Oneworld separate ticket interline changes

[kreuky]

Did Oneworld just make your next trip more of a nightmare? - Australian Business Traveller

Oneworld Airlines are no longer obligated to through check separate oneworld tickets! WTF! Whole point of sticking with oneworld for separate flights was this main reason!

I wonder what QF would do...I'd be willing to bet on "minimum effort", ie we ain't checking through your luggage for you on our frenemies

 

[cmon0005]

Would be good if Red Roo could please clarify Qantas's official position on this?

Will QF still interline bags to another oneworld carrier on a separate ticket or not?

Otherwise this is pretty poor form by Oneworld, although it was probably forced by member airlines..

 

[Pointcollector]

I'll bet the carriers will happily check all the way through for a fee

 

[Sdtravel]

This doesnt sound all that great. I dont think its a great move.
But you can see the reasons airlines might not like the interline for separate PNR bookings.

As mentioned by others we will have to wait and see the affects and position of airlines.

 

[Pointcollector]

There are some major visa implications for travellers if their bags aren't checked through. Picture collecting bags and trying to clear Customs without a visa in a country that requires one. Currently you and your bags remain in transit and no requirement to leave the sterile area. Under the changes you and your bags will need to clear customs to get back to the check in counter to be able to re lodge your bags and get a boarding pass!!

 

[cmon0005]

But you can see the reasons airlines might not like the interline for separate PNR bookings.

All well and good but the member airlines have poor multicity booking tools and even poorer travel options on other oneworld airlines through their respective websites.
If the airlines are serious about this one PNR thing they should offer better multicity multicarrier online booking options then..

 

[dajop]

I'll bet the carriers will happily check all the way through for a fee

I can't think of too many that allow this at the moment, it's either you can or can't a fee won't make a difference! In many instances, I'm sure people would be happy to pay a modest fee to combine different bookings on the same PNR, allowing through checking ( irrespective of alliance).

All well and good but the member airlines have poor multicity booking tools and even poorer travel options on other oneworld airlines through their respective websites.
If the airlines are serious about this one PNR thing they should offer better multicity multicarrier online booking options then..

What the airlines want to avoid is people doing is taking advantage of different pricing in different markets. They want you to pay for a full J fare to Europe for $6-7k instead of combining a $600 economy fare to Asia with a $2500 business class fare. Or even a $2000 Y fare instead of a $600 fare and $900 fare on separate tickets.

 

[codash1099]

You also lose a bit of security in that by not through checking bags, I presume they also won't issue you a boarding pass for the onward flight. It was my understanding that this meant the onward airline had to find you an alternate flight if the incoming flight was late. If that's the case, it certainly upsets my plans for a forthcoming trip to the US.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

As of today, QF still says it will through check bags on separate tickets provided you are connecting to OW, QF or EK: https://qantas.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6638

Note: Your baggage will not be checked through and you will not receive your onward journey boarding pass if you hold two separate reservations for your international trip, where one reservation is with Qantas and the other reservation is with an airline that is neither Qantas, Emirates or a oneworld airline. Please allow enough time to collect your baggage at the end of each flight, clear customs and immigration if necessary, transit visa requirements, move between different terminals and re-check in with your next carrier.

I would screenshot that page if necessary just in case you have an existing set of tickets and there is a discrete policy change in the future (all existing sets of tickets should honour the conditions in effect at the time of booking)

 

[coriander]

The AusBT article says, in part

“l frequently book a return Qantas flight to Los Angeles or San Francisco before I firm up my travel plans within the US” Ewing says.
“Once my domestic US itinerary is set I’ll book separate flights, typically on American Airlines.”
Ewing is concerned the revised scheme is more likely to see him shuffling back and forth between baggage carousels and check-in counters rather than enjoying the streamlined travel experience which airline alliances claim to deliver."

Is this correct?

I thought you ALWAYS had to clear Customs at first port of entry into the US: eg at LAX you clear Customs and drag your cases up the ramp to baggage drop and wander over to T4 and in through security to your domestic AA flight. Have I been doing it wrong all these past 30 years?

 

[junbugging]

I thought you ALWAYS had to clear Customs at first port of entry into the US

There's nothing in there that says you don't. It's more to do with just being able to hand your luggage over rather than going through some new rigmarole.

 

[Flying mermaid]

There are some major visa implications for travellers if their bags aren't checked through. Picture collecting bags and trying to clear Customs without a visa in a country that requires one. Currently you and your bags remain in transit and no requirement to leave the sterile area. Under the changes you and your bags will need to clear customs to get back to the check in counter to be able to re lodge your bags and get a boarding pass!!

This actually happened to us in 1999. we were flying Crimean Air from the Crimean to Istanbul and then connecting BA to London. All booked on the same ticket. However when we checked in at Simferapol they really had a lot of trouble accepting the Qantas voucher and it took numerous calls to someone before we were allowed on and we were told we had to collect our luggage in Istanbul and check in with BA. Of couse when we arrived we were on one side of customs and our bags were on the other. We were standing there contemplating whether we should pay 5 sets of visa fees in order to go and collect them and check in again, when a little guy sidled up to us and said if we would give him all our passports and tickets he would collect our bags and check them in and deliver passports, tickets and boarding passes to us in the BA lounge. Having had no sleep the previous night (and consumed large amounts of very bad wine with our hosts) and being very trusting people, we did so. . Our faith in humanity was rewarded and many hours later he turned up with everything (and received suitable recompense).

 

[Mattg]

This could prove very annoying if the airlines decide to remove this benefit. Interlining on separate tickets is not something I use all the time, but it's an extremely useful benefit to have. Isn't this kind of thing what being in an alliance is about?

 

[dajop]

I have read reports of a star alliance airlinz that won't through check luggage on separate tickets full stop - even when the second booking is solely on the same airline.

 

[PineappleSkip]

Sounds like a great leap backward, but attended with much confusion.

As for collecting boarding passes for entire itinerary, I don't care so much about that. I do care a lot about the ability to interline baggage. So much so that it is a big factor in my choice of carriers.

The QF FAQ has an each way bet when it comes to interline baggage agreements, one paragraph says 'no problem' interlining bags where there is an interline agreement, another indicates otherwise. Couldn't find any announcement on oneworld.com about this but there is this page
https://www.oneworld.com/airports-destinations/baggage-information

which comments...

This is due to new industry rules that regulate which baggage allowance and excess baggage charges, if applicable, shall apply when you travel with more than one airline on the same itinerary. These rules are designed to make it easier for you as a customer to know how much checked baggage you can take on your journey.

...suggests this whole issue is broader than just OW/OW interlines. Anyone know what the 'new industry rules' are?

I'll bet the carriers will happily check all the way through for a fee

Haven't heard of carriers doing this for baggage, I hope it would depend on whether they have interline agreement for baggage. Either there is an interline agreement, or there isn't. I have used airport baggage transfer services a fair bit, but they can be pricey. Over $100 for a transfer service with through baggage at DXB.

Cheers skip

 

[comforttravel]

I thought you ALWAYS had to clear Customs at first port of entry into the US: eg at LAX you clear Customs and drag your cases up the ramp to baggage drop and wander over to T4 and in through security to your domestic AA flight. Have I been doing it wrong all these past 30 years?

On entering the US, you're correct, but think about leaving the US. . . if you're leaving from, say LAS, and heading straight home to AUS via LAX, you expect to interline your baggage and go straight from T4 to TBIT. And don't forget the recently opened T4 -> TBIT walkway makes it easy to stay within the sterile area. What's the use of having this new walkway if you need to collect your bags and re-check them!
And remember not everyone is able-bodied enough to easily collect their luggage, lug it to another terminal, check-in and then stand in line for ages to get through a second customs/immigration rigmarole.

 

[oz_mark]

Let this bit from CX sink in

To align with the change, disruption policy will also be revised to exclude protection for passengers holding separate tickets that is not booked under the same PNR.

CXagents.com

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Let this bit from CX sink in



CXagents.com

CX was one of the few airlines that actually stated it would provide protection, even on two separate tickets, in the event of disruption. Their definition of 'connecting flight' was very generous.

While it is sad to see this go, it is not unexpected - brings CX into line with most other airlines. I wonder if AA is looking to modify its generous protections now?

 

[madrooster]

This change was inevitable...

One issue that I've seen is not all oneworld carriers use the same reservations system so it presents some technical issues. Within oneworld there's the following reservations systems being used:

Amadeus: QF, CX/KA, BA (moving to FLY which is based on Amadeus Altea), IB (not for departure control), JJ, RJ, QR, AB, AY, UL
Sabre: AA, LA
SITA: MH, S7

Not sure what JL uses, but apparently moving to Amadeus.

This can present quirks when you are through checked on separate PNRs from say QF to LA where QF uses Amadeus and LA uses Sabre. QF don't have control of the LA Sabre PNR, let alone view it fully and so rebooking due to delays can sometimes cause PNRs to become out of sync. A myriad of issues can occur when this happens. It also makes it difficult for a preceding carrier to provide protection in the event of delays.

In Amadeus, all oneworld carriers can see each others' PNRs, even if the viewing carrier has no flights in that PNR. For example in an all CX PNR, BA, QF etc. would be able to view it. This is why all oneworld Amadeus carrier bookings show up in QFF My Bookings. This is because Amadeus uses the same PNR record locator for the PNR, regardless of the carrier, and they automatically grant all oneworld carriers access to the PNR.

With Sabre, AA and LA would have their own copies of the PNR in the system and AA can't touch LA's copy, vice versa. The same occurs in SITA with MH and S7.

The main change from 01/06 onwards is that the minimum through check in and through tagging of baggage offered by the alliance becomes the following:

---------------------------------------------------

1. Single PNR with record locator UVWXYZ, single ticket - through-checked/protected

Eg. QF ticket stock for SYD QF X/SIN BA X/LHR AY HEL

2. Single PNR with record locator ABCDEF, multiple tickets - through-checked/protected

Eg. QF ticket stock for SYD QF SIN
BA ticket stock for SIN BA LHR
AY ticket stock for LHR AY HEL

3. Multiple PNRs with record locators ABCDEF, UVWXYZ, single ticket in each PNR - no longer through-checked/protected.

---------------------------------------------------

Going forward...

It's definitely possible to issue multiple tickets within the same PNR, but bookings made directly with an airline will not have this ability generally due to poor multi city booking engines offered on airline websites. Many multi city booking engines limit the fares offered to only fares published by that particular carrier. Most airlines also won't sell a fare published by another carrier, as fares generally have to be ticketed on the publishing carrier's ticket stock. QF can't issue a ticket for a BA fare that requires BA ticket stock for example.

If you want to issue multiple tickets within the same PNR, you'll generally need to have a travel agent do it. Most preferably, an agent that uses Amadeus given two thirds of oneworld uses Amadeus, as it'll be the same identical PNR viewable to the carriers as well as the agent.

It is NOT necessary to issue tickets for all connecting flights at the same time for them to live in the same PNR, so it's perfectly possible to buy the respective tickets during the respective sales if that's your thing. For example, the following is perfectly possible:

Itinerary: SYD QF X/BKK AY X/HEL AY LHR

SYD QF BKK - issued 31 MAR 2016
BKK AY HEL AY LHR - issued 20 APR 2016

There is a downside however...

If you are looking to dump sectors with hidden city ticketing... for example where the fare for LAX-X/PHX-LAS is cheaper than LAX-PHX (with your intended destination being PHX), you won't be able to do it easily anymore, if you want to be through-checked and the sector you want to dump is not the very last sector in the PNR.

By having all your sectors in the same PNR, if one of the carriers cancels your itinerary due to no show, it'll generally cancel ALL future sectors in the same PNR, even if they were issued on separate tickets. Example:

Itinerary: SYD QF X/BKK AY X/HEL AY LHR // LHR BA X/BKK QF SYD

Assumption: AY fare for BKK-HEL-LHR is cheaper than BKK-HEL

Tickets:

QF ticket stock: SYD QF BKK // BKK QF SYD
AY ticket stock: BKK AY X/HEL AY LHR
BA ticket stock: LHR BA BKK

If AY cancels due to no show on HEL-LHR, then AY is able to cancel all remaining sectors, that being LHR BA X/BKK QF SYD.

 

[kreuky]

American Says They Aren't Ending Through-Checked Baggage on Separate oneworld Reservations - View from the Wing

American keeping its existing policy...for now...