Marco Polo Airport - check in with Air Dolomiti?

I thought I knew what to expect but I just read the thread about "which airline to check in with". We will be flying in June Venice to Munich to Chicago to Denver on a ticket purchased through United. All flights are United flights except for Venice to Munich, which is operated by Air Dolomiti (a Star Alliance partner). According to my ticket, it shows $0 for first bag checked Venice to Denver. I'm not so much worried about whether or not Air Dolomiti might charge me for baggage, but whether to check in at the Air Dolomiti counter or United counter in order to get bags checked through to Denver (and I did check to make sure the flight goes from Marco Polo airport and not the other Venice airport). I know the Marco Polo airport does get crowded. I'll check with United but thought someone here might know. And I "assume" that the bags will be checked all the way to Denver and not to Munich and then re-checked there. I know we have to go through customs/immigration in Chicago as that is our first stop in the US.

Thanks.

I thought I knew what to expect but I just read the thread about "which airline to check in with". We will be flying in June Venice to Munich to Chicago to Denver on a ticket purchased through United. All flights are United flights except for Venice to Munich, which is operated by Air Dolomiti (a Star Alliance partner). According to my ticket, it shows $0 for first bag checked Venice to Denver. I'm not so much worried about whether or not Air Dolomiti might charge me for baggage, but whether to check in at the Air Dolomiti counter or United counter in order to get bags checked through to Denver (and I did check to make sure the flight goes from Marco Polo airport and not the other Venice airport). I know the Marco Polo airport does get crowded. I'll check with United but thought someone here might know. And I "assume" that the bags will be checked all the way to Denver and not to Munich and then re-checked there. I know we have to go through customs/immigration in Chicago as that is our first stop in the US.

 

Thanks.

If you're looking for a United counter at Venice, you're going to have a longggg search ahead of you ;) They don't fly to Venice, thusly no United counter. You check in with the airline that actually does the flying on the first leg, in this case Dolomiti. They should tag your bags all the way to DEN.

You will go through exit immigration in Munich, as you are departing from the Schengen Zone, but your luggage will not be reachable in Munich. You will see it in Chicago, where you will walk it through customs (after immigration, you go to baggage claim, grab your bag, go to customs and give them your form) and then through some doors where you will re-check the bag with United (basically just throwing the bag at them and moving on). You MAY need to get a new boarding pass in Chicago, but I would see if you can do that in Munich. Just check with someone at the gate to see if you need a new boarding pass for ORD-DEN leg.

After you re-check your bag at O'Hare, hop on the train and head to Terminal 1 where you will re-clear security and head to your gate for the DEN flight. Sometimes security can be crazy at T1, so I will sometimes clear security at Terminal 2 and walk over to T1 (not a long walk).

Be sure you find the cabin baggage allowances for Air Dolomiti. They have restrictions by ticket class - the two lowest of the three classes have only one bag allowed - no 1 + personal item…

Air Dolomiti is a regional carrier for Lufthansa. Lufthansa is part of *Alliance, as is United...

I have ZERO first hand knowledge regarding the OP's situation at VCE, so take this for what it may be worth.

I have a suspicion that the Air Dolomiti flight is operated on behalf of Lufthansa, and that the ground handling would be at the LH counter. The advice to check in with the operating carrier is very valid -- however, in my experience, that's usually for mainline carriers, not regional subsidiaries/contractors.

For example, you can fly a "Delta Connection" flight operated by SkyWest. If you search for the SkyWest counter, you will search a long time at almost all stations. Instead, you need to check in at the DL desk. Same with other carriers and their regional affiliates.

Again, I cannot directly speak to VCE, but I'd be willing to bet a goodly amount that you will go to the LH desk.

YMMV.

I have ZERO first hand knowledge regarding the OP's situation at VCE, so take this for what it may be worth.

 

I have a suspicion that the Air Dolomiti flight is operated on behalf of Lufthansa, and that the ground handling would be at the LH counter. The advice to check in with the operating carrier is very valid -- however, in my experience, that's usually for mainline carriers, not regional subsidiaries/contractors.

 

For example, you can fly a "Delta Connection" flight operated by SkyWest. If you search for the SkyWest counter, you will search a long time at almost all stations. Instead, you need to check in at the DL desk. Same with other carriers and their regional affiliates.

 

Again, I cannot directly speak to VCE, but I'd be willing to bet a goodly amount that you will go to the LH desk.

 

YMMV.

True for most. However, my experience is that Air Dolomiti does offer its own service (not LH operated by Dolomiti) from Venice to Munich.

True for most. However, my experience is that Air Dolomiti does offer its own service (not LH operated by Dolomiti) from Venice to Munich.

Thanks for clearing that up. As I said, this was a guess - and I shall always defer to actual experience. Mine from VCE has only been with AZ and KL.

Thanks for clearing that up. As I said, this was a guess - and I shall always defer to actual experience. Mine from VCE has only been with AZ and KL.

Well I have no personal experience flying Air Dolomiti out of VCE, but do know a bit about the airport and the airline. Checking today's flights, it looks like LH slaps their flight number on Dolomiti flights as a code share, but the primary carrier is Dolomiti on Dolomiti metal. I've never physically seen a Dolomiti counter at VCE, but I have never had reason to look for one (I've never seen an LH counter either though obviously it's there. I tend to only look for the counter I need, oblivious to all others!)

I think Air Dolomiti is to Lufthansa what Comair was to Delta - wholly owned, but had their own "brand"…

It doesn't do very many routes and had a few discontinued lately.

Thanks to all of you for the detailed information. We will look for both Lufthansa and Air Dolomiti check-in counters at Marco Polo Airport. Air Dolomiti supposedly has 4 flights from Venice to Munich on the day we fly, so I'm not too concerned, even if we miss our connections in Munich. After all, we are flying home and will get there when we get there. I did allow 2 hrs in Munich for connection time and 2 hours 20 minutes in Chicago. And thanks Zach123 for the detailed information on Chicago customs/immigration. I've gone through customs/immigration in San Francisco, Denver, DC and NY, but never Chicago, so that really helps.

As for carry-on luggage, I think we'll be okay with one small carry-on and no problem with weight of carry-on. Unless of course we buy something large and heavy in Venice - oh, probably not!