5

I am flying from Frankfurt to Seoul (South Korea), changing airlines, and flying to Fukuoka, Japan, on the same day. I have ADHD and have received special permission from the Japanese authorities to bring in my medication. However, South Korea didn't give me permission because I wasn't on time.

Is there a way to check onto my flight from Seoul to Fukuoka without passing customs? In other words, fetch my bags and check into my onward flight without going through customs.

Improve this question
4
  • 2
    Are all your flights on the same ticket? What airlines are you flying, and do you have checked bags?
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Mar 25 at 9:15
  • 1
    Did South Korea refuse you permission? If they have that in their systems (I don’t know if they will but it seems possible), then trying to bring them anyway might be a risk, regardless of whether you pass customs.
    – Traveller
    Commented Mar 25 at 9:35
  • No, all the flights are not on the same ticket. I will probably have checked bags, would it help not to? They refused permission only because my submission did not have the required 10 working days for processing. I submitted it 9 working days before departure. The substance in question is concerta, which I don't know if it really is blacklisted because I can't seem to find a South Korean blacklist, only an infographic which lists things like cbd and methamphetamine.
    – dasPing
    Commented Mar 25 at 10:39
  • 1
    I forget to answer that I am flying MIAT Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air
    – dasPing
    Commented Mar 25 at 11:38

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5

It will depend on the airlines: whether they interline, ie handle each other's luggage. If they do, you will be able to check your luggage all the way to Fukuoka, regardless of whether you have one or two tickets. Been there, done that. If they don't, tough luck: you'll have to pick up your luggage, pass through Customs, and go upstairs to check in again.

The main issue here is of course Customs: Korea has an automated x-ray system for luggage offloaded from planes. Anything suspicious will lead to the luggage to be tagged with a huge yellow padlock that plays a loud music when arriving at the Customs checkpoint. A bunch of pills might (or not) trigger the alarm.

However, even if you get tagged, you should be fine. My luggage was tagged once, because of an excessive number of alcohol bottles, and upon showing my onward boarding pass for Japan to the Customs officer during the secondary inspection, I was let go without a fine, and my bottles were not confiscated.

Be polite, speak slowly and softly – their English is more often than not VERY basic (I speak fluent Korean, EXCEPT in such cases ;-) – and the officer will be very reasonable too.

Improve this answer
4
  • "Will be able to check..." seems a bit excessive. Many airlines will not check-through on separate tickets even if they interline, or only do it for tickets on the same airline or on airlines of the same alliance. Some have explicit policies about it, others are a lot more vague and it will depend on the check-in agent.
    – jcaron
    Commented Mar 25 at 14:14
  • 1
    I'm speaking from experience here. Interlining in Asia works WAY better than the rest of the world. I have 20+ years of business flying behind me, and never had an issue with interlining, including with airlines from different alliances. CX-SG, KAL-JAL, TG-MH, etc. As long as you have the flight number, they'll manage. You might get your onward boarding pass, or not. But luggage will be taken care. LCCs, OTOH, all bets are off.
    – user138870
    Commented Mar 25 at 14:20
  • OP is departing from Frankfurt, flying on an airline which most likely uses local agents "rented by the hour" for check-in. I'm not sure I would be that confident that it *will happen.
    – jcaron
    Commented Mar 25 at 14:26
  • I had flights like CDG-FRA with LH, FRA-HKG; or BOD-CDG with AF, CDG-HKG with CX (that one every 6 weeks for 3 years), separate tickets. Luggage checked in all the way. No issues.
    – user138870
    Commented Mar 25 at 14:32
3

No, all the flights are not on the same ticket.

MIAT and Korean Air do have codeshare/interlining agreements, so it's technically possible for them to check the bags through. However since these are two separate tickets, this is not standard procedure and entirely in their discretion (and depends on the capability of the check-in agent). You can call the first check-in airline and ask but unless you get written confirmation that they will do it, you have to operate under the assumption that you need to retrieve your luggage and clear customs and immigration.

Note that you MUST have proper credential to enter South Korea, otherwise the first airline won't let you board in the first place.

That leaves you with a few choices:

  • Travel without the meds
  • Bring a prescription from your doctor and try to fill it in Japan (Concerta is legal in Japan)
  • Bring the drug anyway and hope for the best. I've been carrying a (harmless) prescription drug for many years on 100s of flights into dozens of countries and no one has ever checked or asked. Even if you get caught: Concerta is legal and you tried to be diligent so chances are the worst that can happen is that they confiscate it. Since it's a legal drug and you have a some day onward ticket they may let yo keep it.
Improve this answer
1
  • Concerta (methylphenidate) is a controlled Schedule II drug, so "the worst that can happen" is jail time. Although I agree that in practice the OP should be fine.
    – lambshaanxy
    Commented Mar 25 at 21:00

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .