United Airlines Eliminates Baggage Re-check for Sydney to San Francisco Connecting Flights

Travelers flying United Airlines from Sydney (SYD) to the U.S. and connecting through San Francisco (SFO) will no longer have to pick up and re-check their bags.

United today revealed that it has launched International Remote Baggage Screening (IRBS) for connecting passengers on its daily service from Sydney to another city, with a connection made in San Francisco.

By not having to collect and then re-check bags, and then go back through airport security, the airline says that the move saves passengers 45 minutes in between connections. It’s a huge relief for passengers and something that other airlines have also started doing, including American Airlines, which launched it on some international connections including on London (LHR) to Dallas (DFW) flights earlier this year.

As support for the program expands—United said that Sydney Airport, BagCheck and Brock Soolutions, a private baggage solution program, helped put the program together and American said that three different government organizations supported its launch—passengers can expect it at more and more airports.

“We’re streamlining the international arrival process by eliminating extra steps for travelers to pick-up and re-check their bags on connecting flights,” said Jennifer Schwierzke, United’s Vice President of Customer Operations Strategy and Execution. “Together with CBP, we’re testing this new process on routes between Sydney and San Francisco and plan to expand to additional international routes in the months ahead.”