YYZ - RTB - does luggage go straight through?

[Dogbowl]

I think I want to go to Roatan sometime in October and to my knowledge, there will be no direct flights during this time. I think Air Transat starts their direct flights at the end of November, and we can't do end of November.

My only options are 1-stop flights on Delta, United or American Airlines. I'm wondering, for those of you who have taken similar flights from Toronto to Roatan, whether our luggage goes straight through to Roatan from Toronto? If I have to pick up luggage when I get to Miami, Houston or Atlanta, and have to re-check them to Roatan, that will affect how much layover time I need and I'll need to plan accordingly.

In Toronto, we pass through US customs locally, so don't have to do it again when we arrive at the layover destination.

 

[Joe Cool]

I have not flown from Toronto to Roatan but I have flown to several Caribbean destinations via a US airport from Vancouver BC. You will need to pick up your luggage upon landing in the US and then re-check it to the next flight out of the US even if the carrier is the same. This is true for all flights transiting through the US from an international origin to an international destination.

So, when researching flights that transit through the US, make sure you leave enough time on the ground between flights so you can go through immigration, comfortably claim, go through security, and re-check your luggage. This is one of the reasons why I do not enjoy transiting through the US. But, for destinations like Roatan, it seems that we (Canadians) don't have much choice especially if you have to travel in October.

I just did a Google Search and I found a Columbian airline, Avianca, that has flights between Toronto and Roatan. Not sure if it is a direct flight or the frequency of their flights between these cities.

 

[Dogbowl]

Thanks for your info @Joe Cool . That’s unfortunate but it is what it is. Maybe a direct flight to Curaçao or the Caymans might be a better option for October.

 

[beluga2]

I have flown YYZ to RTB more than a dozen times on United and each time my luggage was checked all the way to final destination both ways.

 

[Hoag]

@Dogbowl I think Sunwing also flies non-stops YYZ - RTB. It may be worth looking into when they start.

One of the problems that I ran into when flying to RTB was that Air Transat and Sunwing fly mid week (Monday and/or Thursday) but most of the resorts prefer to book Saturday to Saturday, so unless the destination resort is willing to work with you, even if you can get a non-stop, it might not be viable. In my case, Coco View was very willing to accept me Thursday-Thursday, but YMMV depending on how busy the resort is that week.

 

[Hoag]

I have not flown from Toronto to Roatan but I have flown to several Caribbean destinations via a US airport from Vancouver BC. You will need to pick up your luggage upon landing in the US and then re-check it to the next flight out of the US even if the carrier is the same. This is true for all flights transiting through the US from an international origin to an international destination.

So, when researching flights that transit through the US, make sure you leave enough time on the ground between flights so you can go through immigration, comfortably claim, go through security, and re-check your luggage. This is one of the reasons why I do not enjoy transiting through the US. But, for destinations like Roatan, it seems that we (Canadians) don't have much choice especially if you have to travel in October.

I just did a Google Search and I found a Columbian airline, Avianca, that has flights between Toronto and Roatan. Not sure if it is a direct flight or the frequency of their flights between these cities.

Just out of curiosity, did you clear US Customs & Immigration in CYVR prior to boarding? I have found that this makes a difference. If you clear before departure, then for all practical purposes, the flight becomes a domestic flight with no need to pickup luggage at the connection. If, however, you do not clear US Customs before departure, then you will typically have to pick up your baggage and clear US customs at your connection.

IIRC, both terminals in CYYZ have US Customs & Immigration (I know Terminal 3 does and I think Terminal 1 does as well but I am not 100% sure on that.) as you go through security.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

Joe cool is not correct, they go all the way through, the bit joe cool is missing is that at toronto you go through us immigration before you get on the plane. it's a toronto thing that doesn't happen at other airports, so you don't need to go go through immigration at first point landing in the US as you have technically been in the us in toronto airport.

this is why flying to belize through miami from toronto is a dream...you land at one gate, leave the plane and take 12-15 steps to the left and get the flight to belize from the next gate.

i have flown to multiple carrib destinations from toronto through the US and have never picked up my luggage on landing in the us. on the return leg you will need to pick up your luggage though.

 

[Dogbowl]

Thank you all for the great discussion. Don’t you wish this was clearly written out somewhere on the airlines’ website?

As @Ministryofgiraffes says, even if luggage goes straight through from YYZ, on the return trip, you may still have to pick up your luggage and go through customs, so...with all this uncertainty and different people with different experiences, we’ve decided to wait until either Sunwing or Air Transat flies direct to avoid the hassle. My hubby and I are extremely averse to hassle.

@Hoag , we were intending to go to Covoview too so I’m glad to hear that they accommodate a midweek to midweek stay. We’ve been trying to go to Cocoview for years but the flight situation has always put us off. We’ll just have to plan for it better.

In the meantime, we’ll be headed to Curaçao on a direct Air Canada flight. So much easier!

 

[Mike Walker]

My experience from YYC to most Caribbean locations through the US on a US carrier (I've used united, american and delta) is that luggage goes through IF your layover is less than 12 hours. Anything more than 12 hours and they make you claim your luggage (I had one that was 12:03 and they still wouldn't budge - had to drag all my gear to hotel and back).

YYC, YYZ and YVR are all preclear so the experience should be the same. It's also been the same coming back from Curacao, USVI, Nassau if I recall correctly. I believe Caymans into Houston required me to clear at Houston (and thanks to a 3 hour delay on inbound, miss my connecting flight after running 0.5mi bags in tow) and Grenada into MIA also wanted to look at bags in Miami (including spending an hour in the 'feel like a criminal' room).

 

[Dogbowl]

Some more data points...and still no concensus except that it depends...