Oneworld separate ticket interline changes

[Chalkie]

That's truly bewildering stuff.
The SST should be well across this stuff and if they aren't admit that they don't know and offer to follow it up for you.

I'm reasonably sure that they are correct about your Award booking and paid fare not being able to be linked but the rest of the "advice" is complete and utter rubbish.

I've now taken the time and trouble to write to the P1 team, particularly in relation to alternative solutions to the problem. We will see what comes of that.

 

[Mattg]

So are we to assume than LAN's adaptation of the OW changes is that they won't even through check to themselves on separate tickets now? Sounds like they made an exception due to the Chilean visa scenario.

If they issued you boarding passes all the way to BSB I don't know why they didn't through check the bag too even though you would have to collect it in GRU to clear customs. I think a lot of checkin agents misinterpret pax having to collect bags clear customs at first port of entry as bags can only be tagged eg to GRU. They fail to grasp the concept that a bag tagged LIM/xSCL/xGRU/BSB will still come off the carousel in GRU.

The lady seemed to imply that the problem was that the JJ system wasn't cooperating with the LA system. I don't necessarily find this hard to believe, however it's pretty poor considering that they're basically the same airline now!

Picking up bags in GRU didn't really come into the equation. I think the problem was getting TAM to accept the interline. (The flights up until GRU were both operated by LAN.)

In any case, this ended up being a non-problem as I missed my connection to Brasilia and had to overnight in Sao Paulo anyway.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Well, I just called the P1 line about an award (Australia to LHR on QF) + paid fare (LHR to continental destination on BA) booking made well before the "policy" changes were announced and was told that notwithstanding the early booking, the paid ticket could not linked to the award ticket PNR. You can assess the value of this advice as I was also told in the same conversation:

- BA is no longer a member of oneworld, but remains a QF points partner

I am not aware of BA leaving the One World Alliance however it doesn't matter as any airline (OW or not) on a separate ticket cannot be added as oncarriage after 01 Sep 2016.

QF have interline agreements with most major airlines irrespective of what alliances they may or not belong to so if these airlines are all on the same ticket as the QF flight they are permitted to through check the luggage.

They may not have an IATCI agreement so you may still have to get your onward boarding pass from tge transfer desk at the next city.

- Even on an award booking made all the way to the final destination on QF+BA on the same ticket baggage could not be interlined to the final (BA) destination

Rubbish. If both the QF and BA flights are on the same ticket it most definitely can.

- Even on QF codeshares on BA on the same ticket as a QF sector baggage could not be interlined

(As I understand things, this is all nonsense as same PNR and same ticket will produce baggage interlining).

Same answer as above - you're right, they're wrong.

It was suggested that I see what the QF F check-in team could do when I check in. I wonder if this means that the check-in staff will have discretion about whether they interline in particular cases.

The policy effective 01 Sep 2016 is that flights on separate pnrs (unless a QF flight) cannot be added in at checkin as on carriage. I don't believe the F checkin team are permitted any discretion and would be expected to adhere to this policy.

I put scenarios such as cancelling the award ticket and re-booking as oneworld partner award to include the BA sector and was told that would not solve the baggage interline problem.

It would solve the problem! As both flights would be on the same ticket and therefore permit through checkin as QF & BA still have an interline agreement for bags & IATCI for boarding passes.

Well - I'll roll this out again... airline reservation staff are excellent... at fares and ticketing.

Anything else - seats, frequent flyer earning, baggage allowances, visas - go to somewhere that actually knows (like AFF!)

There's no substitute for hands on airport experience. I'd go further and say people who work at the airport who started in another vocation outside an airline adjust better to airport procedures than those who have come from an airline reservations background.

 

[PineappleSkip]

What's OW got to do with EK though? Did CX used to through check to EK on separate pnrs and now they won't?

Good question on the former. Yes, in my experience (BNE, SYD and HKG), CX did through check bags to EK on separate PNRs, sometimes after checking whether there was an interline baggage agreement with the other carrier. Similarly, EK in KBL would previously through check my bags on separate tickets to CX. I haven't tested the latter since the changes, in theory the OW changes would make no difference as far as EK is concerned, in practice I'm not so sure.Cheers skip

 

[madrooster]

I'm reasonably sure that they are correct about your Award booking and paid fare not being able to be linked but the rest of the "advice" is complete and utter rubbish.

If both tickets have been issued, then no it's not possible without cancelling the ticket.

Also worth a mention is that the use of ghost/information segments for through-checking of bags does NOT work. See my previous post for more info: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....t-interline-changes-76450-31.html#post1473022

However if one has a QFF award booking ticketed (must be done in a certain way) and then later wants to add LHR-EU on BA as a paid commercial ticket, then yes it can be done on the same PNR as the QFF award booking for full through-check purposes. There's a specific process that needs to be followed for this to be done.

 

[Chalkie]

However if one has a QFF award booking ticketed (must be done in a certain way) and then later wants to add LHR-EU on BA as a paid commercial ticket, then yes it can be done on the same PNR as the QFF award booking for full through-check purposes. There's a specific process that needs to be followed for this to be done.

P1 team told me yesterday (in writing) that this could not be done (I put it to them specifically). So far, writing to the P1 team has produced (so far) better outcomes than calling the priority line. They are looking at other solutions. They were also very apologetic about the nonsense that had been sprouted to me on the telephone the day before.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

The lady seemed to imply that the problem was that the JJ system wasn't cooperating with the LA system. I don't necessarily find this hard to believe, however it's pretty poor considering that they're basically the same airline now!

Picking up bags in GRU didn't really come into the equation. I think the problem was getting TAM to accept the interline. (The flights up until GRU were both operated by LAN.)

In any case, this ended up being a non-problem as I missed my connection to Brasilia and had to overnight in Sao Paulo anyway.

Did LAN pickup the tab for a hotel in GRU and how did they handle the disruption in general?

Today I'm flying LIM-SCL-GRU-BSB. LIM-SCL is part of a Qantas booking, booked as a QF flight number but operated by LAN (LA). SCL-GRU-BSB is on a separate booking. Both flights are marketed by TAM (JJ), but the SCL-GRU flight is operated by LA.

Originally I was told that it was not possible to issue my boarding passes in LIM for the SCL-GRU-BSB flights as they were on a separate booking. When I told the agent that I would have to pay US$117 for a Chilean visa if my bags weren't checked through, she called a supervisor over and somehow was able to issue my boarding passes all the way to Brasilia. 15 minutes later, she also managed to tag my bag to Sao Paulo but not Brasilia. Which means I will have to collect my bag in Sao Paulo and re-check it.

Do you have another LAN flight connecting to QF28 on the homeward stretch, assuming you're flying back that way? If so, is that LAN flight(s) in the same pnr as the SCL/xGRU/BSB?

The QF28 flight may already appear as an oncarriage flight in the LAN checkin system because LAN already linked the LIM/SCL flight (containing QF27/QF28 flights also) to the LAN pnr containing SCL/xGRU/BSB etc.

If both tickets have been issued, then no it's not possible without cancelling the ticket.

Also worth a mention is that the use of ghost/information segments for through-checking of bags does NOT work. See my previous post for more info: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....t-interline-changes-76450-31.html#post1473022

However if one has a QFF award booking ticketed (must be done in a certain way) and then later wants to add LHR-EU on BA as a paid commercial ticket, then yes it can be done on the same PNR as the QFF award booking for full through-check purposes. There's a specific process that needs to be followed for this to be done.

Do you mean if the Amadeus TA who issues the LHR/EU flight has extended security ie their unique Amadeus office ID added into the QF pnr that the SYD/LHR award is booked in? Similar to what TA's do when queueing off a pnr to a consolidator for ticketing purposes where the consolidator needs their own office ID in the TA pnr for access purposes.

 

[Mattg]

Did LAN pickup the tab for a hotel in GRU and how did they handle the disruption in general?

Fortunately LAN did pay for the hotel in Sao Paulo, but I had to fight for it.

The SCL-GRU flight was delayed about 3 hours due to mechanical issues with the aircraft. My connection in GRU was only 1hr, 45mins and I was on the last GRU-BSB flight for the day. During the delay I approached the lounge staff in SCL and asked them to sort out my missed connection. I was originally offered a new flight leaving SCL at 2am, arriving in GRU at 7am and connecting to another flight arriving in BSB around midday! I refused. At this point it was 5pm in SCL, so I would have had to wait another 9 hours in the airport! I requested to stick with the delayed flight and to get a hotel in GRU instead, which they eventually agreed to after being on the phone with ticketing for nearly 30 minutes.

When I arrived in GRU I approached the TAM ground staff, who had new boarding passes ready for me for flights the next day, and a hotel voucher. I thought that was pretty good, although nobody thought to explain to me where the hotel was, or the fact that there was a free shuttle. It took me 30 minutes of wandering around the airport (at midnight and with limited Portuguese) just to work out where the shuttle departed from. In any case, I thought it was better managed than previous delays I've had with LA/JJ.

Do you have another LAN flight connecting to QF28 on the homeward stretch, assuming you're flying back that way? If so, is that LAN flight(s) in the same pnr as the SCL/xGRU/BSB?

The QF28 flight may already appear as an oncarriage flight in the LAN checkin system because LAN already linked the LIM/SCL flight (containing QF27/QF28 flights also) to the LAN pnr containing SCL/xGRU/BSB etc.

I am returning on QF28, but I have a 3 day stopover in SCL on the way back.

 

[madrooster]

Do you mean if the Amadeus TA who issues the LHR/EU flight has extended security ie their unique Amadeus office ID added into the QF pnr that the SYD/LHR award is booked in? Similar to what TA's do when queueing off a pnr to a consolidator for ticketing purposes where the consolidator needs their own office ID in the TA pnr for access purposes.

That's one way to do it and it would work, if AQIRE had the ability to do such a thing, but I can tell you it hasn't got the functionality.

 

[kreuky]

Got an award ticket from LAX to HKG on CX. From SFO, bought an AA ticket from SFO to LAX, and they tagged my bags with no issue. I could of gone for a cheaper fare but this is where AA wins out because they still interline with their partners. If I did the reverse, there's no incentive for me to fly oneworld if CX, QF, etc don't interline with their "partners". On the way back my flight is HKG to SFO on CX, but I will be elsewhere in asia and because CX won't interline, there's no reason for me to buy a OW ticket (lounges, maybe but most lounges OW lounges outside HKG, KUL, SIN are cough and I have priority pass and plus i'd rather have my luggage interlined and I already have access in HKG). MH still interline so I could buy with them and of course CX interline with themselves, but on principle I wouldn't buy with them.

 

[madrooster]

AA are also no longer through-checking bags on different PNRs:https://ssc.aa.com/prmportal_enu/Ag...ugh Checked Baggage with Separate Tickets.pdf

 

[Isochronous]

AA are also no longer through-checking bags on different PNRs:https://ssc.aa.com/prmportal_enu/Ag...ugh Checked Baggage with Separate Tickets.pdf

For different airlines or even AA to AA connections?

 

[kreuky]

that's weird since that policy was updated on Jul 19 and I flew on Jul 20. Seems like most agents don't know yet and hopefully continue to not know...

 

[Mattg]

AA are also no longer through-checking bags on different PNRs:https://ssc.aa.com/prmportal_enu/Ag...ugh Checked Baggage with Separate Tickets.pdf

That's annoying...

 

[legroom]

"Customers travelling on separate tickets issued in separate PNRs/bookings will not be accepted for through check-in, regardless of which oneworld carrier(s) they are connecting to..."

Very inconvenient indeed

 

[Princess Fiona]

Ahh!! Pretty annoying
Looks like it's HLO and shipping the booty home from now on for me.

 

[Quickstatus]

Ahh!! Pretty annoying
Looks like it's HLO and shipping the booty home from now on for me.

Yes my thoughts as well.

I'm looking at some forwarding services

luggageforward.com

 

[Ansett]

Ahh!! Pretty annoying
Looks like it's HLO and shipping the booty home from now on for me.

Or look at it as an opportunity to try other airlines for the separate bookings, new experiences and perhaps even savings

 

[pagingjoan]

Facing up to this hurdle later on in the current trip.
Have factored in enough time - but that doesn't get around the likely impossibility of re-checking bags and using the transit time to do something interesting.
Not a happy prospect to be lumbered with bags during a long transit.
Will report back in a couple of weeks. (All interim flights fit the eligibility criteria or are point-to-point.)

 

[Princess Fiona]

Facing up to this hurdle later on in the current trip.
Have factored in enough time - but that doesn't get around the likely impossibility of re-checking bags and using the transit time to do something interesting.
Not a happy prospect to be lumbered with bags during a long transit.
Will report back in a couple of weeks. (All interim flights fit the eligibility criteria or are point-to-point.)

Best of luck with it all !!