Interline luggage on separate bookings QF>IB, BA>QF

[jase05]

Had 2 revenue flights with BA on seperate tickets ABZ-LHR. LHR-GVA and they flat out refused even as BAEC Gold. Not ideal but it’s their policy

 

[LondonAussie]

Had 2 revenue flights with BA on seperate tickets ABZ-LHR. LHR-GVA and they flat out refused even as BAEC Gold. Not ideal but it’s their policy

I've been lucky on many occasions with QF, QR, CX, AY and AA agents.
BA has always refused.

 

[Himeno]

I've been lucky on many occasions with QF, QR, CX, AY and AA agents.
BA has always refused.

From what I remember, BA was the driving force behind getting the oneworld cross PNR interline rule changed from required to up to airline.

 

[madrooster]

They were actually very nice about it as they actually tried...

Rubbish - you can even prompt them to use the 'find connection' function. They might take you a bit more seriously if you sound like you have some idea!

 

[Quickstatus]

Rubbish

No, for an airline customer, it is not for me to know the operating systems they use. It is for the airline to enable/train their customer facing staff to know their check in systems.

That they could not solve it, is indicative of the inadequate training provided by the airline/

 

[exLXCXFF]

They will also do so where one ticket is an award and one paid

I can confirm multiple success stories on this one with QF award to Jakarta and revenue on QR to ZRH via DOH. Check-in at SYD INTL J, needed some massaging of the check-in agents though. All were aware of the policies but did definitely not wanted to actively do it

 

[TeaKozy]

I did so early 2023 flying MEL-LAX-EWR (the LAX-EWR being on Alaska revenue). Was told no, showed them the policy, and he took it to his supervisor (behind the frosted glass on the far-left of the Melbourne QF international counter). 10 minutes (!) later, and our luggage was tagged through.

That said, my understanding is that you still aren't protected on account of a delay - given you have to clear immigration and customs in LAX, the only benefit seems to be not having to lug your bags over to T4/5/6 to re-check. If flying AA, even that benefit is somewhat eroded by Flagship First check-in and being only a 100-200m stroll. If transiting SIN or AKL maybe, but is there any benefit to this for mixed revenue-award North American itineraries?

 

[LondonAussie]

Agree I wouldn't really bother if transiting the US or Australia - both countries require transit passengers to collect their bags and go through immigration and security.

It's beneficial in other countries where it can allow you to completely bypass passport control and security, and just walk airside from one gate to the next.

 

[exLXCXFF]

It's beneficial in other countries where it can allow you to completely bypass passport control and security, and just walk airside from one gate to the next.

which is exactly the case for Jakarta

 

[madrooster]

but is there any benefit to this for mixed revenue-award North American itineraries?

It's beneficial if it's US->elsewhere, CA->elsewhere and also AU->DFW->international destination / international->DFW->AU as no baggage collection is required.

You can also exempt some of the domestic ticket taxes on a separate commercial US domestic ticket, when it's issued conjunctively with the international award ticket.

I can confirm multiple success stories on this one with QF award to Jakarta and revenue on QR to ZRH via DOH.

I regularly send pax on either QF commercial <-> QR commercial or QF award <-> QR commercial through CGK on one PNR (both directions).

CGK is a great one since you dodge the need to enter Indonesia otherwise, where a visa is required, and the ground staff there are very good about escorting transit pax through the formalities there.

 

[DAC1]

Rubbish - you can even prompt them to use the 'find connection' function. They might take you a bit more seriously if you sound like you have some idea!

madrooster knows much more about this than most of us do so this is obviously correct.

Last year, I wanted to try and find some information about how Altea worked so I could sound informed if I was refused a through check. I ended up finding a guide online here. It’s a few years old, but theres some comments on the find connection function on page 68 of the document (or page 78 of the PDF).

What I do not know is whether QF staff use a version of Altea that makes it harder to use this function, but I’ve at least always kept this document saved in case there is a day I need to pull it out.

 

[madrooster]

That they could not solve it, is indicative of the inadequate training provided by the airline/

Trust me... I wholeheartedly agree that it's indicative of inadequate training. The airlines lost a lot of working knowledge when they had to let go of so many people during the pandemic and unfortunately we're the ones left feeling the effects of that.

I probably feel it more than most here... I knew more than most airline staff before the pandemic, let alone after the pandemic with all that working knowledge that was let go.

Whilst I appreciate it's not exactly our job as passengers (or travel agents) to know how to use their systems, and yes I agree it's a slippery slope for us to know and have to show them, sometimes working with the staff and meeting in the middle is a more sensible solution, in this case, so you don't need to do a collect and re-check.

madrooster knows much more about this than most of us do so this is obviously correct.

Last year, I wanted to try and find some information about how Altea worked so I could sound informed if I was refused a through check. I ended up finding a guide online here. It’s a few years old, but theres some comments on the find connection function on page 68 of the document (or page 78 of the PDF).

What I do not know is whether QF staff use a version of Altea that makes it harder to use this function, but I’ve at least always kept this document saved in case there is a day I need to pull it out.

I know how to use Altea and can confirm QF definitely has the find connection function. It's not buried or anything... it's in the same place that you'd find it on any Amadeus carrier's Altea.

Find Connection is used for QF to QF connections. Add Itinerary is the function to use for QF -> other carrier connections.

Altea is not a difficult system to use. Some staff just don't know what the function is to use/where it is.

 

[SYD]

Trust me... I wholeheartedly agree that it's indicative of inadequate training. The airlines lost a lot of working knowledge when they had to let go of so many people during the pandemic and unfortunately we're the ones left feeling the effects of that.

I probably feel it more than most here... I knew more than most airline staff before the pandemic, let alone after the pandemic with all that working knowledge that was let go.

Whilst I appreciate it's not exactly our job as passengers (or travel agents) to know how to use their systems, and yes I agree it's a slippery slope for us to know and have to show them, sometimes working with the staff and meeting in the middle is a more sensible solution, in this case, so you don't need to do a collect and re-check.



I know how to use Altea and can confirm QF definitely has the find connection function. It's not buried or anything... it's in the same place that you'd find it on any Amadeus carrier's Altea.

Find Connection is used for QF to QF connections. Add Itinerary is the function to use for QF -> other carrier connections.

Altea is not a difficult system to use. Some staff just don't know what the function is to use/where it is.

That was my experience at SYD F checkin. The person just didn’t know how to (rather than lie and say it’s not possible). But they called over the supervisor who joined the dots.

This was for a QF J CR SYD-LAX to AS LAX-SFO (revenue on QF stock).

I would have made a scene given that it was QF that delayed the restart of SFO and rerouted us (at their expense) via LAX.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Trust me... I wholeheartedly agree that it's indicative of inadequate training. The airlines lost a lot of working knowledge when they had to let go of so many people during the pandemic and unfortunately we're the ones left feeling the effects of that.

To me it wasn't just the knowledge of knowing how to do things, but also understanding the tricks that often are required to be known to solve problems. You know, the stuff that isn't in the training manuals. Like being the guy who knows to give the machine a gentle tap in the right spot rather than waiting for maintenance to come fix it.

 

[madrooster]

This was for a QF J CR SYD-LAX to AS LAX-SFO (revenue on QF stock).

I would have made a scene given that it was QF that delayed the restart of SFO and rerouted us (at their expense) via LAX.

... why did they book the LAX-SFO on a separate PNR? This should have been booked as one PNR, award or not.

 

[SYD]

... why did they book the LAX-SFO on a separate PNR? This should have been booked as one PNR, award or not.

When QF delayed the restart of SYD-SFO they automatically rebooked everyone on SYD-LAX. Those on revenue bookings were ultimately rebooked thru to SFO.

Reward bookings had the issue of “computer says no” on LAX-SFO F/J reward seats on AA and AS. So, right or wrong QF paid for the seperate flight.