# Alaska Airlines baggage retrieval for overnight hotel stay



## rickandcindy23 (Aug 9, 2011)

We are flying Alaska to/ from Maui out of Denver, through Seattle.  Rick just called and was told we have to retrieve our luggage from the carousel and re-check it the next day.  I thought it would be transferred automatically to the OGG flight.  

Ken's luggage charges $9 per bag to re-check the the next day.  I don't care to do that. 

What a pain to retrieve the luggage and go to the hotel, then lug it back.  Is that what everyone does?


----------



## loafingcactus (Aug 9, 2011)

Any chance your layover is 12 hours or less?  You don't have to pay to recheck if the layover is less than 12 hours.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Aug 9, 2011)

It's around 13 hours, around 7:15 p.m. arrival, 8:20 takeoff the next morning.  

But I booked this on one itinerary out of Denver, so I made a wrong assumption that our luggage would transfer that next morning.  UGH!  They said if it's more than four hours, we have to retrieve it.  What a pain to lug suitcases to a hotel.  I am not happy!

What would have happened to our luggage, had we left it?  I hate to even think about it.


----------



## Fern Modena (Aug 9, 2011)

What would happen to your luggage if you had left it?  Well, it would go round and roiund the carousel for an hour or two.  Then, if nobody helped themselves to it, eventually someone would take it to the unclaimed luggage office.  If you didn't realize you needed to claim it, then you'd arrive in HI without your luggage.  Bummer...

Fern


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Aug 9, 2011)

Rick's now thinking carryons only.  He doesn't think we need to take luggage.  Maybe not.  I will have to ponder that idea a bit.


----------



## puppymommo (Aug 9, 2011)

*Don't leave behind your baggage!*



Fern Modena said:


> What would happen to your luggage if you had left it?  Well, it would go round and roiund the carousel for an hour or two.  Then, if nobody helped themselves to it, eventually someone would take it to the unclaimed luggage office.  If you didn't realize you needed to claim it, then you'd arrive in HI without your luggage.  Bummer...
> 
> Fern



It's worse than that.  If you leave your luggage behind, inadvertently or not, there is NO WAY the airline will send them to you unescorted.  This happened to me on our vacation last month.  We were flying on American and I did not want to pay $25 to check a bag.  So I carefully packed everything onto a carryon, knowing I would have laundry facilites at the Wyndham Canterbury (not in rooms but on every other floor).

What happened next is TOTALLY my fault.

First of all, we were running late.  Then, DD got picked for random extra screening (we were on one way tickets) and then my bag needed extra checking too.  We practically sprinted to the gate and got there just before they were ready to close the doors.  It was then that I realized I had left my carryon back at TSA.

The gate attendant told me that I could talk to someone in Dallas on our layover to So. Cal.  What he did not say is that there is no way they will send baggage without a ticketed passenger unless it is their mistake.  I thought they would just put in on the next flight. 

At Dallas I was simply given a list of phone numbers to call.  Only one of them had an actual person and they sent me to another unanswered number.  I spent our first day at Disneyland calling every few hours trying to get hold of someone and finally called my friend who was looking after my animals to go to the airport and try to find out what was going on. 

 She finally located my bag -- it was locked up in security. She would not be able to retrieve it until the next day.  She did find out the important thing, she would have to send it to me via fedex and the cost would probably be around $175.

$175 compared to $25 checked bag fee; boy did I feel penny wise, pound foolish.

By now we are day two at Disneyland without a change of clothes.  Thank God for motel room sinks and hair driers.   And I bought an extra t-shirt at the park.

Fed-ex was closed on Sunday.  I decided it was too expensive to ship the bag.  I called my husband and asked him to order a change of clothes and extra underclothes from the mail order place where he bought my Christmas present.  He would have them shipped to the Wyndham Canterbury in San Francisco.  We checked in Monday and they arrived the next day.

DH was happy to have saved the day.  Which he did, except that he went overboard and ended up spending about -- you guessed it -- $175!

Fortunately I can return the items that didn't fit or that I didn't need, like the swimsuit.  And at least I have some new clothes.

Fortunately, also, I had packed my medications in my tote bag.   The rest of the vacation turned out great: 3 days at Disneyland, 4 days in San Francisco, 3 days with family.

Hope I've learned my lesson about never leaving behind baggage!


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Aug 9, 2011)

We are flying First Class, all legs, so maybe I should just check the luggage I was planning to take, then retrieve and re-check the next morning.  

We can do one piece of luggage.  I was thinking two, but one is going to be enough.  I usually just take one carryon for the two of us, but we will take two small roll-ons to the plane.


----------



## lynne (Aug 9, 2011)

rickandcindy23 said:


> We are flying First Class, all legs, so maybe I should just check the luggage I was planning to take, then retrieve and re-check the next morning.
> 
> We can do one piece of luggage.  I was thinking two, but one is going to be enough.  I usually just take one carryon for the two of us, but we will take two small roll-ons to the plane.



As first class or elite on Alaska Airlines, you are allowed 2 free checked bags each.


----------



## vacationhopeful (Aug 9, 2011)

I still love SWA. Last year I book a flight from BWI to NOLA. At BWI, they were looking for a volunteer - $300 + ticket cost ($162) and fly the next AM. I had checked 1 bag, which I did NOT need. Was driving back to BWI next AM and my contractor decide to play head game because I went to NOLA. JERK! Ask my sister to take me back to my car, so I could drive back home (2hours) and do a royal butt kicking. Trip was a total lost, but $462 in SWA credits cover lost TS expenses. And I was not a nice person for several weeks.

Back to luggage - which went to NOLA. Took me a day to find the right person, bag was put on another flight to my home SWA airport (not the BWI airport). Show up the next late afternoon and went to airport to retrieve the bag from SWA luggage. At least the luggage saw the NOLA airport.  :hysterical:


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Aug 9, 2011)

lynne said:


> As first class or elite on Alaska Airlines, you are allowed 2 free checked bags each.



Yes, but can you picture us with these bags, getting on and off hotel shuttles each way?  When we arrive to our destination, I get the luggage, and Rick gets the rental car and picks me up there.  This avoids all of the hoisting luggage on/ off shuttles.


----------



## lynne (Aug 9, 2011)

rickandcindy23 said:


> Yes, but can you picture us with these bags, getting on and off hotel shuttles each way?  When we arrive to our destination, I get the luggage, and Rick gets the rental car and picks me up there.  This avoids all of the hoisting luggage on/ off shuttles.



Completely understand.  We fly with overnights to Seattle and San Jose from Kona often.  Seattle airport is huge!  We usually check 2 pieces of rollerboard luggage (one each) and then have our backpacks as carryon.  Once you have your luggage, you have to go to the shuttle area where there is a phone to call your hotel for pick-up.


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Aug 12, 2011)

I called the Larkspur Hotel, which is close to the airport and has a shuttle.  We were pleased to get a better rate than the "guess-what-hotel-you-will-get" rate with Hotwire.  $79 + taxes = $88 total, and the gal said she would switch it to a king, even though that is the queen rate.


----------

