Qs on check-thru and bag allowance: MSO-PDX-SFO-HKG
 

Hi there,

Seeking the collective wisdom of the crowd here... I hardly fly AS, and am on a long-haul USA-domestic connecting to intl legs.
My flight route:

Ticket #1 : MSO-PDX (on Economy class, AS, AS-ticketed flying on HorizonAir metal)
Ticket #2 : PDX-SFO (on First class, AS, AS-ticketed flying on HorizonAir metal)
Ticket #3 : SFO-HKG (on Biz class, CX, CX-ticketed flying on CX metal)

2 questions:
- at MSO check-in, will AS counter staff be able to check my check-in luggage all the way through to HKG?
- I'm checking 2 bags in... what would my check-in bag fees be like? (will I have to pay $30 and $40 for the first 2 bags, or are baggage fees already covered under the longer intl-hop via CX?)

Thanks gang!

You mention Tickets 1, 2 & 3. Are they separate tickets or three segments on one ticket? If it is one ticket, AS will check your bags all the way through to HKG providing you are not stopping over in SFO. There will be no charge for baggage (2 bags) on the strength of you CX J award.


James

@james - afraid all 3 are separate tickets (i have a feeling this means I'll have to pay for those check-in bag fees :( )
I am not stopping over in SFO... merely transiting.

You're fine. You're covered by the CX allowance, as well as by the AS F allowance on your 2nd leg.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...381932ade3.png

I read that as well.... I ended up calling Alaska's 1-800 number... lady on the other end wasn't helpful.

She ummm'd and errr'd, checked with a supervisor while I was on hold, then came back and told me to check with the check-in desk @ MSO. Jeez.

Guess I'll find out soon enough at MSO....

I would have all your reservations available to show the check-in agent and let the agent know your final destination is Hong Kong. They should be able to link them to check your bags through to HKG.

James

Will def do that. I'll report back on both through-check-in and bag fees when I get back.

Having this printed out helps versus trying to pull this up on an electronic gadget.

I've had Alaska check my bags through on different tickets and airlines with partners. I booked one cash ticket with Alaska and one award with Singapore airlines. They were able to check the bags all the way through to Singapore. Just make sure that you have access to all three tickets so they can check the bag all the way to your final destination. On the return you will obviously need to collect your bag at your US port of entry so check-through will not apply.

This does not cover OP's situation. He is not connecting as one may only connect on a single ticket.

A stickler might check your bags to PDX, in which case you won't have the AS F allowance, but the more likely occurence is that your bags will be checked to SFO using the F allowance. You will claim them at SFO and check them with CX, where you will have the J allowance.

As others note, you will find better results if you have printed copies of your e-ticket receipts (not itineraries) for the check-in agent. In addition, due to the manual intervention required, spend a minute reviewing your bag tags before they head off.

This does cover the OP's situation. OP is traveling from the west coast to Asia on three separate tickets, but all in the same direction with no backtracking. AS has an interline agreement with CX and is fully able to check the bags through. In this case the rates would be determined by the most significant carrier, which is CX. So from OP's origin the bags should be checked through according to the weights and fees of the CX ticket. The only issue would be finding an agent who knows how to thru-check a bag on a separate ticket. Its not done often so many agents at the counter don't know how and will say its not allowed... ask for a Lead and restate your situation, they should know the process to thru check bags.

As mentioned upline before, having printed confirmations of onward tickets helps greatly. Phones/tablets will do in a pinch but ink on paper tends to include more information and will expedite the process.

If anyone has questions about thru checking bags on AS feel free to send me a PM.

I'm back! Boy, that was a long leg... nearly 24+ hrs, including transits and running across gates :)

Anyway, here's a recap of my check-in experience on return:

• At AS's check-in counter @ MSO, I asked the counter agent (very nicely) to help check-in my 2 50-pound bags straight to HKG
• Also explained to him how I had bookings across 3 separate tickets... I handed over all 3 printed e-Ticket pages
• He said he needed to check with a supervisor, and walked off... returned 30s later with the boss, whom I patiently re-explained everything to
• Both of them then huddled over their monitors, and proceeded to work their magic... it did take them both 30m to get everything done
• Bottom line: AS was wonderful... they checked-in both my bags all the way to HKG (yaay), got my bag tags right, got me all my boarding passes (even for the CX leg @ SFO-HKG)
• Didn't have to pay $30+$40 out of pocket for bag check-ins.. it followed CX's J-class allowance (yaay x2)
• Both my bags turned up in HKG with no fuss (yaay x3)
• At SFO upon arrival, since I had 5+ hrs to kill and would be passing by CX's A-side check-in desks anyway, I walked over and got proper CX boarding passes + lounge invites printed... interestingly, CX asked for my AS bag tags, destroyed them, and reprinted new tags on CX stickers. Not sure what details were different on that, v.s. what AS had, but I found that interesting.

Both Raleigh and Lucas (AS agents at check-in) were super nice and probably the nicest check-in desk agents I've ever encountered in my travels. Very apologetic about the delay, and kept me updated on what they were keying in, every few minutes.

Brettsir's comments are spot-on.... always have printed eTickets, and hand them over. I highlighted the ticket numbers and flight routes as well, to make the agents' life easier (they appreciated this, and even thanked me for having everything ready for them #win-win). :)

Always good to see a well planned idea implemented successfully.
Thanks for the feedback.