D-AIHZ

Hello,

I have an itinerary booked which will take me from PNH via KUL to LHR on Malaysia Airlines. I will need to go back to Germany from there, so I will book a connecting intra-European flight on either BA or LH.

My question is, would MH check through my bags all the way to Germany if I show them the documentation for my onward flight?

If they do not interline bags on seperate tickets, I would book a later onward flight to have more buffer time at LHR.

Has anyone tried this?

Thanks,

D-AIHZ

doctorjosh

I don't think MAS have an interline arrangement with either BA or LH, so I would assume that you probably won't be able to check your bags all the way through to Germany, especially on a separate ticket from LHR, but there's no harm in asking though. MAS may not have access to BA or LH's reservation systems to check your bags all the way through. MH do have interline agreements with BMI for flights within the UK and with KLM (from AMS) and Alitalia (from FCO) for flights within Europe.

jiejie

deleted

Guy Betsy

WRONG ! WRONG ! WRONG ! Get your facts straight!

Yes to all previously asked questions ... MH CAN interline with BA/LH/SQ.. Most scheduled airlines interline agreements with other schedule carriers. And they have a way to access another's system for interline purposes.. but all you have to do is to present the ongoing reservations' print out to the check in staff and they will thru check your bags. They may not however be able to print out your boarding pass. Schedule carriers cannot interline with airlines that do not have interline agreements ie Air Asia, Easyjet, Ryanair etc.

However, you are talking about London Heathrow here where bags still go awry even with legal connections and one ticket reservations. I would still give yourself at least 2.5 hours for interlining baggage.

doctorjosh

I tried having my luggage checked through from an AF flight that was connecting to an MH one at CDG and I had presented my ongoing reservation print-out to them and AF flatly said NO CAN DO, so I had to collect my bags at CDG and check them in at the MH check-in counter. I've also tried to have bags checked through from an SQ flight to a DJ one in SYD and SQ also said no. Both of these experiences occured within the past 18 months.

Guy Betsy

That's AF. They won't even interline from their flight to another AF flight if its on a seperate reservation, so of course they won't do anything that is not the norm. If the flight is from MH to AF, then its possible. We are talking about AF's mentality here. Even if its in the books, if the check in agent doesn't feel like doing it, then they won't.

D-AIHZ is talking about MH interlining TO another carrier... which is FINE.

doctorjosh

So, AF were just being complete a-holes. But they did check bags through on 2 domestic segments that were on 2 different PNRs. At least I'll know for next time when I'm flying MH and connecting to a different flight with a different airline. It still doesn't explain why SQ wouldn't do it for me then.

D-AIHZ

Thanks Guy Betsy. I knew that they can, because I know they have the relevant interline agreements in place. I was more concerned about whether they will, since as you know some airlines have stopped interlining bags across separate tickets. Good to hear that MH still does it though! ^^


A good point. I'll be going home though, and will not be carrying anything perishable, so if my bags arrive a bit later (or even A LOT later) it would not be a problem for me.

I was planning 3 hours as the minimum anyway. Connecting at Heathrow is a pain on a good day, and besides, I'd like to have time for a shower in the lounge before my onward flight.

Does this really come as a shock to you?


I believe that SQ actually does not (or perhaps did not at the time) have an interline agreement with DJ. DJ have only started signing interline agreements fairly recently, as they have started to evolve from "full-blown LCC" to "halfway-respectable airline" status.

doctorjosh

I used to think that bags could be checked through on different airlines until my 2 experiences where they couldn't/wouldn't. I hadn't had any experience with AF until only 2 years ago, so it did come as a shock. As for SQ, at least I know now that they couldn't rather than wouldn't.

D-AIHZ

OK, I have booked an LH flight LHR-CGN, departing at 09:05 in their current sale. My MH flight arrives at 05:50. Three hours, fifteen minutes - should be more than enough time whether MH checks the bags through or not.

Thanks again for the replies - I will let you know how things went, but the trip's not until May.

golfmad

The other day I tried to get MH to interline from an MH revenue ticket to another MH flight booked as an Avios redemption on a separate ticket and they told me they couldn't do it as they were unable to access the BA booking.

Tomorrow I'm flying CGK-KUL on MH J and then connecting onto KUL-LHR on BA in F. I'm pretty sure it should be possible to check my bag through to LHR but can anyone suggest a form of (polite) words I might choose to use if I'm rebuffed again at bag drop?

Thanks in advance.

crackjack

Unfortunately, it appears (and some FTers have confirmed) that there is a new policy where MH does not allow check-in staff to interline baggage onto another airline between two separate tickets:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...-partners.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...w-flights.html

It may still be technically possible (and certain staff / contracted staff might actually do it in ignorance or in spite of the policy), but probably best for you to plan for the worst.

You could try the "I am flying First/Business class" card and see how that works out; maybe they relax the policy for J passengers, do let the rest of us here know how it goes. If it doesn't work, just make sure you grab the priority immigration card while onboard the CGK-KUL flight and try to move as quick as you can once you land...

TGflyergirl

I have seen the memo and it was written in a very stern "thou shalt not" fashion. Considering that the agent you'll try to pressure into checking your bag through is likely thankful to still be in a job whilst 40% of his or her colleagues have been let go - I'd recommend going easy on them. If you do manage it, good for you.

Polite as you say, is best - the reality is you're actually looking for an agent that might feel they won't be working with MH anymore soon.

golfmad

Thanks to you both. I've plenty of time between flights so given the memo I won't argue with them. I've been really impressed with MH this last couple of weeks. Going to miss the chicken and lamb satays.

jagadishgandhi

I need to fly SIN-KUL-PVG-SIN next week. Buying a multi-segment ticket looks expensive. I'm planning to buy two separate round trips. SIN-KUL-SIN on MH & SIN-PVG-SIN on SQ. KUL-SIN & SIN-PVG will be on same day and few hours apart. Wondering if MH will do a through check-in to PVG. Is that possible?

I see that some MH code flights between KUL-SIN are in SQ Metal. I can try booking one of those too. Will SQ do a through check-in for KUL-SIN-PVG? But, I won't get any AA credit for KUL-SIN flight I guess.