Question about luggage
 

Hey guys,

I'm planning a trip to Hong Kong later in the year (October) and I've noticed that Seattle to Hong Kong is a good $500-$700 cheaper if I fly from Seattle. I'm seriously considering flying out of Seattle because of that.

A bunch of the flights from Seattle connect from Vancouver to Hong Kong. i.e. SEA -> YVR -> HKG

I know for the flight to Hong Kong I'll need to start off in Seattle. Am I able to get off at Vancovuer on the way back? HKG -> YVR -> get off -> pick up luggage -> go home?

I read on another forum that your checked in luggage goes straight from HKG to SEA and you can't pick it up from Vancouver. If that's the case then I'll be forced to go to Seattle and come back. If I CAN pick up my luggage in Vancouver then I'm obviously not going to take the final flight back to Seattle.

Will there be penalties if this happens? I don't fly much so any info would be appreciated!

from my understanding, whatever you plan your flights.
As in how they are booked, thats how the luggages get there, as in SEA > YVR > HKG. or vice versa. So yes the luggage does go from HKG to SEA.

As they are all stored, and dropped off via electronic distrubution (those tags on your luggage.) You won't be able to pick them up from YVR and leave. They don't do "manual drop offs." as I understand in your case.

So simply put, if your flights are HKG > SEA with a connector in YVR. you will need to pick up your luggage via seattle.

Edit: i'm also very very surprised your flight from Seattle would be cheaper then Van, Vancouver is either 1 or 2 in amuont of flights to HKG on the west coast. San Fran is the only one higher. My information might be dated, like good 3-4 years back.

I just priced the trip on the exact same dates and Seattle is ~$500 cheaper :eek:

have you tried an agent??

Oct last year cost me 900 through an agent

Haven't tried an agent yet but will be doing that soon.

Which agency did you go with? I'm gonna assume its a chinese one? There are so many of them that it's hard to pick haha

no you cant pick up ur luggage in vancouver if your ticket is scheduled for hk > yvr > sea and you get off at yvr

pretty much, I went with Jade.

you got so much time to pick and choose/wait for deals. I wouldn't even worry

Oct is slow season, anyways.

I'm the kind of person that likes everything planned out :o

Makes it much easier to coordinate with friends as well cause there might be 5 or 6 of us going.

Hmm....somebody just posted this

??

^
Yup, this is true. Your luggage is screened again by Transport Canada or whatever you call those clowns at the airport who check your bags through security. There is nothing stopping you from connecting or leaving the terminal.

What dates were you searching?

Fri Oct 15 - Sat Nov 6

No kidding just did a quick search and found the following. Price are tax inc.

YVR - HKG - $1243
SEA - HKG - $840

I'm just curious - if you were to fly out of Seattle, how would you get there? Drive down and do park and fly or have somebody drop you off? I guess an alternative is to take a shuttle bus/train. (This is directed to Ch28)

Still deciding on whether we'll be using Seatac Park (www.seatacpark.com/) or Quick Shuttle

Ex gf and I took the quick shuttle last time we flew out of Seatac and it was pretty good. It'll be cheaper to just do the Seatac Park if we carpool because it'll end up costing around $30-$40/person. Quick Shuttle will be close to $100/person but we don't have to deal with any of the driving there/back

Not to rain on your parade or anything: just some food for thought.

Based on what winson604 posted (let's use his example) you are saving approximately $400 (lets just round it.)

If you are going for 15 days, the parking will cost you $70/week based on the weekly rate x 3 weeks = $210 USD for your 3 week duration, plus the time it takes you to get there and back (depending on how you value your time.) Personally, I would say that it is easier to fly out of YVR. But if you feel that the dollar/cost value is more important, than this works just as well. I used to fly out of SEA a lot and found that it was easier to fly out of YVR. Driving there and back, cost of gas, food etc. adds up. It works out to be about the same.

But that's just me. And only me. :D

Edit: And you are gambling with the price of those fares. They may be cheap now but if you wait and book later, it may or may not go up so it may be a constraint to your initial plan.

Pre-911 you might be able to, but post-911 things are different.

You are attached to your luggage and if you leave the secured area, then the flight doesn't leave until they find you.
And I am pretty sure they do not take your luggage off of the plane during the stop over. And if you are changing flights, checked-in luggage is taken to the next plane by the airport staff so you cannot get access to your luggage.

Flights from YVR cost more because of the high taxes we have to pay.

I agree with you.

We did a 2 week trip to Florida back in November, and the shuttle bus down was fine as it was in the day time.

On the way back, we had an early 6 am flight, and had to wait 3 hours at the airport for the bus as the plane landed at the same time the earlier bus left.

The 4 hour bus ride was very painfull as we didn't get enough sleep the night before, didn't sleep to well on the plane, and found it hard to sleep on the bus.

Next time, staying overnight in Seattle might be a better option.

^
Yeah, staying overnight in Seattle is a good option.

I did that on a recent trip to Los Angeles. I slept overnight at one of the airport hotels and scored a $40 hotel @ the Holiday Inn on Priceline.com :D But after parking fees, food, gas, the time to get there and back, it wasn't worth it. I should have flown out of YVR instead.

But again, most people don't factor time in and base their travel solely on the dollar value savings.

Oh, and yes, you're right about the transfer part. They won't take off until you get on the plane. Failing to show up can result in penalties and won't be all that much of a savings when you see the charge on your credit card statement. :D

Edit: SeaTac Airport is ghetto.

You read my mind for my next post. I definitely agree with Duckes on this one. We aren't talking about taking Alligiant Air flying out of Bellingham with a cheap parking rate and 30-40 min drive only. This is Seattle we're talking about. The 2-3 hours in each direction alone is a huge turn off especially taking such a long flight like Hong Kong. I don't know about you but as soon as I come back from a trip I wanna get home ASAP let alone after a 10+ hour flight. I mean if you're going with lets say your gf then fine together you save $800 so it might be more worth while but I know I would still fly out of YVR lol.

It's not even that cheap to park at Bellingham. I think it is $9 per day. So say you are gone for a week, that is $63 USD.

SeaTac is worse. And you are totally right about wanting to get home ASAP after a 12 hour flight. Not to mention, depending on what time the plane lands, you might be too fatigued to safely make the 3 hour drive home from Seattle, and there is still the border wait.

^
Yeah, Bellingham isn't that cheap when you do all the math. For a short trip, sure but even then, you're very limited to where you go and who you fly with. SeaTac - Man, I already have problems being on a plane for an hour, nevermind a flight to HK. :lol

Most likely that price will decrease.

Actually yea you're right. I keep thinking cheap because by far the most popular trip to take from Alligiant is Vegas and that's usually like 4 days of parking. $9/day over 2+ weeks sure does add up.

Dukes - Fo sho mang even a flight to Vegas is enough for me let alone anything longer. YVR or nothing for me.

http://www.seatacpark.com/savings.aspx

$150 to park there for a month. We'll be gone for 3 weeks so it averages out to be ~$37.5/person if the other 2 are confirmed to go.

I do understand where you guys are coming from though. Family friends had flights back to HK last summer for ~$700 something so hopefully prices go down closer to that since October is suppose to be a slow time for them.

Darthchilli just flew back to HK for $1040 tax in with Cathay Pacific from YVR so that's not too bad.