flyingnovice

Am travelling SYD-SIN-NRT-LHR on 1 PNR in J, SYD-SIN operated by QF, SIN-NRT on JL and NRT-LHR on BA. Both JL and BA allow J passengers to check-in 3 bags per passenger, but QF's allowance is 40kg. Am only transitting through both SIN and NRT (<24 hours).

Does anyone know if QF will adhere to the MSC rule and allow me to check 3 bags?

Thanks

Dave Noble

The MSC check occurs per check in and not for the entire trip

As far as what the allowance will be at QF checkin , it is whatever Manage Booking shows it as being

What does Manage Booking show?

How long are the stops in Singapore and Tokyo?

Dave

flyingnovice

Sorry my bad - should've said "am planning" rather than "am travelling" - trip not yet booked. Wanted to confirm baggage allowance before I book.

Stops in SIN and NRT are 10h and 19h respectively - both overnight but I'll make do with just my carry on, assuming I can check luggage all the way through to LHR?

Dave Noble

I would check whether luggage will be able to be checked in with those 2 stops involved in the itinerary before booking

If luggage allowance is important, then perhaps book BA from SYD-SIN

serfty

With SYD-(QF)-xSIN-(JL)-xNRT-(BA)-LHR then BA is the MSC and the BA checked baggage allowance for J NRT-LHR should be the allowance for the entire journey.

This is because "TC3" (Asia/SWP) to "TC2" (Europe/Africa) is the most significant segment overriding the intra TC3 travel (SWP-Asia).

This would be reflected on the e-ticket once booked. As such there should be no issues.

number_6

The problem is that the NRT-LHR flight leaves more than 24 hours after SYD, so bags can only be checked to NRT and not to LHR. Also NRT used to prohibit overnight connecting bags due to lack of space, not sure if that is still the case but I ran into that circa 10 years ago. So the OP would have to verify the ability to check bags SYD-LHR prior to buying this ticket. It has definitely affected me in the past as being impossible to do. The MSC baggage allowance becomes moot if you cannot interline the bags. Changing flights to avoid the overnight at NRT is the obvious solution but perhaps defeats the OP's objective.

Dave Noble

ONLY if the luggage can be checked through all the way to London from Sydney; with the itinerary given by the OP , it is quite likely that the bags will be needed to be collected in Asia

The MSC check is performed each time the bags are checked in

Option 1 : Bags checked through from Sydney to London

BA allowance will apply

Option 2 : Bags checked in to Asia , collected and then checked in to London

Qamtas's allowances apply for Sydney - Asia since QF is MSC for SYD-SIN/NRT
BA's allowances apply for Asia - London


It is only for travel to/from the USA where the allowance at the start of the journey applies to the entire itinerary

If wanting to be sure to get the 3 bag allowance for the whole journey, then the safest option would be to book BA for SYD-SIN since BA would then be MSC for SYD-Asia

flyingnovice

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I will find out more before booking.

serfty

The MSC check is performed by APTCO upon ticketing (i.e. BA) and would be duplicated against each of the three segments and stored within the e-ticket data at that time. Unless the ticket is changed, this would not change.

So, even if the OP could not check luggage right through, the allowance as per BA would show each time when depositing luggage.

This is effectively one journey SYD-xSIN-xNRT-LHR so any comment about the USA is irrelevant.

LTN Phobia

Are you trying to do this on an award? If it's an award, then I guess you have to pick the one that has availability but if you are on a revenue ticket or can find an award seat, why not go SYD-NRT-LHR or SYD-SIN on BA, SIN-NRT/HND on JL, and then NRT/HND-LHR on BA or JL, so that you won't have any issue with baggage allowances? If you avoid QF, then you'll have a consistent baggage allowance.

flyingnovice

Paid J and looking at this route to maximise BA TP. I did look at BA16 SYD-SIN, but the difference in fare between QF and BA16 is $2k.

serfty

Some digression - while the QF baggage allowance is 40kg, this can be more than one bag as long as no item weighs more than 32Kg.
Checked Baggage Allowance | Qantas.

Anyway, that would be moot as it's BA's basic Business class allowance of up to 3 bags, each up to 32Kg that applies - and that will be noted on the e-ticket against each segment(e.g. "3PC").

edy4eva

Umm that's not going to be a valid routing on the QF fare. NRT-LON can only booked on EK NOT BA and can't go to NRT via SIN from SYD. You could go via JNB though (SYD-JNB-LHR) with QF/BA.

flyingnovice

The routing is on a JL fare.

flyingnovice

I may have found a solution to eradicate the ambiguity. I have a trip to SIN prior to this one (in J) and I could take a bag there, leave it with family, then when I make the trip to LHR, have a stopover in SIN, so that I can re-aquaint myself with the first bag, then be able to check 3 bags on the JL flight (and onward BA flight) to NRT/LHR. In doing so, I comply with QF's 40kg, and with the stopover, I can pick up the additional bag and take all of my belongings to LHR.

If anyone thinks I'm missing something, I would appreciate your expert advice.

p.s. By way of background, I'm returning to London after 3 years in Sydney which is why I have to maximise my baggage allowance.