JOUY31

Be careful what you wish for. From a recent discussion with senior marketing/sales officials, it seems the issue has been raised when discussing the following scenarii on two separate PNRS in relation to MINI:

- long-haul to MINI: baggage should be checked through with no baggage fee
- MINI to long-haul: baggage can be checked through BUT with the baggage fee in relation to the MINI fare

On the wider issue, agents can technically do it, it is unclear whether kiosks can do it. But at this stage, there is no BA style or DL-inspired policy to deny through check on separate PNRs to non-SkyTeam carriers. It is left to the agent's discretion.

orbitmic

Thanks for the information. Makes it even more ridiculous that some agents are being 'overzealous' in refusing to interline, particularly in the case of AF-Skyteam or even AF-AF itineraries as reported upthread but at least good to know that this is not a corporate policy.

And I'm not shocked if they make you pay a luggage fee if there is one if you are on separate PNRs whether it is a MINI, extra piece of luggage, etc. I find the MINI offer a nasty one but if they have it I certainly don't see wht they should waive a fee if you have a separate ticket with different entitlements. It would be a bit like expecting an upgrade to C on your separately bought Y short haul just because you had a long haul C on the same day.

JOUY31

Two trends that need to be watched,though :
- if a policy is formalized one day, I don't think it will be as open-minded as the current practice; OTOH, the emphasis at AF is very strong on moving from a rigid task oriented approach to employee empowerment, at least in the area of customer interaction
- the implementation of the new DCS involves increased automation and formalization of rules that do not always reflect a policy shift; all the kinks should be ironed out before the rollout at the hub, though

brunos

Let's stick for a moment with Goldorak's example of CDK-BKK(AF)-USM(PG).

I am 100% in favor of having an explicit formal policy. One that is official and adhered to, whether it is systematic interlining or no interlining. Having no policy and therefore letting the whim of a check-in agent decide is bad. So you make a booking and go to the airport not knowing what to expect and possibly missing a collection (to clear immigration and collect/recheck luggage). I know that the "flou artistique" can be an art, but I much prefer to know what to expect both at CDG and at out-stations. Frankly, I fail to see what employee empowerment means in this case, except that you cannot predict the idiosyncrasies of the agent you will happen to confront. Any criteria why an agent would exercise discretion in interlining bags to PG for one customer and not for another?

olivedel

I totally agree with your statement, brunos. Customer Service reps empowerment is definitely a plus in terms of compensation of unsatisfied customers for example, but not in the case of basic actions such as interlining bags when the customer proves that he/she is entitled to a certain allowance on all tickets he/she is using that day.

Goldorak

Is there any update/recent experience on this topic, particularly for intra-AF bags checking on separate PNR ?
For the coming summer, I will have the following situation : flying ATL-CDG (already ticketed) and just learned that I'll have to fly to NCE when I arrive. I'll have checked bags. I haven't booked the CDG-NCE flight yet. There's one 1:50 after arrival from ATL, and this is doable if my bag is tagged to NCE (I have SkyPriority access and access to PARAFES). The following flight is something like 4hrs after I arrive from ATL, so I'd like to avoid such a long wait.
When I had the bag interlining pb at CDG last December, the AF agent told me she would have done it if my 2nd flight had been on Skyteam. So here, it's even better because intra-AF. But I was wondering if I would manage to do this at ATL, where AF staff is minimal and with DL taking care of most of the ground ops. And DL is notorious to even not interline bags on their own flights if separate tickets
What do you think ?

olivedel

You have a point. My experience is not recent, but I remember very competent DL staff checking my bags on 4 flights in 3 different PNRs at LAX (LAX-SLC-ORD on a DL PNR, ORD-CDG on an AF (award) PNR, and CDG-MPL on a regular AF PNR).

If you check in at the international terminal, there should be no issue if the staff is senior enough.

Milkman

I'll be flying CPH-CDG-MIA on Thursday, with an onwards AA connection in MIA to POS. This is not intra-AF, let alone intra-Skyteam, so our cases can not be compared, but I'll be happy to let you know of the outcome. They have interlined on this particular route twice before within the last 2 years, so we'll see..

Goldorak

OK thanks and good luck

Often1

Do not rely on what one agent did for somebody else on some particular itinerary. We all know that the capacity exists to interline on virtually any itinerary, whether single or multiple PNR's or tickets.

The rules are rapidly changing, how tough a carrier is on agents who do a favor for a pax is changing and capacity changes too.

I would never attempt this without calling the original operating carrier, determining what the carrier will and will not do on the specific itinerary and asking that one's record be noted with the advice.

carnarvon

I tried that and people on the phone proved more than once that they were incompetent in this matter.

The only reliable information I would get was from the check-in staff at the airport whom I questioned regarding a future travel plan when I happened to be at CDG.

olivedel

It is not against Air France policies to check luggage on multiple AF PNRs. I would not see why this would be a favor on SkyTeam carriers.
But agents can be reluctant to do it because it is a complicated action to perform in the IT systems they use. And we all know that sometimes you need to insist to have something done the right way!

Goldorak

Thanks to those of you who replied. I have finally booked the flight with 1:50 connection time. I will report the outcome.

Milkman

Luggage checked all the way to POS through CDG and MIA. No problem.

What made me laugh, however, was the incompetence of the staff (contracted) that checked me in in CPH:

Agent 1: I can't get a boarding pass on your last segment to POS. I dont understand why.
Agent 2: Let me check..uhmm..oh, he's flying American Airlines, and it's another PNR...( to me: )..remember to pick up your luggage in Miami and recheck it.
Me: Why? Port of Spain is not in the US..
Agent 2: Are you sure? It sounds English to me..
Me: It's the capital of Trinidad&Tobago..in the Caribbean..
Agent 2: Oh..

Goldorak

As promised, here's a follow-up to add some data points to our discussion :
I did even more complicated than what was written above. I did MCI-ATL (DL), connecting to ATL-CDG (AF), connecting to CDG-NCE (AF), i.e. 3 flights on 3 different tickets. I asked the DL agent in MCI to tag my bag to NCE. She said no problem with a smile and in less than a minute my bag was tagged all the way to NCE ^^^^ And I precise that my bag did arrive well in NCE

Also, end July, I flew MRS-CDG connecting to CDG-BOS, all AF, on 2 separate tickets and it was no pb to tag the bag all the way.
So, definitely, intra-AF and intra JV AF/DL seems to work