Will I have to get my luggage in Houston or it will be delivered to Tucson?
Tonight I will be leaving Recife, Brazil to go to Tucson, AZ, USA, with a stop in Rio and another stop in Houston. Will my checked-in baggage be directly delivered to Tucson after I leave it at a drop-off counter or will I have to check it in again at Houston?
Best Answer
Houston will be your first port of entry in the United States. As such, you will have to go through immigration and customs before you can board your flight to Tucson. Here's what you're likely to find:
- You'll get off the plane in Houston and walk down a series of corridors until you arrive at the immigration hall.
- You'll wait in line and go through immigration
- You'll go to the baggage claim for your flight and collect your checked luggage
- You'll take the luggage through customs (customs is often as simple as handing them your form and being waved through, unless they want to talk to you or look at your bags)
- You'll follow the signs for connecting flights, which will take you to a counter where they'll take your checked bags back. You can confirm they are tagged to go to Tucson at this time, if that didn't happen already for some reason. You can also ask the airline representatives here for directions to your gate.
- You'll continue through to TSA security before being allowed into the secure side of the terminal
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Will my checked bags be transferred automatically?
What Happens to Luggage on Connecting Flights with the Same Airline? Unless the connecting flight takes place in a country that requires all passengers to go through Immigration and Customs, checked baggage will automatically be transferred to the next flight.Will an airline deliver luggage?
That airline is ultimately responsible for delivering your bag to you, even if the bag never made it into its system. Keep in mind that if you've flown into a small airport, you may need to report the missing bag to a contract agency that works with multiple airlines.Will my luggage go straight through to the final destination?
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.Where do I pick up my checked baggage?
If you have to check luggage, you will have to pick it up in the baggage claim area, sometimes called the baggage reclaim area in some airports outside the US. No matter where you are in the world, you face the same kind of problems like the airline losing or damaging your bag or someone stealing your luggage.Lost luggage: What happens to your baggage after check-in
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Answer 2
Whenever you enter the USA, you need to go through immigration at the first airport, and there you must pick up your luggage and carry it through customs. Right behind customs, there will be agents of your airline and you can drop off your luggage with them again (and the airline will then transport it for as many legs as you fly).
If you don't do it, they will not send it after you (happened to multiple people I know already). Your luggage will sit in that airport until you go there and get it.
For your example, that means you need to do that in Houston.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Vlada Karpovich, Gustavo Fring, Gustavo Fring, Artem Zhukov