"Your results may vary"
Nothing is for sure, but Southbound, you mention "a small plane".... does this mean you are
connecting with TACA outside the USA? If so, everything gets "
fluid", so to speak.
If you have
checked your bags through from ND on United all the way through to RTB, and all you have to do is change planes... your bags are on their way through. You yourself however will have to mutz through security with your carry on after presenting your passport at the outside TACA desk.
The word carry-on sounds like carrion which is something avian raptors consume, which always makes me smile a bit when I envision "gate checking" a bag... having it torn from your grasp much as a baby from a refugee as you try to step aboard the plane with your Pelican 9600 Steamer Roller Locker
Worrying about the carry-on bag? If you are running through a US gateway such as Miami or Houston,
if it's "reasonable", there is nothing to worry about. Understand that TACA is the rough equivalent of a high speed bus for many Salvadorans on a shopping mission to Texas. The airline put up with Central Americans hauling cardboard boxes of machine tool parts to televisions strapped in duct tape. For years, we divers got away with hauling anything- quite often as carry-on. Not no more.
This advice kind-of mostly usually applies to all US departure cities where they use real-deal looking airplanes versus the wind-up balsa wood models in service from the CA mainland to the islands.
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Skip the big roller bags, stay with softsided carry-ons and personal items. Pelican cases are cute, but ridiculous for carry-on. The less attention you attract from the lady walking around with the "sizing exemplar", the better. TACA sometimes may or may not require you to place a TACA tag on your cabin bag, they may also capriciously require you to hang a peel-and-stick tag on your carryon showing that it is approved.
As you return to the US, you are going to have to collect your bags and pass customs, then re-check them just inside American soil.
the theory used to be that the overseas carrier's rules dictated the arrangement in terms of codeshare, but I have been hosed coming through London from the red Sea on that deal.
Does anyone trust TACA?
Depends on what you mean by "trust". All I can say is, once you re on-board, once the door is closed... it's pretty damned good. They have really shaped-up a lot since the worst days, the forward cabin "Executivo" is as good as most European airlines. Main Cabin (aka: monkeyclass or steerage) is no worse and mostly better than any US Carrier... sometimes. Might want to bring some fast food from the airport, what the heck?
You simply can not get a straight answer from anyone by telephone. This is endemic to most such airlines.
A quiet smile and pleasant demeanor will go a long way to smooth your interactions. I have flown TACA maybe 150 times and I still can't figure it out. Just get your ticket, stand in line, get on the plane.
How to take your best shot at hanging on to TSA locks:
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ADVICE: Traveling with "Third World Airlines"
Mark your bags with
three separate baggage tags besides the airline's baggage sticker. Make up these tags with your
name, PNR# (Passenger Name Record) The date, your flight numbers and all connex, plus the resort info phone and name where you want to end up. I make the copies at Kinkos and laminate them right there. A hole punch and using some wax coated string (Wallmart Craft Section), tie three onto each and every bag.
Seriously. Do this.
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