AS YYJ-SEA; United SEA-EWR. Checking luggage?

I have return flights for hubby and I SEA-EWR booked first on United. I have an Alaska companion fare to use and am thinking of booking YYJ-SEA. Would really appreciate anyones thoughts/advise regards checking luggage as I'm guessing at this point from everything I can find that Alaska will not check our luggage through to Newark on the outbound flights and United will likely not check our luggage through to Victoria on the return flights? Here's info.:

Flight out of SEA to EWR is 3:15pm, so if we plan to be at SEA for around 11am, would that be plenty of time to allow for immigration etc. and collecting/rechecking bags at the United desk if we have to?

Return Flight to SEA from EWR on United is scheduled to arrive SEA at 8pm and the last flight on AS from SEA-YYJ departs at 11:55pm. If United will not check luggage through - would this be doable?Thanks.

I have return flights for hubby and I SEA-EWR booked first on United. I have an Alaska companion fare to use and am thinking of booking YYJ-SEA. Would really appreciate anyones thoughts/advise regards checking luggage as I'm guessing at this point from everything I can find that Alaska will not check our luggage through to Newark on the outbound flights and United will likely not check our luggage through to Victoria on the return flights? Here's info.:

Flight out of SEA to EWR is 3:15pm, so if we plan to be at SEA for around 11am, would that be plenty of time to allow for immigration etc. and collecting/rechecking bags at the United desk if we have to?

 

Return Flight to SEA from EWR on United is scheduled to arrive SEA at 8pm and the last flight on AS from SEA-YYJ departs at 11:55pm. If United will not check luggage through - would this be doable?Thanks.

Both of those will be doable. While UA and AS are not partners, the latest information I dug up is that they are interline partners, specifically that will mean

YYJ-SEA-EWR: You'll need to clear US Immigration and Customs @ SEA, and re-check your luggage. When I've done it there, it wasn't too bad

EWR-SEA-YYJ: If you show the checkin agent at EWR both tickets, you should be able to get them to check the luggage through.

Can I just ask why you aren't using Alaska for the whole trip, with which you could apply the companion fare to the whole shebang? Alaska flies nonstop from SEA to EWR just like United, and no scrum at SEA in either direction.

Can I just ask why you aren't using Alaska for the whole trip, with which you could apply the companion fare to the whole shebang? Alaska flies nonstop from SEA to EWR just like United, and no scrum at SEA in either direction.

I have the same question.

In ideal conditions with no delays you "should" be ok.

However, with United you "never know" if your flight is on time - not to pick on United - but if there is a delay and a misconnect, your options are a lot more limited if you are flying on 2 separate airlines and need to get your bags, go to a different terminal, recheck your bags, go through security again....

gary

I'm gonna stick my neck out and wonder if the phrase "booked first on United" means "first class" rather than "first in sequence"?? Otherwise it makes little to no sense to use an AS companion fare for the short hop only, rather than a through ticket YYJ-SEA-EWR.

Perhaps the OP will clarify.

Both of those will be doable. While UA and AS are not partners, the latest information I dug up is that they are interline partners, specifically that will mean

 

YYJ-SEA-EWR: You'll need to clear US Immigration and Customs @ SEA, and re-check your luggage. When I've done it there, it wasn't too bad

EWR-SEA-YYJ: If you show the checkin agent at EWR both tickets, you should be able to get them to check the luggage through.

Oh this is good to know re the interlining agreement, - so do I understand then just as you mention on the return trip from EWR, we actualy can get our luggage checked straight through to EWR by asking them to do that at the Victoria Alaska check-in? (I have done the pickup luggage/clearing immigration before at Seattle so I am ok with that bit, but thought on this occastion we would have to actually re-check the luggage at United ticketing not just pop it on the conveyor belt after the formalities).

Can I just ask why you aren't using Alaska for the whole trip, with which you could apply the companion fare to the whole shebang? Alaska flies nonstop from SEA to EWR just like United, and no scrum at SEA in either direction.

traveler916 & flyertalker.

Spot on Flyertalker, we are going First Class.:D For many reasons, it is always way more expensive to fly out of Canada to anywhere these days and when you live on an island as we do, trust me it's ridiculous. DH and I have a rule that is generally that if a ticket is $500 less than a comparable flight from SEA or BLI, then we make flying out of the US part of our trip. (We factor in additional hotel/gas/ferry/parking or other transportation cost to get to SEA or BLI).

Case in point was this trip - Alaska (our fav. airline) wanted $2,667cdn per person from Victoria with connection through Seattle (could have got cheaper but can't stand milk runs) and we snagged the non-stop United flights this week for $1,185 cdn. each. The biggest savings we have ever made! I learned long ago if you see a fare you like, don't dither and book and I have been watching fares for a few months now.

Traveler916 - the things you mention are definitely what's at the back of our minds. DH and I are undecided whether to stay in Seattle on the way back and fly back the next morning or wing it and try to get home . The outbound is not going to be an issue for us as we will likely get the 6am out of YYJ if we do Alaska and if that falls apart we have other options as a backup.

Thanks so much everyone:)

Oh this is good to know re the interlining agreement, - so do I understand then just as you mention on the return trip from EWR, we actualy can get our luggage checked straight through to EWR by asking them to do that at the Victoria Alaska check-in? (I have done the pickup luggage/clearing immigration before at Seattle so I am ok with that bit, but thought on this occastion we would have to actually re-check the luggage at United ticketing not just pop it on the conveyor belt after the formalities).

You should be able to check your luggage EWR-SEA-YYJ

You will need to collect your luggage at SEA going to Newark, as you'll need to clear US Customs/Immigration in Seattle. I'm unclear if in SEA you can do the pickup dropoff as you pass through customs; as if the bags were checked through, you'll need to check at the Horizon desk at YYJ, but my guess is probably no.

It's been forever since I've flown YYJ-SEA commercially, and at that time the Alaska/Horizon and AirBC flights stopped in CLM to clear immigration/customs and you arrived in SEA as a domestic arrival.

I learned long ago if you see a fare you like, don't dither and book and I have been watching fares for a few months now.

/quote]

 

That is the best idea. If you see a good fare, BUY IT NOW!!

 

So as I see it, you have 2 possibilities:

 

One - all goes according to plan and you can say "we saved $1000 on plane tickets" and your multi airline itinerary worked

 

Or, if you have a problem with a connection, then you say "we saved $1000 on plane tickets and gambled that the system would work....and it didn't."

 

Either way, you win!!

 

Enjoy your trip...and don't worry

 

As I would tell my older daughter when we traveled with a tight connection...."either we make it or we don't."

You should be able to check your luggage EWR-SEA-YYJ

 

You will need to collect your luggage at SEA going to Newark, as you'll need to clear US Customs/Immigration in Seattle. I'm unclear if in SEA you can do the pickup dropoff as you pass through customs; as if the bags were checked through, you'll need to check at the Horizon desk at YYJ, but my guess is probably no.

 

It's been forever since I've flown YYJ-SEA commercially, and at that time the Alaska/Horizon and AirBC flights stopped in CLM to clear immigration/customs and you arrived in SEA as a domestic arrival.

I have done the Horizon Air (Alaska) flight from Victoria to Seattle a few time. You clear customers in one of the satellite terminals. They have the Kiosk for Canada and uS passengers so it is very quick to clear if you land a slow time. Delta has several international flights into Seattle as well as several foreign airlines and if you arrive at a busy time it may time quite some time to make it to the front of the line.

Baggage drop is just after you leave customs. After baggage drop there is a dedicate security line you go through and then you take a train to the appropriate terminal.

WARNING: Even if AS and UA are interline partners, they may have restrictive rules on interlining with separate tickets. I do know that DL has ended interlining when more than one ticket is involved - they will continue to do so on through tickets, but not when bought separately.

The OP is using two tickets, which may be problematic. I would highly suggest checking with both AS and UA as to their policy in this case.