Another DME question

[dianeschlicht]

For our NYE trip, our DS and his DF are flying in on Continental from Houston while DD and us will be flying in from Minneapolis on Sun Country. Our airline is not a DME member airline but theirs is. My question is, can they sign up for DME, have their bags transfered, but NOT take the bus? For the trip back, they would use the bus and the automatic luggage transfer. Is that possible, or would they have to be on the bus if their luggage is picked up? We will be on a tight schedule to make sure we can get into the park on NYE in case they close for maximum occupancy. I don't want to risk taking the bus and having it take too long to get to OKW. We plan to rent a car for 2-3 days at the begining of our trip and again for 2-3 days at the end.

[Leftcoaster]

For our NYE trip, our DS and his DF are flying in on Continental from Houston while DD and us will be flying in from Minneapolis on Sun Country. Our airline is not a DME member airline but theirs is. My question is, can they sign up for DME, have their bags transfered, but NOT take the bus? For the trip back, they would use the bus and the automatic luggage transfer. Is that possible, or would they have to be on the bus if their luggage is picked up? We will be on a tight schedule to make sure we can get into the park on NYE in case they close for maximum occupancy. I don't want to risk taking the bus and having it take too long to get to OKW. We plan to rent a car for 2-3 days at the begining of our trip and again for 2-3 days at the end.

Apparently, if they don't check in for DME, then the luggage won't get transferred. So, in theory, they could check in for DME and then ditch the bus. Once you check in, they send you to the queue which is in the same area. I think it'd be difficult to check in and then sneak away.
as a point of reference, I was at SSR less than an hour of my plane landing. (As soon as someone else turned on their cell phone, I turned on mine to see the time). My sister and her family was at SSR 1.5hrs from the plane landing.

[keishashadow]

When I made my ME res recently, MS told me that you must ride the bus in order for your luggage to be transported. We use AirTran, but MS said that they do participate? Think this info is incorrect. We're probably just going to rent a car for the full trip...I booked months ago & the rate is cheaper for 8 days than just a few now.

You don't have to use the ME luggage tags & can grab your own luggage @ MCO and taking it to the ME checkin desk. This is where you obtain a voucher to get on the bus. I was told that if you don't have the voucher scanned when you board the bus, your luggage will not follow. MS said you don't always physically ride with your baggage, but it will be delivered later to your room. Haven't read any posts wherein someone skipped the bus and their luggage was left @ the airport though...curious.

MS also verified that you can book both legs or just one, depending on your needs. Good Luck.

[dianeschlicht]

Thanks for the info. I was hoping they could just use it for the return trip and not the incoming trip. I guess we'll skip DME this time around.

[Leftcoaster]

Thanks for the info. I was hoping they could just use it for the return trip and not the incoming trip. I guess we'll skip DME this time around.


They can use it on the outgoing portion. You can book it for just that. They just can't use DME as a luggage transfer service when they arrive. Does that make sense?