Washington D.C. (including Baltimore) - AA\DL to TN (Air Tahiti Nui): Check Baggage all the way from DCA?

Hello,

I'm flying out of DC and am after some info before I buy my DCA-JFK ticket.
I already have a JFK-PPT-SYD on Air Tahiti (TN) booked in early Jan 07, and need a flight up to JFK from DCA.

What I've been searching for is some information on whether I can check my luggage in ONCE at DCA, and have my bags meet me in Sydney (only refueling stop in PPT).

I have done this before flying DCA-JFK-LAX-SYD checking in AA (DCA-JFK) and flying UA (JFK-LAX-SYD) without problems.

Calling AA and DL, I just get bounced around and am told "check with the airport", which i invariably can't do as the numbers aren't public!

=== end rant ====

So, if anyone could let me know if the check-in staff on either Delta or American at DCA can check my bags all the way through to SYD for me flying Air Tahiti Nui JFK-PPT-SYD (without the need to recheck or do anything in JFK) I would be eternally grateful.

Thanks in Advance,
Jeff

welcome to FT.
they seem to be partners of some sort with AA and NW. I'd contact AA & look for commitment.

I'd worry about not having bags checked through, as I have been told(hearsay) that if the bags are not checked through, and you do not pick up the bags in nyc, and transfer them, they stay in nyc til you come get them

this question is much more specific to TN, and perhaps to AA, and should be transfered to the approate thread.

Calling AA and DL, I just get bounced around and am told "check with the airport", which i invariably can't do as the numbers aren't public!
Try calling reservations for AA and DL, and ask if they can "interline baggage" with TN. Then, also do the reverse: call TN and ask if they can interline your bags to whomever on the return.

UA, for example, will interline bags with QF, but not with DJ, unless you're travelling on a UA codeshare on DJ metal. (Note, even then, you have to reclaim bags in SYD for customs/ag, awwwww what a cute little puppy, hey get away from my Clif bars, before rechecking them with QF.)

Edited to add: AA will write interline e-tickets with TN (q.v. http://www.aa.com/content/agency/Booking_Ticketing/eticketing/AA_electronic_ticketing.jhtml,) so it seems a reasonable chance they'd do it.

Thanks guys.

I called AA Reservations - The representative on the phone said that they would only check the bags through if they were on the same PNR. This is inconsistent with my experiences, but she told me that she was reading it straight off her screen and it was 100% accurate.

I then tried Delta. The representative told me that they have interline-baggage for Air Tahiti (VT) and Air Tahiti Nui (TN), even if they are on two seperate tickets!

Excellent!

She also went on to say that they interline ticketing for paper TN tickets, but not electronic.

That doesn't really matter anyway - the fact that the luggage is checked all the way through makes me a very happy man.

I'll put a response up here after my travel in early Jan with the results.