sbiddle

Has anybody ever had trouble recently getting bags checked right through to NZ on a standalone UA ticket in the US?

I've never had a same day flight that hasn't been on a single ticket before and am pretty sure I read something on here about them being a little difficult when it comes to doing this. If I book this combination of flights I'm going to have an afternoon in LA so don't want to be tied to bags or have to use one of the baggage storage companies.

trooper

There has been so much "movement" in baggage rules that I am reluctant to give advice....my experience feels dated now!

Kamadan

NZ LAX TBIT check in counters opens from around ~2pm onwards until the last departure of the day (NZ3 if that's operating, if not NZ5), for the NZ2 LAX-LHR 5pm scheduled departure.

What time is your domestic US flight arriving into LAX? I would book a flight/time it to arrive close to 2pm so you can then check-in for your evening flight back to AKL that day.

sbiddle

Ahh I actually completely forgot about the counters being open for NZ2. I was looking at a flight getting in at 11, so it'd be a bit of a pain having to hang around if they wouldn't do it, but not the end of the world.

I can't get anything on the same ticket for that day, it seems the Virgin America booking system has gone AWOL at present so Air NZ don't seem to be able to book any flights despite GDS showing availability, and even Google Flights has totally messed up date for VX also.

I'm actually trying to get out of LAS the day after CES finishes.. Along with the other 160,000 + people who are there!

Kamadan

I have taken advantage of this in the past, booking a separate TK ticket to TXL from LAX, able to check in early on the return, then went hanged out with a few friends until my NZ3 flight at around 11pm that night.

Seeing as you're Elite, they definitely would be more than helpful (the team at LAX usually are quite stellar).


Good luck with that, and booking this far out too!

Xiaotung

Regarding separate tickets, UA's most recent policy is that they will still thru check bags on separate tickets on Star Alliance flights but non-Star onward flight will be out of luck.

NZbutterfly

I think I saw a post of yours quoting domestic flights US $600. Have you thought about driving to LAX?? It's not really that far 4.5hr. I know flying is nicer but..... if the numbers work and you can't move your dates might be worth looking into.

sbiddle

Yeah driving or bus/shuttle is a definate option. There is no way in the world I'd pay that price for the flight!

My real issue has just been that the Air NZ website lists VX flights as options on a single ticket but these simply can't be booked. They try to book in I or U for a higher fare and while both of these classes show as available looking at EF they result in errors booking online and the call centre can't get fares to validate either. There is already no availability on UA or Delta in the booking classes they require despite both having plenty of seats available because everybody just seems to be hiking fares because they quite clearly can for such a big event.

I do realise it's a loooong way off for US carriers and it's not even possible to book Southwest flights for January yet but I wanted to get in early as there is still R and A availability for the NZ flights I want,.

sbiddle

Thanks.

brenrox

Do the flights show on google matrix? If so, you can use https://bookwithmatrix.com/

sbiddle

VX flights on Google Flights / ITA Matrix for January are all screwed up as well which leads me to assume there are bigger problems with the VX systems. Air NZ right now seem unable to book any VX flights (even on dates other than the ones I wanted) regardless of the booking class they try despite these all coming up as options on their site when you search for an itinerary.

On that day (and looking at SFO - LAS options as well on a different day) there are ~ USD90 flights that show up but these simply can't be booked.

The summary screen for LAS to LAX shows $94 to book on Google Flights, $94 to book on Virgin and $272 to book with Alaska. If you click on the Google Flights link it comes with up an itinerary error. If you click on the Virgin link it comes with $272 as the price rather than $94, and likewise if you click on the Alaska link it's the $272 that Google Flights says. Virgin's response is that not their problem and I should contact Google. The same issue occurs on different dates on SFO - LAS.

sbiddle

I just tried messing around with quite a few days again in itamatrix and bookwithmatrix.

I see USD$94 flights show in itamatrix and pasting that data into bookwithmatrix gives me two options - book with flightnetwork or book with priceline. Flightnetwork gives an error saying the itinerary can't be booked and Priceline offer the flights for USD$271

Collierkr

Was just about to suggest the same!

brenrox

I have had the same issue with bookwithmatrix at times, I did manage to get it in the end via Priceline at the ITA Matrix price though....

smanch

I do US-AKL monthly, almost always with a UA flight on a separate ticket to LAX, SFO, or IAH on the same day. On the occasions where I've checked a bag, the UA Premier Access people have always checked it thru to AKL even though the tix are separate. Have done it without trouble coming from several airports including little tiny ones (like PDX).