Re-checking luggage at connecting airports

I'll be leaving Morocco within the next week, and I'm wondering whether I'll need to re-check my luggage after my connecting flights. I fly from Casablanca to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to London via Lufthansa. From London I fly to Newark, this time with United Airlines. Will my luggage automatically be put onto all of my connecting flights, or will I be responsible for handling this?

I'm somewhat nervous about the Casablanca and Frankfurt airports. In Casablanca, I don't know how easy it will be to check in since I speak no French and only a little Arabic. In Frankfurt, I only have 54 minutes between my flight to London. And that's if the flight is perfectly on schedule. Will things at the Casablanca airport be fine? And is 54 minutes (potentially less) enough time to go through security and board my next flight?

Best Answer

Since other questions have been closed and pointed to this one for answers regarding baggage transfer between airlines, I just wanted to point out that, while the above answer is correct specifically regarding UA and Lufthansa, it's not true for all airlines. Any airlines that are part of the same alliance will almost certainly check your bags all the way through to your final destination, but some airlines have no 'interline' agreements with other airlines and, thus, will not transfer bags to or from other airlines. A notable example in the U.S. is Southwest Airlines. For the general case, you'd need to check with at least one of the specific airlines involved in your itinerary. For an upcoming trip from Nashville to Asia, I'm flying Southwest from Nashville to San Francisco and then Korean Air from San Francisco to Seoul. I checked with Southwest and they confirmed that they can only check my bags to SFO and that I must recheck them with KAL to ICN from there.

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Quick Answer about "Re-checking luggage at connecting airports"

When you arrive, you'll have to go through the customs and immigration area. ...

Sometimes, airports will offer a simpler process for rechecking luggage. ...

Once the check-in desk opens, drop off your bags and pick up your boarding pass.

Do I have to recheck my bags on a connecting flight?

If your flights were booked under one ticket, your bags will be checked through to your final destination. If your flights were booked under separate tickets, you will need to collect your bags and recheck them before your connecting flight.

Do I need to change my luggage on a connecting flight?

If you have booked your connecting flights independently, the airline is under no obligation to transfer your baggage to your connecting flight. In this case, you will need to collect your baggage after your first flight and re-check your baggage before your connecting flight.

Can I check my bag all the way through when my connecting flight is on a separate ticket?

Conclusion. Unfortunately, there is no way to ensure that your luggage will be checked through when traveling on two separate tickets.

The Beginner’s Guide To Connecting Flights And Luggage

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