What happens to my bags if I miss my connecting flight?

I have a ticket from LAX to Tulsa via DFW but I would like to get off in Dallas now. I have to change planes in Dallas. I called the airline but they wanted to charge me to make this change. I thought I have 2 options, tell them in LA that I am getting off in Dallas or just miss my connecting flight. The trouble with telling them in LA is they may want to charge me. The problem with missing my connecting flight is when will I get my bags? So what would happen to my bags if I miss the flight?

If you fly a connecting flight usually your bags aren’t even on the same plane you are on. Often bags get there way before you do, because they are flying a more direct route, they will be waiting for you, but you will have to go to a baggage person since they were probably removed from the belt and stored somewhere else. They usually have a good idea where you are, so if they see that you missed a flight they will pull your bags.

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 28th, 2009 at 11:33 pm and is filed under connecting to. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “What happens to my bags if I miss my connecting flight?”

Michael B on November 29th, 2009 at 4:40 am

If you fly a connecting flight usually your bags aren’t even on the same plane you are on. Often bags get there way before you do, because they are flying a more direct route, they will be waiting for you, but you will have to go to a baggage person since they were probably removed from the belt and stored somewhere else. They usually have a good idea where you are, so if they see that you missed a flight they will pull your bags.
References :
a1c_labranche on November 29th, 2009 at 5:13 am

If you tell the agent in LAX that you are getting off in DFW, then they will cancel your leg to Tulsa. When they cancel the leg, they will charge you a cancellation fee.

If you get off of the flight in Dallas, then your bags will automatically go on over to Tulsa. I would get off of the flight in DFW. Go down to the airline’s baggage service office and tell the agents that you had to get off of the flight for whatever reason. They can go ahead and let Tulsa know that when they get your bag, please expedite it back to DFW. You can go ahead and just pick the bag up when it arrives.
References :
I work for a major airline.

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