US DOT Regulation 14 CFR 399.87 and CTA Regulation 144-A-2014 (First Marketing Carrier)
The US Department of Transportation (DOT) introduced its own regulation for baggage allowances and fees, and in April 2015 the Canadian Transportation Agency replicated these into Canadian law. Their focus is on ensuring that the allowance and fees remain the same for all flights on the same ticket. And they apply to all flights on tickets that
originate or have an
ultimate destination of the US. And note that while IATA 302 is an industry code of practice the US and Canadian DOT are law. Connections through the US or Canada (e.g. UK-US-Costa Rica) aren’t subject to these rules and IATA 302 would apply.
The US law states -
So, it’s the allowance, and fees, of the
First Marketing Carrier (FMC) that apply to all flights on the ticket.
To determine your baggage allowance, look at the first flight on the ticket and note the airline whose code is on that flight. For example if it says UA1234 then United is the first marketing carrier and its baggage allowance and fees apply for all flights on that ticket.
Don’t worry if the first flight is a domestic flight. As long as there is an immediate connection (without a stopover) to an international flight then the FMC’s international allowance applies.
Point 3 appears confusing. That is the first marketing carrier may choose to apply the baggage rules of the most significant (marketing) carrier instead of its own rules. Most major US airlines don’t do this, so why is it there? There are regional carriers who don’t fly long haul and so don’t have a long haul baggage allowance. For example, Alaska Airlines only flies regionally and has no free baggage allowance. Yet Alaska also provides domestic connecting flights for other airlines’ long haul services. As they don’t want to constrain passengers to their baggage fees for all flights Alaska applies the baggage allowance and fees of the most significant carrier whose flight number is on the ticket, and that allowance applies for all flights. So if you start with an Alaska (AS) flight connecting to a Korean Airlines (KE) flight, Alaska will give you Korean’s baggage allowance (2 free bags for US originating flights) and that allowance is then the same (2 free bags) for all other flights on the ticket.
Also be aware that if you are making your journey using flights on separate tickets, then each ticket will have its own baggage allowance and fees.
Benefits of CFR 399.87 and CTA 144-A-2014
1) You get one consistent baggage allowance, and set of fees for all flights on the ticket. The allowance and fees don’t change when you check in for downstream flights.
2) Because the allowance is that of the first marketing carrier, you don’t get confused by having to check other airlines’ websites if you’ve booked a code share.