Ruthalaska

I am using miles to fly to Italy next summer. In order to get the flights I want, I have to do some weird cobbling together of different tickets, and I have some questions about logistics. Here is how it looks:

On the outbound I am traveling ANC-FCO. I got a mileage ticket for SEA-FCO (on BA in First, yay!). For some reason, none of the mileage options offered a decent ANC-SEA option to connect to the BA ticket, so I booked the international part on its own and now I am going to book ANC-SEA separately, also with miles.

My questions are: Since the ANC-SEA flight will be on a different itinerary, will they interline my bags to the BA international flight, or will I need to pick them up and re-check in SEA? If I do need to re-check, how long would you recommend for a layover in Seattle?

My return is MXP-ANC. I want to do FRA-ANC on Condor over the pole because it's less than half the travel time. To do that, I need a separate Lufthansa flight for MXP-FRA. Will I need to go through customs/immigration in FRA since I'm switching to a different carrier/itinerary? Or can I stay in the international area and not worry about that until I reenter the US in ANC? If I do need to get my bag and go through customs/immigration, how long will I need?

If I don't need to get my bags in FRA for customs, I have the same questions about my luggage with these carriers -- will they interline, and if not, how long a layover do I need in FRA?

Thanks!

eponymous_coward

MXP-FRA is a domestic flight as far as two members of the European Union who are part of the Schengen Area (Germany, Italy) are concerned. You will exit the EU at FRA, not MXP. It's like flying SEA-ANC.

jinglish

This is because, on a partner award, AS only allows you to tack on an AS connection if there's award availability at the saver (i.e., cheapest) level. I believe it's basically the same for all carriers, except many have access to non-saver inventory on partners and can then give you the whole award at a non-saver redemption price.

Your mileage may vary, but earlier this year a check-in agent at PDX was absolutely willing to through-check my bag onto a separate QF ticket. She didn't even ask to see my e-ticket, just wanted the flight information... but you should have a print-out of your full reservation info.

As e_c noted, since Germany and Italy are both Schengen and EU countries, you'll have to deal with neither immigration nor customs on arrival at FRA. But despite the fact that LH and DE have an interline agreement, I wouldn't be so eager to assume that an LH agent at the MXP check-in counter will check the back through for you--it's possible, but some airlines and alliances have rules against it. Leave enough time to wait in line to go through check-in and back through security, plus extra time in case MXP-FRA is late--although if it's an early-morning flight, your LH plane probably sat at MXP overnight, so that's a bit less likely.

Ruthalaska

Thanks to you both. Can you tell the last time I went to Continental Europe was pre-EU/Schengen?!

Am I hearing that interlining one of those things that is inconsistently done at the GA level, so you can never really depend on it?

My best layover choices in FRA before the Condor flight are 2h25m and 3h55min. Do I need the 4 hours, you think?