Today I wanted to talk about Walt Disney World Resort Airline Check-In which is one of the most convenient benefits of staying on-site at a Disney Resort. This complimentary service allows guests to check their luggage, and receive a boarding pass for their flight home right at their Walt Disney World Resort. If you use this service, you can hand over your checked luggage and you don’t have to see or handle it again until your flight lands at home.
Although this service has been around for a few years, I mention it because many guests think that this service is available only to guests using Magical Express. This is a service open to all resort guests, even those not using Disney’s Magical Express service. It is one of the many benefits of staying at an on-site Walt Disney World resort. It is available for Walt Disney World on-site Resorts but not available at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin or Shades of Green.
Guests wishing to use this service must have a domestic flights departing from Orlando International Airport flying on of the following airlines:
Air Tran Airlines
Alaska Airlines
American Airlines
Delta airlines
JetBlue Airways
Southwest Airlines
United Airlines
US Airways
*These participating airlines can occasionally change. Check with the concierge desk or information pamphlet in your resort room to confirm your airline’s participation.
UPDATE: Disney’s Resort Airline Check-in is now allowing international travelers to use their service.
To utilize this service, you will head to the Disney Resort Airline Check-In desk on your check-out day. Resort Airline Check-In desks are typically located just outside the main lobbies of the Disney Resorts and are open from 5:00 AM until Noon. Take only the bags you want to check with you to the desk. Don’t bring any luggage you will carry on the flight. You can keep carry-on luggage with you or stow it with Bell Services until you are ready to depart the resort. Bags must be checked no less than three hours prior to your flight time and no more than 12 hours prior to your flight time. If you have a flight prior to 8:00 AM you may not use the service because you will not able to check the bags the required 3 hours in advance.
If the airline you are flying charges a fee for checked bags, you can pay those fees by calling Baggage Airline Guest Services at 407-284-1231 between 5:00 AM and 11:00 PM. You should pay those fees prior to checking in at the desk. You can pay baggage fees with a MasterCard, Visa, American Express or Discover Card. It is also important to note that bags must be of normal size and weight to use this service. The Resort Airline Check-In desk cannot accept overweight or oversized luggage. You can check your specific airline’s website for luggage weight and size restrictions.
For families traveling together, an adult can check into the flight for his or her spouse and children. Just take the luggage and government issued photo ID for those guests over 18 and a valid Key to the World Resort ID to the airline check in desk. Your luggage will be checked & you will receive the boarding passes for your family.
This is a service operated by an outside company. It is customary to tip the agents who are checking your luggage. A tip of one or two dollars per bag seems like a small price to pay to avoid having to deal with your luggage at the airport.
We use this service every time we have checked luggage and I have never had an issue. We typically have a rental car and I love getting rid of my checked bags in the morning and playing in the parks until we have to leave for the airport. I also love that I avoid the luggage check-in lines at the airport. We all know that those lines can sometimes be very long. We have found the check-in process to be fast and we usually don’t encounter much of a line.
Have you used this service? I think it is great, but let me know what you think below.
