Qantas-IndiGo partnership

[Ade]

I will start my trip soon, I called Indigo Airlines to confirm my luggage allowance on the way back from BOM. Apparently they will only allow 30kgs and they do not honour the QF Platinum status allowance.
Has anyone faced a similar experience recently?
Did you have a different outcome?

Before I answer - what I'm not sure is, if it matters who the ticket was purchased from.

I usually buy my tickets from QF and Indigo is part of the itinerary for the domestic portion in India. In this case, Indigo will honor the QF WP allowance. You will need to show your QFF membership card with the status. I have done this numerous times and have had no issue. In fact, the Indigo BP will have a code on your BP denoting this.

Now, what I'm not sure is, if the ticket is purchased from Indigo and QF is part of the itinerary for the international portion, will the FF luggage allowance be honored.

 

[newbieflyhigh]

Before I answer - what I'm not sure is, if it matters who the ticket was purchased from.

I usually buy my tickets from QF and Indigo is part of the itinerary for the domestic portion in India. In this case, Indigo will honor the QF WP allowance. You will need to show your QFF membership card with the status. I have done this numerous times and have had no issue. In fact, the Indigo BP will have a code on your BP denoting this.

Now, what I'm not sure is, if the ticket is purchased from Indigo and QF is part of the itinerary for the international portion, will the FF luggage allowance be honored.

Hi Ade,

Thank you for your response.

I purchased the tickets directly from Qantas website and Indigo is part of the domestic connection.
I called Indigo Airlines, they informed me that my ticket has 30kg allowance which was issued by Qantas.
I called the Qantas, they informed me that since it is codeshare with Indigo (and not part of one world), I have to follow Indigo's policy, they won't update my luggage allowance for the return trip.

However, in your personal experience, they did honour the higher allowance based on your FF status. This gives me some hope.

Was this in Mumbai or Bengaluru?

 

[Ade]

I purchased the tickets directly from Qantas website and Indigo is part of the domestic connection.

Cool. I assume your domestic legs are part of the international ticket/PNR.

I called Indigo Airlines, they informed me that my ticket has 30kg allowance which was issued by Qantas.

This is correct. This is what Indigo (6E) will see from their end. To be fair, the ability to see 30KG on 6E end is an improvement. Earlier they used to see 15KG as the allowance. Boy, am I glad that is fixed now.

I called the Qantas, they informed me that since it is codeshare with Indigo (and not part of one world), I have to follow Indigo's policy, they won't update my luggage allowance for the return trip.

Depends on who in QF you were able to talk to - someone without proper information/training might say something like this. This doesn't sound right to me. Assuming all the itinerary legs are in the same PNR, which means baggage allowance is applicable for the whole trip (including in/out of the domestic port).

However, in your personal experience, they did honour the higher allowance based on your FF status. This gives me some hope.

Ah mate, I have been doing in/out of India few times a year for few years now in the 6E-QF partnership and I only had issues the first 2 times exiting MAA and BLR.

In the first instance, ex-MAA, I had to get a manager from 6E who was not helpful, but I was able to talk to a very helpful staff from HBA over the phone who tried to explain the policy to 6E staff, who did not still get it. It went to the point where the HBA staff said that she can provide a QF company credit card to charge for excess baggage and I won't have to foot the bill.

In the second instance, ex-BLR, I had to show my QFF WP card and had to involve the Airport Manager for QF at BLR to get my baggage checked-in.

After these 2 instances, I have done more trips than I can count and have not had any issues. So you will be fine. Just keep your QFF WP card handy and hold your ground. Ask for a the QF manager at the airport (if flying out of DEL or BLR) and they can assist. These days, the QF ground staff at IN ports are trained enough that they recognise statuses.

Years back when SYD-BLR-SYD service was commenced, I was asked to go to the back of the Y check-in as I was flying Y. My WP status did not mean a thing. Not a biggie, just the staff did not really understand the statuses back then. Things have improved quite a lot now.

 

[Ade]

Was this in Mumbai or Bengaluru?

I don't think QF operates out of BOM yet. QF services (ATM) are in/out of BLR and DEL. So if your domestic trip commences in BOM, you'd be doing BOM-BLR on 6E and then BLR-SYD on QF. OR you'd be doing BOM-DEL in 6E and DEL-MEL on QF.

My trips are mostly ex-MAA with a domestic connection in BLR/DEL.

 

[SeatBackForward]

This is correct. This is what Indigo (6E) will see from their end. To be fair, the ability to see 30KG on 6E end is an improvement. Earlier they used to see 15KG as the allowance. Boy, am I glad that is fixed now.

So Indigo will not honour the QFF WP checked baggage allowance of upto 50kgs? Thats strange. QF Ticket, QF is the MSC..surely Indigo's limit doesnt apply here?

 

[Ade]

So Indigo will not honour the QFF WP checked baggage allowance of upto 50kgs? Thats strange. QF Ticket, QF is the MSC..surely Indigo's limit doesnt apply here?

Yea, that what they used to tell (and they are wrong) and I stood my ground. I showed by QFF WP card and in one instance, involved HBA agents to get the additional baggage. I speak the local language, so it was easy for me to navigate with the 6E ground staff.

Re: 6E seeing the 30KG - I was told that 6E's systems will only see the *normal* allowance. Any FF allowance is added on top of that *normal* allowance at bag drop/check-in. I'm not sure how much of this is correct. This is what the 6E staff at MAA tell me.

Side note: the *normal* allowance on 6E used to be 15KG, which is now changed to 30KG for International flights.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Re: 6E seeing the 30KG - I was told that 6E's systems will only see the *normal* allowance. Any FF allowance is added on top of that *normal* allowance at bag drop/check-in. I'm not sure how much of this is correct. This is what the 6E staff at MAA tell me.

They better get things like that sorted out if they want partners to take them seriously.

 

[newbieflyhigh]

I will let you know how I go when I return. I had issues in the past with Malaysian airlines, I redirected them to One World website and it was sorted quickly.
I can't seem to find my physical card at the moment, I am hoping they will be happy with my digital card

 

[Ade]

I will let you know how I go when I return. I had issues in the past with Malaysian airlines, I redirected them to One World website and it was sorted quickly.
I can't seem to find my physical card at the moment, I am hoping they will be happy with my digital card

Digital card is fine. I only use Digital card from the QF app.