Checked Baggage Questions

shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
F

frugalist

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Dec 18, 2009
Messages
352
Location
Central Florida, USA
Next up for Mrs. Frugalist and I is a round trip from Florida to Vancouver, BC. Outbound, we're taking the Silver Meteor to New York, the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, the California Zephyr to Sacramento, the Coast Starlight to Seattle and an AmBus to Vancouver.

We're planning to check a couple of suitcases, since we'll be taking a cruise once we get to Vancouver. I have a couple of questions regarding our checked bags:

1. Since we are not taking the most direct route to Vancouver (the Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle would be more direct), can we expect our checked bags to be on the same trains as us?

1a. I assume our bags will be tagged with a single tag marked VAC. Is that correct? Or is there a more complicated system that routes the bags via each of our transfer cities (NYP, CHI, SAC, VAC)? I guess I'm wondering how the exact route our bags will take to Vancouver is determined.

2. Once we get to Seattle, do our bags get transferred to the bus by Amtrak, or do we have to claim them in Seattle and see that they are put on the bus?

Thanks in advance.
 
I believe they will be sent to SEA by the most direct route. I'm not certain, but I believe you may have to "claim" your baggage in SEA before it is put on the bus. (I've never done this transfer, so I'm not sure. But especially with the border crossing, they will probably want to be sure the bag has an owner on the bus.) And there is no "storage fees" at SEA (or anywhere else) for 3 days.
 
Aloha

I don't know your schedule but you might be happier laying over in Seattle a night and taking the Cascades into Vancouver, BC. The scenery alone is worth it, then the way customs does its check is easy.
 
the_traveler, do I understand correctly that if we catch the CS from LAX-EUG arriving on Friday, leaving Sunday EUG-WAS .... that we can check some of our luggage at LAX to go directly to WAS, thereby not needing to lug all of our suitcases with us while in EUG?

 

That would be wonderful!!
 
hello said:
the_traveler, do I understand correctly that if we catch the CS from LAX-EUG arriving on Friday, leaving Sunday EUG-WAS .... that we can check some of our luggage at LAX to go directly to WAS, thereby not needing to lug all of our suitcases with us while in EUG?

 

That would be wonderful!!
Click to expand...
I don't know for sure if they will allow you to check bags at LAX to go to WAS when you're going to EUG . If you were coming back EUG-LAX-WAS, they probably might do that. But you're probably connecting in SAC or PDX on the way to WAS!

I have short checked bags like from PDX-WAS, and claimed them in WAS - because my final destination of KIN does not offer checked baggage service.

But you may want to ask at LAX and show them your WAS ticket. They can only say no - or yes!
smile.gif
 
I don't recall whether or not I had to claim my suitcase in Seattle before boarding the Ambus. However, at the boarder crossing into Canada, the bus driver unloaded all of our suitcases and we had to stand in a line with our suitcases while the crossing guard checked us.
 
The Traveler is correct in that luggage takes the most direct route. I have experienced two examples of such. One when Traveling the Cardinal, it was nearly four hours late into DC and it was already in lock-up. There was someone there waiting for us to unlock and hand it over. The other example was when traveling the Sunset LTD/Texas Eagle From LA to Chicago. Once arriving via the TE they retrieved it for us having arrived the day before on #4's SW Chief. NEVER have had a checked baggage issue with Amtrak. :)
 
GG-1 said:
I don't know your schedule but you might be happier laying over in Seattle a night and taking the Cascades into Vancouver, BC. The scenery alone is worth it, then the way customs does its check is easy.
Click to expand...
We looked into this and decided it was a good idea. So, we've changed our train and hotel reservations. We're now getting into Seattle at 8 PM or so, staying in Seattle overnight, then taking the Cascades up to Vancouver early the next morning. I really wasn't looking forward to that bus ride in the middle of the night anyhow.

Back to the baggage question: will the station agent in Florida tag our checked bags only through to Seattle, where we will have to claim them? Based on the earlier replies, I'm certain they will arrive in Seattle at least a day before we do. If so, we would then check them in the next morning to Vancouver, right? This is what I would expect given the earlier comment about no unaccompanied baggage across borders.
 
Since you are taking a more circuitous route, you must ensure that the agent in Florida only checks your bags to Seattle. They will as you noted arrive at least 1 day before you into Seattle. If your bags were checked to Vancouver, they would arrive there and you would not be on that train to claim them.

The way things work in VAC, is that the train is pulled into a fenced off area. Both sides of the train are fenced off. A baggage handler unloads the checked bags and sets them on the platform. As the line of passengers moves forward towards the customs area, you claim your checked bags.

So if you weren't there and your bags were, that would cause big issues. I'm actually not sure just what would happen, but my guess is that any unclaimed bags would be put back on the train and returned to Seattle that night.
 
AlanB said:
Since you are taking a more circuitous route, you must ensure that the agent in Florida only checks your bags to Seattle. They will as you noted arrive at least 1 day before you into Seattle.
Click to expand...
If all of the trains have baggage service (which in this case, they do), you can have the agent add routing tags to the bags, which will tell the handlers how to transfer it. This way, the luggage should come with you, rather than taking whatever they think is the best way to the final destination.
I've had this done number of times when taking the Empire Builder or Texas Eagle on my way to California, since the California Zephyr and Southwest Chief are the most direct trains.
 
Even if the agent puts the routing on the tag, there's nothing that says that the transfer employee seeing that the bag will end up in SBA will not put it on the SWC instead of the EB (as you requested). This is especially true if his or her supervisor saw that he or she put a bag bound for SBA on the EB going to SEA instead!
 
I've never had a bag with a routing tag misrouted.

Obviously, it's always a possibility. However, even a bag with a direct routing can be mistakenly directed.
 
I haven't checked baggage on Amtrak in a long time, but as I recall doesn't the tag just say "LAX" or "ALB" or "NYP"?
huh.gif
Is there a place to put 3 or 4 train numbers?
huh.gif


If there were and I checked bags, my tag would have to have 20 lines on it!
laugh.gif
 
The destination tag, with the the claim number only has the final destination. I believe that there are three spots on the transfer tag. As I think on it, I've never managed to need more than that many on a one-way trip.

However, if you figure in default routing at the endpoints, you can squeeze three or four total transfers out of a tag.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Latest posts

Back
Top