.

Also, be advice that to try to complete all the shots required for AOS in the future because civil surgeons in the US are expensive and they charge you an arm and a leg.... Most civil surgeons don't accept insurance so we had to pay out of pocket. Good luck!

BTW, make sure you get a copy of your vaccination supplement (DS-3025) from your doc, it's needed for your AOS.

Cheers..

It should fit in the overhead,or,like you said,you can put it in a tube and carry it that way,I have a few questions for you,how much money did it cost you for your medical,what shots did you need to get,where did you go to get the medical,how long did it take?right now,she is waiting on the conduct letter,then I hope it will not be long after that she gets interview date.And one more time,congrats on the visa,thats really good news.