LAX - Westjet/Qantas Question

[Eric873]

Hi there,

I'm new to international travel and I was hoping someone might be able to answer a couple of questions...

My partner and I will be flying from Toronto to Melbourne, with a 10 hour layover in LAX. We'll be flying out on Westjet from YYZ -LAX and then on Qantas from LAX - MEL (it's all on one ticket).

We were wondering:

1) Will our baggage be checked all the way through from Toronto to Melbourne, or will we need to pick it up when we get to LAX? It looks like Westjet and Qantas have some sort of interline agreement whereby the luggage goes all the way through, but we weren't sure....

2) If our baggage is checked through to Melbourne, can we then leave the airport without our baggage or do we need to pick it up first? Since our layover is so long we figured we'd check out the beach for a couple of hours, but we probably won't do that if we have all of our luggage on-hand...

Thanks! I know these may seem like fairly basic questions, but I haven't been able to find a firm answer anywhere.

Cheers,
Eric

 

[RichardMEL]

G'day Eric,

yes, WS (Westjet) should tag your bags through to MEL from YYZ so you will not see them at LAX.

You can leave the terminal at LAX (you should get your boarding passes in Toronto)

Remember: In Toronto you will pre-clear US Customs/Immigration(just tell them you're in transit) and at LAX you arrive at the WS terminal (T2? I forget which) and you can leave and go to town or the beach or whatever.. Just remember to leave enough time on return to go through security again at the Tom Bradly Terminal (TBIT) - so keep your passport/ID/BP's and get to the gate in time

hope this helps