Checking luggage on your next flight? Better get to the airport early. Very, very early.
US Airways appears to have a new policy for domestic travelers who want to check luggage in one of 12 cities, including Atlanta, Dallas, Denver and Philadelphia. Those customers must be there a full two hours before their flight leaves.
Yep, two hours.
[Note: this post has been updated. US Airways is now saying the cutoff time is 45 minutes. See below for details.]
I’ve asked US Airways to comment on this change, which one of its passengers brought to my attention today. I’ll update this post with the carrier’s response when I receive it. I’m told that the previous cutoff time had been an already-generous 1 1/2 hours at some airports.
A check of the other major airlines suggests US Airways is alone — at least for now — in requiring such long check-in times for passengers with baggage.
The closest appears to be United Airlines at 90 minutes. And that’s not even required — it’s just recommended.
Continental Airlines has a long list of airports with various required check-in times, but few come close to the new two-hour rule.
Flying on Delta Air Lines? In San Juan and St. Thomas, if you’re checking luggage, you need to be there an hour early. That seems to be the maximum for domestic flights.
American’s cutoff times are among the shortest. Nothing over 45 minutes.
What’s going on here? There are any number of possible explanations, from security screening problems to issues affecting the airline’s baggage system.
But from a customer’s point of view, having to arrive more than two hours before your flight in order to check in a bag is just silly — particularly if it’s a short-haul flight.
Instead of requiring passengers to get to the airport earlier, US Airways should try to fix whatever luggage problems it’s having.
Update: Just received the following email from a US Airways representative: “You’ve caught an error in the
text of this Web page. The policy is in fact at least 45 minutes prior
to departure for those twelve cities, not 2 hours as written. We’re having our Web people correct the textual error.”
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I have twice experienced 90 minute lines for security at Atlanta when major trade shows come to a close–and that’s JUST the security line.
Add 10 to 20 minutes before that to check your bags and you have your 2 hours while your airline has lots of time to get your bag to the right plane.
Actually, if you read the policy as written (still not corrected by USAir as of now), it states that you need to be checked-in at least 2 hours before departure (NOT that you have to physically be at the airport as implied in this article)…So, if you have web access, you can still check in as far out as 24 hours in advance from home (or from the hotel).
United does specify a 45 min cutoff prior to flight time for baggage check.
Again…if nobody brought this “error” to their attention, would it ever have been “corrected”?
Errors like this smack of underhandedness. a way of CYA that they can say “it’s posted on our website” if something goes the customer’s way…
Oh well…thanks for the vigillance!
Ed