Baggage Allowance Question - QF/BA

[emilbulls]

Good morning,

I have a question regarding the baggage allowance on our upcoming flight.
Mrs emilsbulls (QF Silver) and myself (QF WP) are flying to Europe in Premium Economy and will need definitely all our baggage allowance.
Route: MEL-SYD-LHR-VIE (QF436-QF1-BA700)
Ticketed by QF.

According to the baggage overview via MMB, we both have an allowance of 40kg
However, according to the checked baggage overview on the QF website, the allowance for premium eco should be 52kg for silver and 60kg for WP

I already created a ticket with QF Frequent Flyer, but after a month I still haven't got a reply.

My gut feeling says, the allowance is restricted to 40kg as BA is invloved, but I also can remember having 60kg allowance on flight MEL-LHR-VIE in Premium Eco.

It would be highly appreciated if people can share their experience for similar routings.

Many thanks
Sebastian

 

[Dutton]

Hi emilbulls

If you're connecting straight through to VIE, you should be able to check in your full Qantas WP 60kg entitlement because QF is the "most significant carrier" (MSC) under IATA Resolution 302.

See Things to know at:
https://www.qantas.com/au/en/travel-info/baggage/checked-baggage.html

Cathay explains the MSC concept better at:
https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_AU/baggage/check-in-baggage/carrier-rules.html

The MSC is calculated for each "baggage check-in". So, on the way home your MSC will be QF again, assuming you fly a similar route home with BA/QF, because QF will be the first carrier crossing from one IATA Tariff Area to another.

If you break the journey in LHR on the way over and then you re-check in with BA for VIE , then BA will be the MSC for that sector and BA rules apply: 1 x 23 kg for Econ, 2 x 32 Kg for Club PLUS an extra 32 Kg bag for Oneworld Emeralds like yourself, no matter the class (nothing extra for mrs emilbulls Ruby). See https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/baggage-essentials

According to the baggage overview via MMB, we both have an allowance of 40kg

This is your base ticketed allowance without any QF FF tier benefits. I've just checked my own WP baggage allowance in MMB for an upcoming RTW flight with QF and other airlines including BA and it lists my base ticketed allowances (sorry, it's in pieces not kg as I'm travelling to LHR through the US). It also states:

"When travelling on Qantas operated services (and some codeshare flights) Qantas Frequent Flyers may be eligible for additional baggage within their tier benefits, refer to checked baggage for any additional checked allowance."

The link to checked baggage takes you back again to your extra WP tier QF entitlements
https://www.qantas.com/detect-site/travel-info/baggage/checked-baggage.html

I agree that the issue is a bit complex and there has been some considerable discussion on this forum in other posts. I expect others more knowledgeable than me might be able to confirm the above, or you might try to get through to the QF Hobart call centre to verify.

Good luck and happy travels!

 

[justinbrett]

Hi emilbulls

If you're connecting straight through to VIE, you should be able to check in your full Qantas WP 60kg entitlement because QF is the "most significant carrier" (MSC) under IATA Resolution 302.

See Things to know at:
https://www.qantas.com/au/en/travel-info/baggage/checked-baggage.html

Cathay explains the MSC concept better at:
https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_AU/baggage/check-in-baggage/carrier-rules.html

The MSC is calculated for each "baggage check-in". So, on the way home your MSC will be QF again, assuming you fly a similar route home with BA/QF, because QF will be the first carrier crossing from one IATA Tariff Area to another.

If you break the journey in LHR on the way over and then you re-check in with BA for VIE , then BA will be the MSC for that sector and BA rules apply: 1 x 23 kg for Econ, 2 x 32 Kg for Club PLUS an extra 32 Kg bag for Oneworld Emeralds like yourself, no matter the class (nothing extra for mrs emilbulls Ruby). See https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/baggage-essentials


This is your base ticketed allowance without any QF FF tier benefits. I've just checked my own WP baggage allowance in MMB for an upcoming RTW flight with QF and other airlines including BA and it lists my base ticketed allowances (sorry, it's in pieces not kg as I'm travelling to LHR through the US). It also states:

"When travelling on Qantas operated services (and some codeshare flights) Qantas Frequent Flyers may be eligible for additional baggage within their tier benefits, refer to checked baggage for any additional checked allowance."

The link to checked baggage takes you back again to your extra WP tier QF entitlements
https://www.qantas.com/detect-site/travel-info/baggage/checked-baggage.html

I agree that the issue is a bit complex and there has been some considerable discussion on this forum in other posts. I expect others more knowledgeable than me might be able to confirm the above, or you might try to get through to the QF Hobart call centre to verify.

Good luck and happy travels!

Your QFF extra benefits are not valid on other airlines, even oneworld.

You'll be entitled to the greater of the "MSC" ticketed baggage (ie, no status allowance, 40Kg) and the BA oneworld allowance.

Fortunately, the BA oneworld allowance is greater (2x32Kg each), so won't be a problem.

 

[opusman]

Your QFF extra benefits are not valid on other airlines, even oneworld.

Oneworld benefits - Emeralds get 20kg extra under weight allowance system, and one bag extra under piece allowance system.

 

[justinbrett]

Oneworld benefits - Emeralds get 20kg extra under weight allowance system, and one bag extra under piece allowance system.

That's the minimum standard but some airlines are more generous. For example BA not only adds an extra piece, it increases the weight from 23Kg to 32Kg.

AA does this as well, but AS is stuck at 23Kg even OWE in J/F.

It's usually when QF uses the piece system that QF WPs get caught out, as they get +2 bags in Y, but many airlines will only give +1.

 

[madrooster]

Fortunately, the BA oneworld allowance is greater (2x32Kg each), so won't be a problem.

@emilbulls mentioned it is ticketed by QF, ie. 081 ticket the entire way, where QF is the accepting carrier (ie. carrier checking them in).

This means it is a MEL-VIE through journey where QF policy applies on the ticket as they are the most significant marketing carrier. QF policy allows 40kg in premium and this 40kg allowance would also appear on the LHR-VIE ticket coupon, that is, all 3 ticket coupons MEL-SYD, SYD-LHR and LHR-VIE would show 40kg on the ticket.

QF's elite allowance policy allows +20kg for platinums. Normally this policy applies to QF marketed and operated flights only, but in practice, as long as it's QF on the long haul, QF will accept the platinum allowance through to the final destination.

Given that oneworld emeralds receive +20kg as an alliance-wide benefit anyway, the MEL-SYD-LHR would be 60kg for the platinum by virtue of the QF elite allowance policy and the LHR-VIE would be 60kg with the oneworld emerald alliance-wide benefit.

Therefore for the platinum pax, they would have 60kg allowance the entire way to VIE but the non status pax would have the ticketed 40kg.

Assuming the bags are being checked in at MEL, BA's elite allowance policy doesn't come into the equation due to the fact BA is not the accepting carrier. BA's elite allowance policy works the same as QF - it is applied when BA is the accepting carrier and applies for BA marketed and operated flights. BA also will usually extend it to the final destination like QF, when BA is the long haul carrier.

 

[justinbrett]

Assuming the bags are being checked in at MEL, BA's elite allowance policy doesn't come into the equation due to the fact BA is not the accepting carrier. BA's elite allowance policy works the same as QF - it is applied when BA is the accepting carrier and applies for BA marketed and operated flights. BA also will usually extend it to the final destination like QF, when BA is the long haul carrier.

BA will be accepting on the return though.

 

[madrooster]

BA will be accepting on the return though.

Assuming there is a return via the same routing, then yes. BA will accept 4 bags at 32kg per bag as BA's elite allowance carries over to all pax on the same PNR which is the most generous elite allowance policy in all of oneworld.

That said, my experience with BA's departure control system setup is it doesn't have the elite allowance rules filed correctly when the ticketed baggage allowance is by weight. So they'll have to manually waive the excess baggage that the system thinks there is, is my guess.

 

[emilbulls]

@madrooster @Dutton
Thank you so much for your detailed responses and the clarification.
I did call Qantas earlier this week and got routed to SA.
The agent did also confirm the additional baggage allowance, however it is definitely reassuring that your answers and experiences are matching the statement of the agent.