I'll be travelling to Austin from Surat (India) via San Francisco.
The itinerary is as follows
Ticket 1:
- Surat <--> New Delhi - Air India
- New Delhi <--> San Francisco - United
Ticket 2:
- San Francisco <--> Austin - United
I have a twelve-hour layover in San Francisco. I wanted to know whether I can drop/checkin the baggage I pick up after landing in SFO immediately for my next flight so I can venture out in the city - without being burdened with carrying the bags everywhere.
From these two questions on the forum, it seems like a "baggage drop-off" counter exists at the SFO international arrival, however, this would only be a possibility if the bags are already marked for Austin. Which I'm not sure they would be since I booked the two United flights separately.
So my questions finally are:
- Will my baggage already be marked for Austin. If not, can they be (since it's the same airline)?
- Where and how do I request for my bags to be marked for Austin so I can avail this immediate drop-off at SFO? In Surat? In Delhi?
If I cannot get my luggage forwarded to my next flight (after customs/immigration) I would probably need to use a cloakroom - since I understand, I cannot check-in baggage for my domestic flight more than 2-3 hours prior to departure. I was hoping I could circumvent that!