thewinchester
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One of the oft-asked questions is how much of a baggage allowance do I get when interlining. The answers to this question change from carrier to carrier, but thanks to a new IATA rule effective from April 1 a lot of the complexity will be removed thanks to the new most significant carrier (MSC) rule.
So what does everyone think - finally a easy system for working out how much baggage you can actually take, or just another pain in the cough getting in the way of things you already know?
I'm under the working assumption that if the MSC gives the pax an additional allowance thanks to FFP benefits, this allowances follows for the entire interlined journey (assuming all carriers on the ticket are IATA members).IATA rolls out new baggage policies for interline journeys
Originally published on asia.businesstraveller.com 01/04/2011
From April 1, IATA's member carriers will adopt a new baggage allowances and charges policy for interline journeys proposed by the international body.
The new Baggage Rule Resolution 302, intended to standardise baggage policies for passengers flying multiple carriers, outlines that if the baggage provisions of the different carriers are not the same, the policies of the Most Significant Carrier (MSC) will apply. The MSC is defined as the first carrier crossing IATA Areas or Sub-areas.
IATA dissects the world into three areas: Area 1 covers the Americas, Area 2 covers Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Area 3 covers Asia-Pacific. These are subdivided into Sub-areas. Area 1 is divided into USA, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean Islands, Central America and South Americas. Area 2 is divided into Europe, Middle East and Africa. Area 3 is divided into Japan and Korea, Southeast Asia, India and Southeast Pacific (Australasia).
The MSC would be the first carrier flying the longest leg either between the three areas or the sub-areas. For travel within sub-areas, the policies of the carrier on the first international sector would apply. For example, flying from Beijing to Singapore via Hong Kong - all within a single sub-area - on Dragonair and Singapore Airlines, Dragonair would be the MSC as it would be the first to cross an international border.
So what does everyone think - finally a easy system for working out how much baggage you can actually take, or just another pain in the cough getting in the way of things you already know?