Luggage advice when overnighting mid trip at Hong Kong airport

I am arriving in Hong Kong at 8:30 PM on United Airlines and staying overnight at the Airport Regal Hotel. At 10:30 the following AM, I am departing for Singapore on Singapore Airlines. Should I check my luggage all the way through to Singapore or reclaim it in Hong Kong and recheck it in the morning?

Have you consulted with the airlines?

 

Is this all one ticket? Or separate tickets?

 

I don't believe that you would be allowed to check all the way through, and if I was doing this, I would want my luggage with me rather than sitting in a holding area in either airport.

 

You may find that you have no choice and must do what the airlines instruct you to do.

I would definitely collect it and re-check it the next day. I have done this many times. Usually the airlines want this anyway because you're supposed to always have your luggage and hand luggage in your possession. Just be sure to tell the airline baggage checkers when you first check in to only check it in to your first destination.

You absolutely want to have your luggage with you overnight. Singapore is extremely careful about screening luggage. If someone puts something in your luggage when it is out of your control, you could be in huge trouble when you arrive in Singapore.

 

Keep your luggage locked and secured as well.

If someone puts something in your luggage when it is out of your control, ...

 

 

What? If that were the case you should never check your luggage. Once you check it it is surely out of your control.

 

I would do what the airline says.

Should I check my luggage all the way through to Singapore or reclaim it in Hong Kong and recheck it in the morning?

The first question is whether your checked baggage will have anything in it that you'd want during your overnight stay. For example, what about the clothes you're going to wear the next day? Do you really want to (and actually can you) tote them around with you in your carry-ons? For most people, this factor alone is reason to want to have your bags with you overnight.

 

If you don't mind either way, then go with the flow. If the airline says you have to take your bags back in Hong Kong, it's a short walk from the terminal building to the Regal at the airport. If the airline's happy to look after them, then leave them with the airline.

 

I agree with the advice to make sure that your bags are securely locked. But personally I wouldn't otherwise have any concerns about leaving them overnight at Hong Kong airport.

Since you are going to stay in an off-airport hotel, I agree with Globaliser. Check you bags s far as Hong Kong, then retrieve them there. Re-check them the following morning, for your second flight.

Since you are going to stay in an off-airport hotel, I agree with Globaliser. Check you bags s far as Hong Kong, then retrieve them there. Re-check them the following morning, for your second flight.

The OP's hotel is within walking distance of the airport terminal. Personally I would claim my bags in Hong Kong and recheck them in the morning with Singapore Airlines. Globaliser's advice makes sense too.

Singapore Airlines allows baggage drop-off up to 48 hours before your flight's scheduled departure. Whether this is true at Hong Kong, I don't know. You might want to check with them.

The OP's hotel is within walking distance of the airport terminal. Personally I would claim my bags in Hong Kong and recheck them in the morning with Singapore Airlines. Globaliser's advice makes sense too.

 

Yes, the hotel is within walking distance of the terminal, but it is still off-airport. That means the OP will have to exit the secure area of the airport, go through immigration and claim luggage. He/she may then be able to re-check bags for the onward flight, or has the choice of keeping the bags and re-checking them later.

 

Some airports have a hotel within the secure area, where you can stay overnight, between flights. If the onward flight is within a certain number of hours, you do not have to reclaim your luggage, but can have it checked through to the final destination. (I've done this in Singapore, but don't know if teh same situation exists in Hong Kong.)

Yes, the hotel is within walking distance of the terminal, but it is still off-airport. That means the OP will have to exit the secure area of the airport, go through immigration and claim luggage. He/she may then be able to re-check bags for the onward flight, or has the choice of keeping the bags and re-checking them later.

 

Some airports have a hotel within the secure area, where you can stay overnight, between flights. If the onward flight is within a certain number of hours, you do not have to reclaim your luggage, but can have it checked through to the final destination. (I've done this in Singapore, but don't know if teh same situation exists in Hong Kong.)

There's a risk of this confusing several things.

 

The hotel is not "off-airport" in the conventional sense, because it remains on the airport campus and (like most on-airport hotels) is accessible by foot without the need for a transfer service. Many more airports have such on-airport hotels than have transit hotels within the sterile area. By definition, the market for a transit hotel's services is much more limited, and it can't do many things that on-airport hotels typically do, such as host meetings between people who have flown in and people who are based in the city where the airport is.

 

A transit hotel cannot, by definition, allow you access to your checked baggage because all checked baggage areas are outside the sterile passenger area (for obvious reasons).

 

However, you do not necessairly have to reclaim your checked baggage even if you decide to leave the sterile area and go to a landside hotel (whether on-airport or off-airport). In many cases, the airline will through-check your bags so you do not have to collect them between flights, even if you choose to exit the sterile area.

Yes, the hotel is within walking distance of the terminal, but it is still off-airport. That means the OP will have to exit the secure area of the airport, go through immigration and claim luggage. He/she may then be able to re-check bags for the onward flight, or has the choice of keeping the bags and re-checking them later.

 

Some airports have a hotel within the secure area, where you can stay overnight, between flights. If the onward flight is within a certain number of hours, you do not have to reclaim your luggage, but can have it checked through to the final destination. (I've done this in Singapore, but don't know if teh same situation exists in Hong Kong.)

 

This hotel is still on the airport. Globaliser has done a better job of actually sorting out what is on or off airport. The Hyatt Hotel in the Orlando airport (MCO) is in the airport terminal but outside the secure areas. Would you still consider it to be off the airport when it is located directly inside the terminal?

OK. I accept that I did not word my response very clearly.

 

What I was trying to convey is that the hotel the OP is using is outside the security area of the airport, which means that the OP will have to pass through immigration and customs (and baggage claim, if he/she decides to reclaim luggage).

 

This is different from the on-airport accommodation I was talking about, which is within the secure/transit area.

 

I was thinking of "off-airport" as being outside the airport terminal buildings, while Globaliser and others were defining it as being outside the entire geographical area encompassed by the airport.

 

You're right - it is confusing!

 

I am aware that, within certain time limitations, you do not have to reclaim your bags, even if you choose to go outside the secure transit area of the airport. I may be wrong, but something in my mind says the time limit is 12 hours. I would assume that, in order to not claim baggage, the itinerary would have to be booked on one ticket.

I am aware that, within certain time limitations, you do not have to reclaim your bags, even if you choose to go outside the secure transit area of the airport. I may be wrong, but something in my mind says the time limit is 12 hours. I would assume that, in order to not claim baggage, the itinerary would have to be booked on one ticket.

Thanks for the reply, celle!

 

As for the time limit, it depends very much on the airline and the airport. Each may impose its own time limit; in the airport's case, it is sometimes governed by the physical limitations of what the airport's systems can cope with.

 

Also, some airlines will through-check if travel is on two separate tickets, or will do so in some circumstances.

 

But the OP really needs to find out from the airlines concerned, and also to be prepared for the information given by the airline to be wrong.

I was thinking of "off-airport" as being outside the airport terminal buildings, while Globaliser and others were defining it as being outside the entire geographical area encompassed by the airport.

 

You're right - it is confusing!

 

FYI, the term for anything within the secure area of an airport or terminal is "airside". Everything else is "landside". These terms are used throughout the aviation, airport, and airline industry. Hope that helps!

FYI, the term for anything within the secure area of an airport or terminal is "airside". Everything else is "landside". These terms are used throughout the aviation, airport, and airline industry. Hope that helps!

 

Thank you. I'll try to remember.