Melbourne-LA via Sydney transfer question

[Praha1986]

I am travelling to LA from Melbourne via Sydney.

My Melbourne-Sydney leg is with Qantas, my Syd-LA leg with United.

I have about roughly 2.5 hours between flights -- my Melbourne flight leaves at 6am, Sydney-LA flight at 9:50am -- (pending my QANTAS flight isn't delayed) and I wonder if I'll need to collect my baggage in Sydney and check-in for the international flight? Will Qantas in Melbourne check me in for my United flight as well?

Thanks for any help!

 

[mannej]

The answer to your question ultimately comes down to if the flights are booked on the same or different tickets.

 

[Praha1986]

The answer to your question ultimately comes down to if the flights are booked on the same or different tickets.

Thanks! Looking at my itinerary, the "ticket number" for both flights is the same. I guess this means it's on the same ticket and my baggage will be checked through to LA?

 

[mannej]

As United are Star Alliance, QF will only interline bags to them if it is on the same ticket.

If they are on separate tickets, you will need to collect your baggage in SYD and check in for UA there.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

As already mentioned by Mannej, if both flights are on the same ticket the bag can be through checked MEL/xSYD/LAX so you won't need to collect it enroute in SYD. Just make sure you go to a checkin desk at MEL Airport and tell them you've got an international connection. Don't use the self checkin kiosks as it will only tag your bag to SYD then you would need to collect it enroute.

If both flights are on the same ticket QF should automatically see the oncarriage flight to LAX so just reconfirm this with the CSA before the bag is sent off. While they do have an interline agreement for baggage they don't have an IATCI agreement with UA so can't issue boarding passes for the SYD/LAX flight.

When you arrive in SYD T3 go directly to gate 15 for the free shuttle bus around to the international terminal where you will need to check with UA and get your boarding pass before you head through customs.

It's worth noting that UA only give you one free piece of checked luggage unless you're an uber elite member of their frequent flyer program like a 1K member in which case you won't be charged excess as long as the number if the number of pieces doens't exceed the elite allowance.

If you haven't done your UA seat allocation already, do it asap so you don't end up in a middle seat and you could always do OLCI to expedite matters.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

As others have pointed out, all on one ticket QF should check your bags all the way through. You don't want to collect them in SYD as you then miss out on the bus to international, and have to make your own way (with bags) from the domestic to international terminal.

The potential problem is QF check-in staff... not all of them know the rules so well. If you come across an agent telling you that bags can only be checked to SYD, make sure you ask them to check with a colleague. If they tell you through check-in is only available on oneworld airlines (etc) just politely wait until they can get someone to help you.

I'd aim to arrive for the domestic check-in at least an hour before departure to allow for any problems with the baggage. Too much later and there may not be time to sort it all out if it goes wrong.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

The potential problem is QF check-in staff... not all of them know the rules so well. If you come across an agent telling you that bags can only be checked to SYD, make sure you ask them to check with a colleague. If they tell you through check-in is only available on oneworld airlines (etc) just politely wait until they can get someone to help you.

As long as both flights are on the same ticket, the UA oncarriage flight will be visible in the checkin system so if you checkin with a CSA at the checkin counter (not the automated kiosks) then the bag tag will automatically print out to LAX as the system knows there is an interline agreement in place.

For a CSA to tell you that your bags can only be checked to SYD would actually be more work as they'd have to manually intervene and 'short tag' the bag to SYD as they would have to segment relate the checkin to specify you only want the bag tagged to SYD as opposed to letting the system do it by itself when your bags would be tagged to LAX.

QF have interline baggage agreements with most airlines provided all flights are on the same ticket. If the CSA says no then ask to speak to the supervisor.

If flights are on separate tickets then QF will only add in oncarriage if both airlines are members of the One World Alliance or for EK.