Originally Posted by
LHR/MEL/Europe FF
How much does it cost to repatriate a bag? One would have thought airlines off-set that against each other. Maybe they don't.
If you believe the ground staff in "Heathrow: Britain's Busiest Airport" documentary, thousands of pounds when bags make connections but passengers don't.
Originally Posted by
LHR/MEL/Europe FF
The fare difference may be negligible. But if one carrier decides to take the initiative to through check they'll get the money.
I think the problem isn't recovering the cost of the service. The problem is retaining the ability to price connections separately from the sum of its parts.
Airlines regularly take on the risk (cost) of losing "thousands of pounds" when they sell connections.
But if airlines want to charge a fare difference of a few hundred pounds as a connection service, it may seem unseemly and/or attract unwanted competition regulator scrutiny.
(How few hundred £) say I want to fly back from KEF (popular holiday destination for HK) back to HK on the end of a public holiday.
BA wants eight hundred £ for that o/w.
It may be offering Avios redemptions to LHR (which will yield it say about 30 £ of Avios purchase from my HK partner bank). And revenue tickets from LHR to HKG (less popular, or at least more competition) for five hundred £.
BA will want to charge me £270 difference - as bag transfer fee, but that would be unseemly, wouldn't it?