Luggage and customs

[emmylou]

We have a connecting flight at LHR to BSL. Do we have to verify our checked in luggage.I seem to recall when we had a connecting flight to Scotland when we went to board for our flight we were stopped because we didn't go somewhere to verify the luggage was ours and we had a connecting flight on the aircraft it was labled for.This was eleven years ago and the attendent was very helpful in getting it straightened out for us without having to miss our flight.With a four hour layover I want to make sure I have all my i's dotted and my t's crossed before we are to board the plane to Basel. Thanks for any help you can give me.

emmy

[JJPNYC]

I've never seen this.

 

The couple of times I've flown internationally with a connection at a foreign airport, the only times I see my luggage is when I'm dropping it off at my home airport and then against when I'm pulling it off the baggage carousel at my arrival airport.

[Globaliser]

We have a connecting flight at LHR to BSL. Do we have to verify our checked in luggage.

I've had this done just once in my entire life. It would be very unusual for it to happen at Heathrow. If they need you to do it, they will almost certainly try to page you. I think that they also do this if they need to get into your bag to search it, which is also extremely rare.

 

The place that I had to do this was Bombay, literally at 3 am, in the pouring rain. Part of travel's great tapestry of adventures.

[emmylou]

Globaliser, Never did find out what it was all about.Our luggage was intact when we got to Scotland.I guess we can count our blessings this only happened the one time for both of us. What is the procedure do we go thru customs in London and in Basel????

JJPNYC,

I'm glad you never had the experience it scared the H--- out of us as we thought for a moment we weren't going to be aloud to board.

emmy

[Globaliser]

What is the procedure do we go thru customs in London and in Basel????

In London, there won't be any immigration or customs. Your bags should be through-checked, so you simply get off the aircraft in London and follow the signs for Flight Connections to the correct terminal. Somewhere along your route you will be security screened, but that is the only formality you'll encounter. If you don't already have your onward boarding pass for your London-Basel flight, you'll need to stop at an airline desk to pick one up. And then, at the approrpriate time, you go to the gate. You don't say which airlines and routes you're flying, so I can't be more specific about which terminals or about the transfer process.

 

So when you get to Basel, it'll be a standard international arrival. I haven't flown to Basel since I was 5½ weeks old, so don't know what the airport looks like! But should encounter immigration, baggage reclaim and customs in that order, as usual. The only wrinkle in this is that I seem to recall that Basel airport has exits to both the Swiss and French sides of the border, so you need to know which direction you're heading to.