Originally Posted by
kevincrumbs
Is part of the problem also that your connection time is too short for AS to interline the luggage to AC? I have had luggage interlined multiple times from AS to another carrier, both as part of the same ticket (ie, a mileage redemption), and as two separate tickets. In both cases, I believe I had more that ninety minutes as I tend to prefer a connection of two hours or greater if I have two separate tickets. If you absolutely have to fly AS, would it be possible to take an earlier flight to SEA to allow for a longer connection time? I'm not sure exactly what your routing is but perhaps UA to AC might just make this easier since both are in Star Alliance.
Alliances and partnerships really don't have much to do with this. AS has interline ticketing/baggage agreements with most carriers, whether not they are at "war". Although AS won't sell you the ticket directly, most travel agencies can and will, and you'll benefit from being on one ticket for irrops, baggage transfer, etc (as long as you're not sold an illegal connection due to minimum connect times, etc.) Alliances and partnerships don't mean squat with baggage transfers these days - you're at the mercy of a nice agent willing to break the rules if you're on separate tickets.