Just one question - baggage checking

[peachy3333]

Hey guys,

Just wondering:

How many segments will airlines check bags through to? I have a 4 segment flight soon and was wondering if they would check it all the way through...

Thanks again!

Edit: It would be Thai, Thai, Lufthansa, Swiss airlines on the segments. All under one reference number!

 

[samh004]

Are they all international, I’m not entirely sure, but I’d assume you’d need to collect bags if you were moving from an international flight to a domestic flight.

 

[notzac]

It depends on the airlines in question. Seeing as they're all on the one booking reference - shouldn't be a problem. I've previously managed a 4 sector baggage transfer (HAV-CUN-MEX-LHR-AMS, though admittedly I had to claim baggage at CUN) and that worked out just fine.

 

[Leumas]

Even if the airlines do interline, if you've a big transit gap, I'll ask for the bags to only be checked up to the big transit gap, and you recheck it yourself. Fo you, the stop between Thai and Lufthansa seems like a good option.

If the bag is lost, it's so much easier to deal with when at least you can narrow down where it went wrong quickly. If it's lost after your entire journey, it's really difficult to find out where it went wrong when you're on a different continent, on a different time zone. Not to mention the many toll calls you'll have to make.

Yes, there're online tools that can track luggage, but I've never seen it work in a timely fashion.

 

[JohnK]

I once had 2 luggage tag receipts printed for each bag by QF check-in for SYD-MEL-LAX-DCA-STL-ORD which eventually turned into SYD-LAX-DCA-STL-ORD after we returned back to the gate twice. Check-in agent had some trouble getting the luggage tags printed as they were 2 separate itineraries. Stll had to collect bags at LAX and recheck them.

 

[trooper]

I'm with Leumas....

I don't actually know what the max number of segments is for checking through (I've done 4 without any problems) but checking ONLY to a "natural" break point makes a lot of sense to me....

Less possibility of baggage staff confusion perhaps? Quicker notice and a shorter audit trail if it goes astray?

Next monday I am starting a multi airline (and cross alliance) set of 6 flights - all booked at once on XP.. all showing up as a single itin on SQ's website (first flight is with them) and am planning to only initially check to the halfway point (ICN) where I have a 6 hour transit....

Be interesting that's for sure! (SQ-CX-CX-OZ-UA-UA) :shock:

 

[peachy3333]

Thanks to all who replied, I should have provided some more information!

Itinerary would be

PER-BKK THAI, 13 hour stopover
BKK-HKG THAI, 1 hour 20 minute stopover
HKG-FRA Lufthansa, 1 hour 50 minute stopover
FRA-ZRH Swiss

From what you guys have said, it makes sense to get the baggage at BKK and then they should be able to check it in all the way to ZRH.

Thanks!

 

[anat0l]

I don't think there are particular limits on how many ports you can check luggage through (as long as it is a continuous one-way routing with no backtracking).

From my experience, I've done CBR-SYD-ADL-MEL-AKL and BNE-SYD-BKK-LHR-FRA. The first case was all QF, and I could've picked up my luggage at MEL T1 then re-checked at T2, but I thought "no point". The second case was QF/BA/QF/BA, and although there was enough time for transit (i.e. if I wanted to pick up and re-check) in SYD and LHR, again, there wasn't much point (and no point being tortured in transiting LHR T3 to T5 by claiming and re-checking).

If the routing information doesn't fit on one tag, they'll print another one to show all the correct information (or they should).

Obviously, as said previously, the longer your through-check is, the higher the risk that your bag may be misplaced, and the harder it will be to do an efficient trace. Personally I'm inclined to just have faith in the system and simply check your bags all the way. I guess if need be you can approach a service desk in any of those ports you mentioned and ask if your bag(s) has (have) been loaded onto the aircraft (transferred successfully).

 

[trooper]

Glad this thread came up... as it has had me checking a few details...

...Bad news is the page on SQ's website that supposedly lists their "Inter-Airline Through Check-In" partners....

...and while QF (and BA and AA) is on it... CX is NOT...:shock:

We'll see... I have 3 hours between the SQ and CX flights... and I suspect (hope?) that at SIN that would be time enough even if the bags were NOT checked through...

 

[anat0l]

Glad this thread came up... as it has had me checking a few details...

...Bad news is the page on SQ's website that supposedly lists their "Inter-Airline Through Check-In" partners....

...and while QF (and BA and AA) is on it... CX is NOT...:shock:

We'll see... I have 3 hours between the SQ and CX flights... and I suspect (hope?) that at SIN that would be time enough even if the bags were NOT checked through...

3 hrs should be plenty of time at SIN even if you needed to do a claim and recheck.

 

[trooper]

Thanks for that...... it helps!! :mrgreen:

 

[munitalP]

Ive done MEL/SYD/SIN/FRA/GRZ

Also...

MEL/SYD/SIN/LHR/ARL

both times the OW flights ended with a * finish (FRA/GRZ) and the LHR/ARL

Luggage arrived - wonderful


Mr!

 

[NM]

I once checked bags in BNE, routed BNE-SYD-SIN-FRA-LGW-RDU, all connecting flights and the bags arrived on the same flight as me in RDU some 40+ hours later.

 

[straitman]

I once checked bags in BNE, routed BNE-SYD-SIN-FRA-LGW-RDU, all connecting flights and the bags arrived on the same flight as me in RDU some 40+ hours later.

The cynic in me must ask, in all seriousness, about how many times have your bags gone astray on multiple connections such as the one you mentioned :?:

 

[markis10]

The cynic in me must ask, in all seriousness, about how many times have your bags gone astray on multiple connections such as the one you mentioned :?:

Murphys Law applies as far as I am concerned, last trip to DRW, BNE-CNS-DRW-SYD-BNE, lost the same bag twice, one on the way up where it went to Horn Island and then once on the way back where it went on a trip to CBR. Have also had delays on flights twice where the connections were tight - PER-MEL-BNE, it seems QF punish you for going to long way round .

 

[JohnK]

The cynic in me must ask, in all seriousness, about how many times have your bags gone astray on multiple connections such as the one you mentioned :?:

How about a simple BNE-CBR flight and bags going to CNS for a holiday?

I am amazed at the number of times my luggage has not made my flight on a simple SYD-BNE flight and vv. Happened again the other day and had a very interesting chat with a lady from QF customer care who called me the next day.

 

[trooper]

As it happened.....

Checked in this morning at BKK with SQ... no problem at all with:

1. Just checking to ICN, and

2. Interlining with CX

Check in agent was very surprised to hear that the website suggests CX is not an interline partner...

Meah. Rather that than the other way round!

Had great flights up here with SQ in Y... let's see what they can do in J! :mrgreen:

EDIT: A bloody good job again, that's what! Most enjoyable flight... half empty Biz cabin so the service was rather attentive! Only 2 hours so the older style seat was perfectly good....

 

[wywk]

I did SYD - LAX - MIA - NAS in January via Qantas, AA and American Eagle.

As they are all affiliated airlines, all my luggages were tagged through to NAS but I had to pick them up at LAX, go through customs and get them over the transfer section.

Also one of my suitcases got left behind in MIA and I was reunited with it 48hrs later which was a real inconvenience. Their excuse is that they couldn't load all the luggage they had on the small plane that day, so they picked a few to send through the following flights...but I think mine was actually lost and went somewhere else.

 

[NM]

The cynic in me must ask, in all seriousness, about how many times have your bags gone astray on multiple connections such as the one you mentioned :?:

not as often as I fear it should happen. Most of my missing bags have been a result of very tight connections (due to late inbound arrival) or on single-sector flights.

 

[docjames]

I'll shortly be trying to check through DRW-BNE-MEL-HKG-LHR-CDG so will see what happens.

Suspect a recollect in MEL then all thru to CDG but we'll see.