Qantas won't link Tickets

[sclarkso]

Hi,

My wife and I have a Brisbane to Chicago flight in 3 weeks on Qantas. Qantas had no availability on the flight we needed all the way through so we booked with Qantas for the Brisbane to LA and American for the LA to Chicago. We chose American because they are code share, thinking it would help with the short layover. My wife thought we would be able to make it with a 2 hour layover in LA, because we've done the 4 hour many times and it always seems like we're sitting around for 3 hours. However this time we'll have more luggage, and a bike box and she is worried we won't have enough time.

We thought if Qantas would check our bags all the way through, we would probably make it, but they are refusing over the phone to link the tickets saying it will be up to the check in person day of, which seems insane to me. American Airlines has 'linked' the tickets in their system, but say it will be up to Qantas to honor that.

She is platinum with Qantas (and flies them weekly) and we are first class LA to Chicago. Is there another avenue of escalation or option we have to make sure we make our LA to Chicago flight? Right now we are looking at concierge services in LAX, but this whole ordeal has stressed my wife out so much she just wants to cancel the trip. This is on the heels of another major issue with Qantas a few months ago and she is ready to stop flying them altogether.

Unfortunately with all of the FF and bookings in her name I can't help a lot but just trying to see what I can do if anything.

Thanks in Advance.

TL;DR: Is there any way to force Qantas to link our Qantas tickets with our American Airlines tickets so our bags can get checked through to our destination?

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Probably not. The new one world baggage rules won't help you either. They will probably not check your bags through - even if US customs would otherwise allow this (it would be impossible coming into Australia).
Are the tickets flexible? Can you cancel and rebook all the flights on the one PNR with a travel agent or an online booking service?

 

[sclarkso]

Only flexibility is changing the dates, we didn't buy cancellable tickets.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

If Qantas don't check your bags through and you miss your flight American might still put you on the next one.

 

[mannej]

If you have a look at the thread that is discussing the new Oneworld interline policy, you will find that "linking" the bookings like this will only create a ghost segment. This is of no use for the interline.

You will still need to pick your bags at LAX no?

Saying that I thought QF weren't implementing their new interline policies until September?

 

[russ]

I've never had any problems getting my bags checked through.

I wouldn't get too stressed about it. You'll have to pick up your bags prior to customs at LAX anyway so the difference is whether you will check your bags in at the onward flight bag drop at TBIT or whether you will have to wheel them next door at Terminal 4. You were going to have to walk to Terminal 4 anyway, so the difference is basically the hassle of pushing your luggage a couple of hundred metres from TBIT to T4.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Next time use a travel agent who could have solved this problem before it began

 

[Mattg]

You should be fine, as long as you're flying before 1 September. Just show the agent both tickets, and ask them to tag the bags and issue boarding passes all the way through when you check in for the Qantas flight.

After 1 September Qantas will no longer guarantee interlining on separate tickets, so it may be an issue if travelling after then (only).

 

[TomVexille]

You should be fine, as long as you're flying before 1 September. Just show the agent both tickets, and ask them to tag the bags and issue boarding passes all the way through when you check in for the Qantas flight.

After 1 September Qantas will no longer guarantee interlining on separate tickets, so it may be an issue if travelling after then (only).

What Mattg said.

AA still have a very generous policy to protect oneworld connections on separate tickets.

 

[sclarkso]

What Mattg said.

AA still have a very generous policy to protect oneworld connections on separate tickets.

On the phone AA implied it would be a hefty sum if we missed the flight. I've never missed a flight due to a connection though and assumed if it wasn't your fault they'd be helpful.

 

[codash1099]

On the phone AA implied it would be a hefty sum if we missed the flight. I've never missed a flight due to a connection though and assumed if it wasn't your fault they'd be helpful.

They told me that, provided I let them know in advance with all booking details, they would look after me. No mention of additional cost.

 

[Quickstatus]

They told me that, provided I let them know in advance with all booking details, they would look after me. No mention of additional cost.

How far in advance?

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Hi,
My wife and I have a Brisbane to Chicago flight in 3 weeks on Qantas. Qantas had no availability on the flight we needed all the way through so we booked with Qantas for the Brisbane to LA and American for the LA to Chicago.

We chose American because they are code share, thinking it would help with the short layover. My wife thought we would be able to make it with a 2 hour layover in LA, because we've done the 4 hour many times and it always seems like we're sitting around for 3 hours. However this time we'll have more luggage, and a bike box and she is worried we won't have enough time.

The fact that AA codeshare with QF on the LAX/ORD sector has no bearing on your situation as QF codeshare flights (operated by AA) can only be booked on the QF website in conjunction with QF transpac flights in the same QF pnr. An AA flight booked via aa.com is a standalone AA flight.

A 2 hour connection in LAX is the absolute bare minimum on the same ticket and there's probably a few people on here that would be uncomfortable with that on the same booking never mind attempting that on two bookings as it leaves you absolutely no wiggle room particularly as you have even more luggage this time!

We thought if Qantas would check our bags all the way through, we would probably make it, but they are refusing over the phone to link the tickets saying it will be up to the check in person day of, which seems insane to me. American Airlines has 'linked' the tickets in their system, but say it will be up to Qantas to honor that.

When you arrive at BNE Intl as your wife is a QF Plat you can use the J Class checkin queue so have a copy of your AA itinerary with you and ask the CSA if they can add in your oncarriage flight LAX/ORD in accordance with the current QF policy up until 31 August 2016 - it's not up to the checkin person on the day.

Calling QF reservations ahead of time to give them AA flight details is pointless because even if QF entered the AA flights as information segments into your Amadeus reservations pnr the details do not generate to the Altea checkin system so when you arrive at the airport the CSA would just say "travelling from BNE to LAX"?

Similarly giving your QF flight details to AA does absolutely nothing - QF will not be able to see the AA flights at checkin. On the homeward leg, if AA in ORD can already see the QF flight LAX/BNE as oncarriage it is only because QF has done through checkin you to ORD in the first place not from you calling AA reservations.

She is platinum with Qantas (and flies them weekly) and we are first class LA to Chicago. Is there another avenue of escalation or option we have to make sure we make our LA to Chicago flight? Right now we are looking at concierge services in LAX, but this whole ordeal has stressed my wife out so much she just wants to cancel the trip.

TL;DR: Is there any way to force Qantas to link our Qantas tickets with our American Airlines tickets so our bags can get checked through to our destination?

It's probably stating the obvious but if your wife has stressed herself out to the extent that she's talking about cancelling the trip, wouldn't it just be simpler to book the later LAX/ORD flight then relax in the AA Flagship Lounge at T4? Maybe last time you got through TSA quicker at T4 because you could use the Priority AAccess queue at LAX. They don't have that any longer unless you have 'TSA Precheck' (ie not QF Plats) so that process in itself could take one hour.

You don't need to 'force' Qantas to link the AA flights because they will still do it up to and including 31 Aug 2016 but this can only be done at the airport when you checkin so you should be fine this time. Because QF will through checkyou to ORD if the QF15 was delayed they would rebook you on to a later AA flight LAX/ORD so you would be protected in the event of a disruption.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-separate-ticket-interline-changes-76450.html

 

[Quickstatus]

Why are you stressing out - the solution is clear.......

QF15 BNE-LAX is not reliable for an ontime arrival.

Apart from today's QF15 which will arrive into LAX over 6 hours late, historically it has often arrived after 0630am.

Your 2 hour ground time assumes an ontime arrival.

I would suggest rebooking to a later LAX-ORD flight - there is an 1100, 1300, 1445 flight. Much less angst and gnashing of teeth to be a bit bored after arrival, or as OZBB suggests rely on the goodwill (whether Oneworld policy or not) of AA.

I never book anything less than a 4 hour ground time at LAX but its a bit late I know.....

 

[sclarkso]

It's probably stating the obvious but if your wife has stressed herself out to the extent that she's talking about cancelling the trip, wouldn't it just be simpler to book the later LAX/ORD flight then relax in the AA Flagship Lounge at T4? Maybe last time you got through TSA quicker at T4 because you could use the Priority AAccess queue at LAX. They don't have that any longer unless you have 'TSA Precheck' (ie not QF Plats) so that process in itself could take one hour.

You don't need to 'force' Qantas to link the AA flights because they will still do it up to and including 31 Aug 2016 but this can only be done at the airport when you checkin so you should be fine this time. Because QF will through checkyou to ORD if the QF15 was delayed they would rebook you on to a later AA flight LAX/ORD so you would be protected in the event of a disruption.

We were trying to avoid having to spend ~1k to rebook to the later flight. I understand this is our mistake, but obviously trying to fix it as inexpensively as possible.

The next later flight to ORD is booked, so it would be the 6 hour later one IIRC.

Thanks for all the info though, I think we'll have a talk about it and try to figure out if potentially missing the flight and rebooking would be cheaper or rebooking beforehand.

 

[codash1099]

How far in advance?

Whenever I know of the delay - i.e., before departure

 

[ozbeachbabe]

We were trying to avoid having to spend ~1k to rebook to the later flight. I understand this is our mistake, but obviously trying to fix it as inexpensively as possible.

The next later flight to ORD is booked, so it would be the 6 hour later one IIRC.

Thanks for all the info though, I think we'll have a talk about it and try to figure out if potentially missing the flight and rebooking would be cheaper or rebooking beforehand.

What's done is done so I wouldn't bother paying $1K to change to the later flight. At least your scenario is happening prior to 31 August so having separate bookings won't affect through check to ORD so you'll be protected.

Even if you had the scenario of only having bags tagged to LAX I'm quite confident that if you lobbed at the F checkin at T4 having missed a flight that you'd be rebooked by AA on the next available flight without an issue.

I've always found AA very helpful when being rebooked after missed connections - once SJU/xJFK/BOS and the other BOS/xMIA/SJU. Admitted both times it was AA to AA not QF to AA however I think they'd cut you some slack if you'd just arrived from a delayed QF long haul flight.

 

[Pleb Status]

In any case, linking seperate bookings does nothing to protect against a misconnect in LAX. If QF are late, the OP will have to rely on AA being nice.....

I have spent many hours hanging around the AA T4 flagship lounge waiting for onward connections from Australia.

 

[Himeno]

Maybe last time you got through TSA quicker at T4 because you could use the Priority AAccess queue at LAX. They don't have that any longer unless you have 'TSA Precheck' (ie not QF Plats) so that process in itself could take one hour.

When was the last time you went through LAX T4?
The small side checkpoint at T4 (up the escalators from the premium check in) is both precheck and Priority AAccess. There are 2 lines, the precheck line heads back towards the escalator, while the Priority line goes along the wall heading towards the main checkpoint.

 

[PLANT]

I'd say 2hrs is too little as you say you are experienced travelers..... Rookie mistake for lax customs and Qantas getting in on time!
Solution is to have the name on ticket changed to mine and then wife can destress...... Which will destress you...... Happy to take the trip and wear the stress