Multi-stop flights

Dagless said:

In June I'll be flying from Manchester (UK) to LA (with London and NY inbetween) and vice versa on the way back, but this is the first time I'll be stopping over and I'm not sure what to expect. Even the British Airways site doesn't offer much support on this for such n00bs.

Do I only have to pass security at the first airport?
Do I have to claim my baggage at each airport and go through checking in again?

I'm hoping it's as easy as possible!

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really depends if you have to go threw customs. If you never have to go threw customs then they handle it all. The only time you run into trouble is if you have to go from an international flight to a domestic one.

Is it on BA all the way?

There is a minor personal re-screening in LHR - but your bags will have to be claimed on your first stop in the US so Customs can go through them.

Which airport in NY, JFK?

I believe you'll hit customs from the UK to NY but not NY to LA. You won't need to go through security again from NY to LA either. When I went I had to go through customs in NY when I flew out of LHR and vice versa. But from NY to LA I wasn't bothered. My checked lugged followed me but I didn't see it after I boarded the plane in LHR and it was waiting for me when I got to LAX.

Rodimus Prime said:

really depends if you have to go threw customs. If you never have to go threw customs then they handle it all. The only time you run into trouble is if you have to go from an international flight to a domestic one.

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He will have to go through Customs, there's no escaping it.

Guessing it will be like this:

Check bags in MAN, security screening in MAN
Arrive LHR, minor security check (certainly if leaving from a different terminal than the one you arrive at)
Arrive NY (Guessing JFK), claim bags, go through Customs, may be another security check, re-check bags
Arrive LAX, claim bags

Dagless said:

It's BA for the most part, but to and from LA and NY another company takes over.
Yes it's JFK.

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This potentially gets a bit more tricky then.

You should call BA and make sure that your bags can be checked all the way through to your final destination (LA). This is called interlined baggage and while it's pretty common, it's not universal.

If it can be checked all the way through, then no worries, it will be as I described it above. If not, you'll have to manage it all yourself, e.g., claim it and then re-check it. That process may take you out of the secured "airside" part of the airport, but since you'll be transferring to a US domestic flight it won't be a major additional hassle - just something to keep your eyes on.

Edit:

I see your edit, and that's pretty much perfect. On the outbound (MAN to LAX) journey, you won't see your bags until LAX, you'll clear Customs there.

Do you arrive and leave from T5 (Terminal 5) in LHR? If so, that's even better.

smithrh said:

Is it on BA all the way?

There is a minor personal re-screening in LHR - but your bags will have to be claimed on your first stop in the US so Customs can go through them.

Which airport in NY, JFK?

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I think the key here is multi-stop flights. OP, are you taking different flights, or is it that you are on the same flight or carrier and have a simple change of planes? If you are not spending any time in London or New York, and your final destination (without leaving the airport) is LAX, you should clear customs at LAX, not JFK.

Prime example of this. I had a flight from Omaha to Melbourne (VIC) that flew KOMA-KDEN-KLAX-NZAA-YMML. the first OMA-DEN run was domestic, with a change of planes. The DEN-LAX run was also domestic with a change of planes. The LAX-AKL and AKL-MEL run was all the same plane with the stop in Auckland. I had to deplane, but since AKL wasn't my final stop, I didn't clear customs in New Zealand, but did when I got to Melbourne. Same thing on the reverse, and I cleared customs at LAX, but that was also because I had to change to a domestic flight.

If the flight you are on from Heathrow to NYC is the same plane from NYC to LAX, you probably will still be an in-transit passenger at NYC and won't have to worry about customs there. If you are changing to a domestic flight, you'll clear customs at JFK, as you'd have to enter the country to get to your domestic flight.

Without revealing much, could you post the flight number(s) for your trip? That would tell all for what would happen.

BL.

bradl said:

I think the key here is multi-stop flights. OP, are you taking different flights, or is it that you are on the same flight or carrier and have a simple change of planes? If you are not spending any time in London or New York, and your final destination (without leaving the airport) is LAX, you should clear customs at LAX, not JFK.

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No, one will clear CBP formalities at the first point of arrival into the United States (pre-clearance airports in Canada, Ireland, etc. count as your port of entry to the US). This is required even for transit passengers.

However, since the OP is flying LHR-LAX nonstop, this is a non-issue.

jessica. said:

I believe you'll hit customs from the UK to NY but not NY to LA. You won't need to go through security again from NY to LA either. When I went I had to go through customs in NY when I flew out of LHR and vice versa. But from NY to LA I wasn't bothered. My checked lugged followed me but I didn't see it after I boarded the plane in LHR and it was waiting for me when I got to LAX.

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He will have to go through security for NY-LA. Because he comes in contact with his luggage while going through customs, he has to be rescreened since there's dangerous stuff you can carry in your luggage that you can't carry on board....like a bottle of water

aethelbert said:

No, one will clear CBP formalities at the first point of arrival into the United States (pre-clearance airports in Canada, Ireland, etc. count as your port of entry to the US). This is required even for transit passengers.

However, since the OP is flying LHR-LAX nonstop, this is a non-issue.

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According to the OP, he's flying EGLL-KJFK-KLAX, so he isn't nonstop. That's why I asked about the flight number. If it is indeed making the stop, he may be in transit, or may have to clear customs at JFK. If it is nonstop, he's clearing it at LAX. If it is stopping and he doesn't have to exit the plane, he may not have to clear customs at JFK, so his port of entry would be LAX.

BL.

Bradl:

Read his :01 edit - he updates it to a LHR -> LAX leg.

Dagless: Good - you don't want to be changing terminals at LHR if you can avoid it.

aethelbert said:

No, one will clear CBP formalities at the first point of arrival into the United States (pre-clearance airports in Canada, Ireland, etc. count as your port of entry to the US). This is required even for transit passengers.

However, since the OP is flying LHR-LAX nonstop, this is a non-issue.

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Similarly, on the way back via JFK, he won't have any issues as LAX to JFK is domestic so he won't have to clear customs again until getting back to England.

Bags should be easy assuming the OP is flying with OneWorld member airlines all the way?

why would you do this to yourself? why not just fly MAN to LHR to LAX?

yg17 said:

He will have to go through security for NY-LA. Because he comes in contact with his luggage while going through customs, he has to be rescreened since there's dangerous stuff you can carry in your luggage that you can't carry on board....like a bottle of water

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That's right. I had forgotten. Bummer.

Recently I had the un-fun experience of waiting 4 hours in Dubai's passport control area... ugly. I was wondering why the hall was so big, "ahh, that's why!"

Second time through was less than 10 minutes, go figure.

Dagless, you'll be fine - although I would say that a connecting time of two hours or less in LHR if changing terminals is cutting it a bit close. There's a lot of tromping around and herding and shuttling involved. Sounds like you're staying in T5 so that should actually be nice for you - it is a showcase terminal.