Originally Posted by
JPG3392
I don't know what Delta would do as far as checking bags is concerned, but I think that the main problem is what might happen in the event of missed connections or delayed flights in Seattle. DL could reschedule passengers to fly to Nashville via Detroit or Minneapolis rather than Atlanta, depending on schedules and availability of seats.
+1
That's the issue with hidden-city ticketing. DL does not guarantee that you will go via ATL, only that you will be flown from PEK to BNA. The checked bag also presents an issue, especially if the layover in ATL is short. If the layover is actually a stopover (4+ hours) the OP can have the bag only checked to ATL but if the time in ATL is under 4 hours, then the check-in agent may not allow it. Given how frequent the flights to BNA are from ATL, I would be surprised if the OP has a 4 hour+ layover/stopover.
Originally Posted by Often1
DL won't short-check a bag on a connection as opposed to a stop-over.
OP - Before you do anything, why not price out what the change would be to convert the ATL connection to a stop-over with a flight out the next day. Even with a $200 change fee, if the fare is lower, that might be economical anyway.
Another option: simply book a BNA-ATL-BNA flight for shortly after you're scheduled to arrive in BNA. I've asked DL before and if you have another DL itinerary that is then impacted because of a previous DL flight, you're protected (of course, I've only asked a phone agent and phone agents aren't always 100% right so this may require some double checking). But if you're delayed and will miss the BNA-ATL flight after you arrive from PEK-SEA-ATL-BNA, then you should be able to make the case to the agent rebooking you that you now need to be in ATL (show them you have a BNA-ATL booked afterward) and they could rebook you to terminate in ATL. Such an option may come out cheaper than paying a change fee plus fare-difference for changing PEK-SEA-ATL-BNA to PEK-SEA-ATL. Either way, you end up in ATL, either by flying back after you arrive or through IROPS you get rerouted to ATL since that's "where you need to be".