Arriving on a UA flight to T1 and then leaving on an AA flight from T3. I have checked baggage. Do I have to pick up bags, exit T1, go through security and back to T3? OR...will UA check my bags through and then transfer my bags to AA? Answers and advice welcome!
Are you traveling on one itinerary (e.g. booked through Expedia or a TA), or separate tickets. If AA and UA have an interline agreement, you can have your bags transferred - if it's separate tickets, be sure to have both itineraries when you check in!
It also depends on how complicated the itinerary is, or how computer-savvy the agent is. The last time I interlined on AA (HNL-DFW-PHX-LAX on AA, LAX-SEA on AS), it took the agent a good 5-10 minutes to produce a baggage tag. And of course there would be some agents that flatly refuse to do it for you, thus you would have to collect your bag and recheck it at the AA counter.
Traveling on one itinerary, although I have an AA confirmation number and an United confirmation number for the flights/itinerary I'm trying to change the UA flight to AA...government travel has its quirks
I assume you are/were Navy? They have me on a UA flight from YYZ to ORD. All I want to do is change to AA
If your first stop is an international arrival, I believe you are required to claim and recheck your bags - regardless of the airline. Also, each bag transfer increases the chance of mishandling (and it's not negligible). So might keep this in mind.
You get precleared in YYZ, and it is treated as a domestic flight. If you havbe Star Gold status, then you want to take the UA flight. Even without status, T1 at YYZ is much nicer, and has better options for relaxing than T3. Customs is also more pleasant, and generally, I prefer T1 to T3.
I have NEXUS, but no * Gold I would just prefer being on AA metal all the way through, rather than having to change terminals in ORD. Hoping for "interline" so that I don't have to pay baggage fees twice!
