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Baggage Limits
Cheap Charlie · September 22, 1999

As if we don't have enough obscure airline "policies" with which to deal, the airlines have saddled us with something relatively new -- baggage check-in time limits.

These limits differ from passenger check-in limits. These limits also vary depending on the airport and can make a big difference when faced together with another new airline policy -- luggage templates that prevent oversized luggage from passing through the x-ray machines.

In the past, passengers arriving late always had the option of "gate checking" their luggage right at the boarding gate or jetway. That way, many were relatively certain that their luggage would arrive together with them at their destination.

Now with policies effectively forbidding "gate checks" of luggage, make sure you hand your luggage over to the airline in time to make sure it can ride the conveyor belt to the airplane. This is a little-known rule, but it can be very important. All airlines have baggage check-in time limits which specify how long before a flight bags must be checked in order for the airline to be responsible for timely delivery of that baggage to its destination.

With the new baggage-matching requirements now in effect, this rule becomes more important. Passengers will only be allowed to travel on the same plane with their baggage. This will make the baggage check-in limit the last moment passengers can arrive for a flight unless they are at an airport where they can still "gate check" their bags.

Delta Air Lines has the most specific check-in deadlines -- bags must be checked in 15 minutes before departure at most airports; 20 minutes before departure at Atlanta, New York JFK, Los Angeles, Orlando and Las Vegas; and 30 minutes before departure at Washington Dulles and Denver International Airport.

American Airlines, TWA and US Airways don’t specify baggage check-in limits. They leave it up to the discretion of the agent. United Airlines has a 15-minute limit. Northwest Airlines has a 15-minute limit, except for Denver, where it is 25 minutes. Continental Airlines requires baggage check-in 20 minutes prior to a flight systemwide.

The biggest problem with these check-in deadlines is that they are rarely uniformly enforced. One day, gate agents will be turning away bags, the next they will be racing the bags out to make sure they get on the plane. It all seems to depend on which check-in agent you have the luck to meet.

If you are nice to all of them, your chances of having them call and let the luggage folk know one more bag is on the conveyor heading their way. Next time you fly, ask your travel agent or the airline ticketing person what the luggage check-in limits are for any airport where you plan to be checking in luggage.

Knowing those time limits ahead can make a big difference and mean a much more pleasant return from a business trip or vacation with your bags in hand.

Charlie Leocha is the Boston-based author of Travel Rights: Know the Rules of the Road and the Air Before You Go. Cheap Charlie appears every Monday on this site. E-mail him at cheapch@aol.com or access his Web site.