Virgin Australia - Can bookings be linked?

[danielc]

Next month I am travelling economy from PER-MEL on a single booking.

Upon arrival in MEL I am transferring to a MEL-LST flight on a separate booking which also contains another passenger who I am meeting at Melbourne airport.

Can I get the two bookings linked so that when I check-in at PER, I am able to get my bag tagged all the way to LST? I have checked the Virgin website and it seems to indicate that if the flights are on separate bookings I will have to claim my bag in MEL and then re-check it there to LST. Obviously with COVID-19 I would prefer to just stay inside the MEL security area and have my luggage go straight through.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[henrus]

Officially the answer is no, although it never hurts to ask.

Not sure but recently in Perth they've been using Terminal 2 for check-in which means no kiosk (they couldn't even be bothered to staff a priority queue because no one was around). It may have gone back to normal but if this is still the case then you'll have to see a person to check the bag and can ask the question then.

 

[danielc]

Officially the answer is no, although it never hurts to ask.

Not sure but recently in Perth they've been using Terminal 2 for check-in which means no kiosk (they couldn't even be bothered to staff a priority queue because no one was around). It may have gone back to normal but if this is still the case then you'll have to see a person to check the bag and can ask the question then.

Thanks for the useful info. Much appreciated.

 

[Bagpuss]

Next month I am travelling economy from PER-MEL on a single booking.

Upon arrival in MEL I am transferring to a MEL-LST flight on a separate booking which also contains another passenger who I am meeting at Melbourne airport.

Can I get the two bookings linked so that when I check-in at PER, I am able to get my bag tagged all the way to LST? I have checked the Virgin website and it seems to indicate that if the flights are on separate bookings I will have to claim my bag in MEL and then re-check it there to LST. Obviously with COVID-19 I would prefer to just stay inside the MEL security area and have my luggage go straight through.

Any help is appreciated.

Why don't you just use the Manage Booking and select seats next to each other now? Or wait until flights are fully open for check-in (48 hours prior) and then do seat selection.

The chance of being moved is rare (even though there is a thread about this).

 

[danielc]

Why don't you just use the Manage Booking and select seats next to each other now? Or wait until flights are fully open for check-in (48 hours prior) and then do seat selection.

The chance of being moved is rare (even though there is a thread about this).

Thanks for your reply.
The seats are already booked. I was just curious about the luggage. Mine will be loading in PER and the other guests will be loading in MEL. Trying to avoid having to claim mine and re-check it at MEL.

 

[Bagpuss]

Thanks for your reply.
The seats are already booked. I was just curious about the luggage. Mine will be loading in PER and the other guests will be loading in MEL. Trying to avoid having to claim mine and re-check it at MEL.

You would just mention this at checkin then and they can normally check-in to your final destination across 2 bookings.
At PER T2 there are no automated machines anyway, unless that's recently changed.

 

[danielc]

You would just mention this at checkin then and they can normally check-in to your final destination across 2 bookings.
At PER T2 there are no automated machines anyway, unless that's recently changed.

Great, thanks for the info. I haven't flown out of PER in over 12 months so am not up to speed with their current check-in process.

 

[henrus]

You would just mention this at checkin then and they can normally check-in to your final destination across 2 bookings.
At PER T2 there are no automated machines anyway, unless that's recently changed.

It can be a 50/50 if they actually thru check baggage. As I said above official policy is a no so I wouldn't say they normally can.

I'm not 100% sure but they could be back to terminal 1 now. The plan was to move back at the end of January but I'm not sure if this happened on time or not.

 

[danielc]

It can be a 50/50 if they actually thru check baggage. As I said above official policy is a no so I wouldn't say they normally can.

I'm not 100% sure but they could be back to terminal 1 now. The plan was to move back at the end of January but I'm not sure if this happened on time or not.

Thanks. Flights are a little over 3 weeks away so a LOT can change in that time. Here's hoping!

 

[Bagpuss]

It can be a 50/50 if they actually thru check baggage. As I said above official policy is a no so I wouldn't say they normally can.

I'm not 100% sure but they could be back to terminal 1 now. The plan was to move back at the end of January but I'm not sure if this happened on time or not.

Flights operate from T1. However, apart from early morning you checkin at T2.

 

[Happy Dude]

You would just mention this at checkin then and they can normally check-in to your final destination across 2 bookings.

That would not be the norm, unless there has been a recent change. I was told it was to stop pax from exploiting fares where two legs are cheaper than on one tix, (for me it was CNS-BNE-CBR), which I took to mean that VA wanted to gouge me as much as they could.

Doesn't hurt to ask of course. Play the covid card?

 

[henrus]

That would not be the norm, unless there has been a recent change. I was told it was to stop pax from exploiting fares where two legs are cheaper than on one tix, (for me it was CNS-BNE-CBR), which I took to mean that VA wanted to gouge me as much as they could.

Correct there has been no recent change so I suspect the baggage won't be thru checked. Whilst possible the official policy is no and it's likely that danielc will have to pickup their luggage at MEL and re-check it.

Regarding terminals, I asked this afternoon and was told that check-in for non-charter flights is occurring at T1 now, so things are back to normal and you can use the kiosks again.