Checking baggage with porters at LAX-- how???

[Cathyb]

We always used to drag our luggage thru the lines up to the Agent at LAX. However when in Miami last February we followed the crowds and let the Porter outside handle them and what a great thing that was!!! We were free of everything: checking in, baggage weighed, tickets issued, etc.

Questions:

1. Do LAX porters handle your bags straight thru for you? No security stuff, etc.?

2. How is the baggage fee handled? Do you give them cash?

3. What is the typical tip per bag for this service?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[UWSurfer]

It depends on the airline you fly and the current state of alert at the airport. Sometimes you hand them your bag, they check you curbside and it goes as you describe. Sometimes you do all that, and then you must take your bag 20 - 100 feet (or more) to the TSA people who accept your bags to go through their screeening.

IF the airline charges a per bag fee for the curbside checkin, that's what we pay and we don't usually tip. If there's no posted fee, we usually tip $2 a bag. When we have enough people in our group, I'll usually send a scout ahead to see what the lines are inside...sometimes they are non-existant. Most of the time though, curbside is the way to go at LAX. The same is true in Las Vegas at McCarran.

WARNING: DO NOT ASSUME THAT BECAUSE YOU ARE OUTSIDE YOU CAN SHORTEN THE TIME YOU NEED TO ARRIVE AT THE AIRPORT. We got burned by United when our check bags didn't reach the curbside handler until 5 minutes after their cutouff for the flight (60 minutes I think that flight). WE were there 90 minutes ahead, but the curbside line with large groups took awhile and we had to go inside and switch to a new flight even though there was plenty of time to get on the existing flight we had.

We always used to drag our luggage thru the lines up to the Agent at LAX. However when in Miami last February we followed the crowds and let the Porter outside handle them and what a great thing that was!!! We were free of everything: checking in, baggage weighed, tickets issued, etc.

Questions:

1. Do LAX porters handle your bags straight thru for you? No security stuff, etc.?

2. How is the baggage fee handled? Do you give them cash?

3. What is the typical tip per bag for this service?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[UWSurfer]

Duplicate post. Disregard.

 

[Cathyb]

UWSurfer: When you were in line (and missed your flight), how do you know when your checked bags reach the handler? I don't quite understand that process. Thank you fo ryour reply(ies)

 

[UWSurfer]

In this case the handler was the curbside porter.

The curbside is essentially an extension of the ticket counter and the porter acts as a check-in agent for the airline. What was annoying was we had arrived within 30 minutes of the cut-off, it was just the line move too slow reaching the porter past the cutoff. Had we no check bags this would not have been an issue.