Southwest vs. UPS

[knowitall]

I need 100 pounds of food shipped Overnight. Instead of paying UPS, I was thinking of: booking a friend a southwest flight, he would check the bags and go home. I would pick them up when they arrive in my city.
I believe PPBM doesn't apply to domestic flights, so the bags will fly even though he's a no-show.
Any potential problems?

[CS1]

I need 100 pounds of food shipped Overnight. Instead of paying UPS, I was thinking of: booking a friend a southwest flight, he would check the bags and go home. I would pick them up when they arrive in my city.
I believe PPBM doesn't apply to domestic flights, so the bags will fly even though he's a no-show.
Any potential problems?

Wouldn't they check that he boarded the plane? It's my understanding that they remove luggage in recent years if the traveler doesn't show up (as a security/bomb-prevention matter)? Or is that just int'l?

[eli1571]

How would you get to the carousel to take the luggage ?

[knowitall]

Wouldn't they check that he boarded the plane? It's my understanding that they remove luggage in recent years if the traveler doesn't show up (as a security/bomb-prevention matter)? Or is that just int'l?

Like I said, PPBM( positive passenger bag match) is only on international flights.
Has anyone heard of them offloading bags from a domestic flight?

[ShlockDoc]

How would you get to the carousel to take the luggage ?

That's usually outside of security.  Although depending on the airport, they occasionally do random ID checks to retrieve bags...

[CS1]

How would you get to the carousel to take the luggage ?

he's the one getting the luggage. It's his friend who is the no-show.  (Wish it would work -- it's $600 and it takes 5+ days for temp controlled truck across the country. SW would be better, if allowed...)

[knowitall]

How would you get to the carousel to take the luggage ?

Baggage claim is always in the "landside"/nonsecure part of the airport.
Though in some airports like AA in LGA, they have an agent by baggage claim making sure nobody steals bags.

[Agoldsc1]

Wouldn't they check that he boarded the plane? It's my understanding that they remove luggage in recent years if the traveler doesn't show up (as a security/bomb-prevention matter)? Or is that just int'l?

And even if the suitcases do get on the plane, depending on the airport, you might need to show a baggage receipt in order to retrieve the luggage (as in LGA). Sounds much too risky to me.   

[ShlockDoc]

And even if the suitcases do get on the plane, depending on the airport, you might need to show a baggage receipt in order to retrieve the luggage (as in LGA). Sounds much too risky to me.

Depending on the situation and the fare, it may be worth actually flying a person rout trip instead of shipping 2 50lbs packages...

[username]

Quick story. I know someone who at the last minute had to stay OOT for pesach, to help another family. So the guy's mother fedex-ed him the whole yom tov. dropped it of at 5:00 pm for next day delivery. Chicken, kugels, you name it. Truck arrives 10:05. 



No cost, gaurenteed delivery by 10:00 AM.

Money-Back Guarantee. At our option, we will, upon request, either refund or credit your transportation charges in the event of a service failure (which means delivery of your package 60 seconds or more after the published delivery commitment time for the selected service and destination, except as otherwise described in these terms and conditions).

[beeweegee]

Quick story. I know someone who at the last minute had to stay OOT for pesach, to help another family. So the guy's mother fedex-ed him the whole yom tov. dropped it of at 5:00 pm for next day delivery. Chicken, kugels, you name it. Truck arrives 10:05. 



No cost, gaurenteed delivery by 10:00 AM.

Wow. How much was the refund?

[username]

Dont know the exact $, this was many years ago, but it was huge. Maybe others on the forums know.

[zow]

If the friend has the time to kill, I would think the best plan would be to have him take the round trip flight. Probably cheaper than FedEx, even with the RT airfare.