US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Where do I check in?

For the first time, I have a leg of a R/T itinerary booked as a UA ticket on US metal. Return is ticketed as US.

Do I have to check in at UA for the first leg of the trip?

Thanks, I'm getting conflicting answers from my travel agent.

Brett

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bmolotsk:
For the first time, I have a leg of a R/T itinerary booked as a UA ticket on US metal. Return is ticketed as US.

Do I have to check in at UA for the first leg of the trip?

Thanks, I'm getting conflicting answers from my travel agent.</font>

I've understood that if the first leg is UA, check in at UA.

-JC

ALWAYS check-in with the carrier operating the first leg of your trip on any given day.

Thanks, guys. That's what I thought, but the travel agent is insisting that I can check in with US, which I was pretty sure I couldn't.

Maybe I'm reading your message wrong, but if your ticket is on a USAirways plane, check in with USAirways, even if it's a United ticket.

I just flew R/T GSO-ORD on US metal, yet a United ticket and I checked in at the US counter both going and coming. Also, I was able to upgrade with US e-upgrades, but only on the day of departure.

I originally thought I should check in at the United counter too, but the agent said I needed to check in at the US counter

USFLYER is correct. It is the first leg of the trip. If the return is on US check in at US.

It is pretty much a general rule amongst all airlines that you must check in with the airlines operating your filght, regardless of who issued your ticket.

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emphasis added...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by bmolotsk:
For the first time, I have a leg of a R/T itinerary booked as a UA ticket on US metal. Return is ticketed as US.
</font>

Are you sure you have that right? If so, it means you have two one-way tickets. One one-way ticket is issued by UA (happens to be operated by US, a minor point), and the other one-way ticket is issued by US (operated by whomever).

If it is a real round-trip ticket, the whole thing must be issued by either UA or US. The carrier operating the flights could be anyone, but the fare basis (price, rules, etc.) is governed by the issuing carrier.

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"There's no sadder sight in this world than that of a football player trying to think." -- Daria


[This message has been edited by JS (edited 09-26-2003).]

We certainly are getting wrapped around the axle on this one, aren't we? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Here's how I interpret the original message. Outbound flight has UA flight number, but it's a codeshare operated by US. Return flight has a US flight number. No enough info to tell who issued the tickets, but I suspect it was booked as a round trip and all tickets were issued at the same time by the same airline.

Regardless of whether your ticket has a UA flight number or a US flight number, check in with US when the first leg is operated by US and with UA when the flight is operated by UA. Same for the retun flight - check in based on the operator of the first segment.

henry nailed this one....

Tickets were purchased through a travel agent.

First leg was a UA flight # OPERATED BY US. We checked in at US.

Second leg was US flight # operated by US. We checked in at US.

Unfortunately, the level of traffic generated by the initial question tells me that I'm not the only one confused as heck by all this.

It was a long enough walk as it was, checking in at the counter between B/C terminals 34 mins before departure and walking all the way to A22...

If you have a US flight number, it means you have a US ticket. Some int'l itineraries might deviate from this, but domestically, flight # = ticket (operated by whomever).

Do you happen to have the fare rules handy, or the fare calculation line on your receipt?

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"There's no sadder sight in this world than that of a football player trying to think." -- Daria

Whoever flies the first plane you're getting on -- check in with them. Nothing else matters (codeshare, whose ticket, phase of the moon) at that point.

Whatever metal you are getting on is where you check in. The most important advantage to code shares is that it allows airlines to ticket to places they do not fly to. So it would be pretty hard to check in at the U counter on a U ticket on UAL metal in NRT. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif



[This message has been edited by planeluvr (edited 09-28-2003).]

From the UA newsletter.


Important note on code-share travel: Before you check in for your flight, check your travel documents to determine the correct airline and terminal when traveling on itineraries utilizing both US Airways and United. Check-in should occur with the airline that is operating your flight. You will be provided boarding passes upon check-in for your full itinerary when checking in with either airline. For questions on policies and procedures, check with the airline that is operating your flight.