QF7 BNE-SYD-DFW-MCO (Orlando) domestic to international check in?

[mykennel]

Hi all,
Great forums. 1st post.
Wife and I are travelling QF to Orlando from BNE in December. We are taking QF domestic flight to SYD then on to DFW (on the A380).
My questios are: what will the check in process with bags and boarding passes be at BNE domestic?
Will we have our bags checked through to DFW and will we receive a boarding pass to DFW/MCO (Orlando) or just SYD?
We've paid the $25 fee to advance seat select 80A and 80B for QF7 (as I'm 6'6"), how great are these forums btw for that tip!
I notice they don't guarantee those seats even if you pay for them. Will we have a better chance since technically we'll be checking in at the domestic BNE terminal 5 hours before our flight?
Appreciate the help!

 

[opusman]

In BNE you will get boarding passes for your entire journey, and you won't see your bags again until DFW.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi all,
Great forums. 1st post.
Wife and I are travelling QF to Orlando from BNE in December. We are taking QF domestic flight to SYD then on to DFW (on the A380).
My questios are: what will the check in process with bags and boarding passes be at BNE domestic?
Will we have our bags checked through to DFW and will we receive a boarding pass to DFW/MCO (Orlando) or just SYD?
We've paid the $25 fee to advance seat select 80A and 80B for QF7 (as I'm 6'6"), how great are these forums btw for that tip!
I notice they don't guarantee those seats even if you pay for them. Will we have a better chance since technically we'll be checking in at the domestic BNE terminal 5 hours before our flight?
Appreciate the help!

There is a special 'international flight connections' desk for this purpose. They handle domestic to international check-in (and check-in for under this procedure is slightly earlier than for purely domestic). Your bags are eligible to be checked all the way through, although some agents don't know about this and will tell you to collect your bags in Sydney, make your own way to international (by train or cab) and then re-check.

if this happens, stand your ground and ask for a supervisor if necessary.

 

[mannej]

I do believe that as you have paid for the seats, should they not eventuate, you will receive a refund.
The only time you won't is if you are deemed unsuitable for an exit row AFAIK.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Hi all,
Great forums. 1st post. Wife and I are travelling QF to Orlando from BNE in December. We are taking QF domestic flight to SYD then on to DFW (on the A380). My questios are: what will the check in process with bags and boarding passes be at BNE domestic? Will we have our bags checked through to DFW and will we receive a boarding pass to DFW/MCO (Orlando) or just SYD?

We've paid the $25 fee to advance seat select 80A and 80B for QF7 (as I'm 6'6"), how great are these forums btw for that tip!

I notice they don't guarantee those seats even if you pay for them. Will we have a better chance since technically we'll be checking in at the domestic BNE terminal 5 hours before our flight? Appreciate the help!

I'm assuming that the DFW/MCO flight is in the same booking but if not and it's an AA flight just take a copy of your AA itinerary with you and tell the QF checkin agent you would like the bags tagged through to MCO.

On arrival at SYD Domestic (T3) you just go directly to gate 15 for the free transfer bus around to the international terminal (T1).

Your bags will still come off the carousel at DFW where you will need to clear customs after which you just drop them on the transfer belt before proceeding through the TSA screening point to your gate for your onwards flight to MCO.

There is a special 'international flight connections' desk for this purpose. They handle domestic to international check-in (and check-in for under this procedure is slightly earlier than for purely domestic).

Your bags are eligible to be checked all the way through, although some agents don't know about this and will tell you to collect your bags in Sydney, make your own way to international (by train or cab) and then re-check.

If this happens, stand your ground and ask for a supervisor if necessary.

There hasn't been a 'dedicated international connections' desk at QF BNE Domestic for at over 3 years when the Next Generation rolled out as all checkin agents at all checkin counters will be able to check your bags through to QF7 and beyond on AA.

There isn't a single CSA let alone 'some' who would tell you that your bags could only be checked to SYD for a QF to QF connection and think it's highly possible you may be confusing travelling on a QF dom flight to a JQi flight on a separate pnr.

There is no different checkin time nor baggage close off for pax with international connections so you can checkin up to 6 hours ahead ie 0400 for a 1000 departure. Having said that don't turn up 30 minutes prior to departure if you're travelling to the USA as passports need to be scanned, address in the USA needs to be entered etc etc. I would say get to the airport no less than one hour prior to departure which gives you a 30 minute buffer.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

There hasn't been a 'dedicated international connections' desk at QF BNE Domestic for at over 3 years when the Next Generation rolled out as all checkin agents at all checkin counters will be able to check your bags through to QF7 and beyond on AA.

There isn't a single CSA let alone 'some' who would tell you that your bags could only be checked to SYD for a QF to QF connection and think it's highly possible you may be confusing travelling on a QF dom flight to a JQi flight on a separate pnr.

There is no different checkin time nor baggage close off for pax with international connections so you can checkin up to 6 hours ahead ie 0400 for a 1000 departure. Having said that don't turn up 30 minutes prior to departure if you're travelling to the USA as passports need to be scanned, address in the USA needs to be entered etc etc. I would say get to the airport no less than one hour prior to departure which gives you a 30 minute buffer.

Apologies re BNE connections desk - there is one at MEL which I use, thought BNE would be the same.

The Qantas website recommends different check-in times (60 minutes) when connecting from domestic to international. It increases the time by 15 minutes over a solely domestic itinerary.

I had an agent last year tell me to collect my bags in Sydney for a connection QFd-QFi-oneworld because they were not willing to through check bags. They said because there was a later connection to oneworld I could only do that in Sydney. i stood my ground and it was eventually done. So there are some agents who don't know the rules. (I have raised this several times on AFF but the company representative has chosen not to address the issue.)

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Apologies re BNE connections desk - there is one at MEL which I use, thought BNE would be the same.

The Qantas website recommends different check-in times (60 minutes) when connecting from domestic to international. It increases the time by 15 minutes over a solely domestic itinerary.

I had an agent last year tell me to collect my bags in Sydney for a connection QFd-QFi-oneworld because they were not willing to through check bags. They said because there was a later connection to oneworld I could only do that in Sydney. i stood my ground and it was eventually done. So there are some agents who don't know the rules. (I have raised this several times on AFF but the company representative has chosen not to address the issue.)

I don't understand what issue they had with whatever OW airline it was unless it didn't meet the legal MCT obligations.

They could still have checked you in for both QF flights and tagged the bag through to the second QF flight - again assuming the flights weren't under the MCT.

Some airports may have a limit for bags in transit eg a 23 hour overnight transit in HKG from QF to S7 (OneWorld) is a 'computer says no' scenario.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I don't understand what issue they had with whatever OW airline it was unless it didn't meet the legal MCT obligations.

They could still have checked you in for both QF flights and tagged the bag through to the second QF flight - again assuming the flights weren't under the MCT.

Some airports may have a limit for bags in transit eg a 23 hour overnight transit in HKG from QF to S7 (OneWorld) is a 'computer says no' scenario.

None of the above. The agent just didn't know how or didn't want to tag the bags all the way through. I didn't want to collect the bags after the second QF flight (HKG), I wanted to stay airside. The agent would have either had me collecting bags in SYD (and make my own way by train) or collect bags and immediately re-check in HKG.

Either way, it is a message worth passing on in case others come across similar agents.

Just as one other example aside from my own, post #4 in this thread (AFF): check-in agent would not through check MEL-SYD-BKK-HEL with QF-QF-AY on a single PNR: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....emirates-codeshare-luggage-problem-52886.html

 

[mykennel]

As always, the expertise on this thread is wonderful.
My fears have, for the most part been relieved. Still concerned my seat (the special 80A) is going to go to some QFF with a higher status than me (I'm only Bronze) even though I've paid for ($25) advance seat allocation. I don't particularly want to travel on one of the world's longest flights in J without leg room as 6'6". Can't afford an upgrade though.
Good tip about what to do at DFW with putting bags on transfer belt. Appreciate that!
M

 

[MEL_Traveller]

As always, the expertise on this thread is wonderful.
My fears have, for the most part been relieved. Still concerned my seat (the special 80A) is going to go to some QFF with a higher status than me (I'm only Bronze) even though I've paid for ($25) advance seat allocation. I don't particularly want to travel on one of the world's longest flights in J without leg room as 6'6". Can't afford an upgrade though.
Good tip about what to do at DFW with putting bags on transfer belt. Appreciate that!
M

you have a contract with qantas for the seat selection, which they state can only be taken away for 'operational' reasons. 'operational' reason cannot be interpreted in any other way than to mean the safe operation of the aircraft... not because a person with higher status wants the seat.

if you do not receive the seat, and it is not due to the safe operation of the aircraft, you should stand your ground for a similar or better seat.