Originally Posted by
Ditto
Did you at any stage give them a call to determine your luggage allowance? Or check Aeroflot policies?
I'm aware that AS policy is to check two free bags for MVP/MVPG members and for Club 49 members, and that they are happy to interline bags.
I'm also aware that most tickets to Europe come with one or zero bags, but the waiver policies of the originating carrier have always taken precedence.
Originally Posted by
Ditto
So as per SU policy, you would have had to pay for this second bag, IATA or USDOT regulations don't really apply here.
I comprehend the strict reading of that policy, although it sounds to me like they are envisioning cases when you need to pick up and re-check luggage.
In millions of flown miles, I've never had an issue with bag charges or allowances after they've been tagged and sent down the conveyor.
Another musing: If I had paid the fee at LAX, would they have then been double-dipping by also billing AS under their interline agreement?
Originally Posted by
Ditto
Probably most airlines will indeed do that, but several reports here on FT are showing the contrary, where people have been denied boarding on a flight XXX-YYYY where they did not have the correct documents to enter YYY, and showing the airline that they have a separate ticket YYY-ZZZ made no difference.
Yes, I can see how that would be fraught with difficulty.
IMO, the passengers are correct and should win that one -- especially if they have no bags. I've never seen a TIMATIC transit entry that required onward tickets to be "on the same carrier."
Originally Posted by
Ditto
If you were on a single ticket, and as per the US DOT regulations it seems like you would have had no issue indeed.
The end result would be the same: AS would have tagged both bags to Russia at no charge due to status. I'm not sure if would have been interpreted any differently at SU LAX. Maybe.
So far, only Chinatrvl has offered an experience similar to mine, leading me to believe that it's very rare. It's never happened to me before, although I only occasionally check more than one bag overseas.