Jul 8, 2016, 2:22 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
UPDATED FOR 15 NOVEMBER 2016: BA will no longer accept interlining on BA-BA separate tickets / PNRs.
From 1 June 2016, the oneworld policy on accepting customers travelling on separate tickets was changed. BA, along with some other oneworld partners, has implemented this change in policy which is as follows:
Only those customers that have separate tickets issued in the same PNR/booking will be accepted for through check-in. Furthermore all sectors must be BA / oneworld / other carrier, but BA to/fron Vueling is specifically NOT allowed even on the same ticket. Aer Lingus is not specified but some be covered by "other carrier".
A PNR is a wrapper, and it can have several tickets, and other items such as hotels, in one PNR, so long as it was built that way at the time of purchase. Another (new) ticket can be inserted into an existing PNR after purchase, it is easiest to do this at a BA airport, and there is a small fee for doing this (Ł15 in the UK). However you cannot merge 2 existing PNRs into one PNR - once a reservation has reached ticketed status it can't be moved. If you have 2 PNRs you need to allow time to collect and re-check any bags at the transfer airport.
There is one exception: BA to BA transfers, on 2 PNRs, are allowed. See post 643 for details.
___
From post 947. Select "do not have IATA number"
http://www.speedbirdclub.com/ch/reservations-ticketing/rulesregulations/separatetickets/
From 1 June 2016, the oneworld policy on accepting customers travelling on separate tickets was changed. BA, along with some other oneworld partners, has implemented this change in policy which is as follows:
Only those customers that have separate tickets issued in the same PNR/booking will be accepted for through check-in. Furthermore all sectors must be BA / oneworld / other carrier, but BA to/fron Vueling is specifically NOT allowed even on the same ticket. Aer Lingus is not specified but some be covered by "other carrier".
A PNR is a wrapper, and it can have several tickets, and other items such as hotels, in one PNR, so long as it was built that way at the time of purchase. Another (new) ticket can be inserted into an existing PNR after purchase, it is easiest to do this at a BA airport, and there is a small fee for doing this (Ł15 in the UK). However you cannot merge 2 existing PNRs into one PNR - once a reservation has reached ticketed status it can't be moved. If you have 2 PNRs you need to allow time to collect and re-check any bags at the transfer airport.
___
From post 947. Select "do not have IATA number"
http://www.speedbirdclub.com/ch/reservations-ticketing/rulesregulations/separatetickets/
BA no longer through checking baggage with separate tickets
May 16, 2017, 9:13 am
#1366
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: DCA
Programs: MR Plat; AA Gold; UA Silver
Posts: 352
Just another follow up - Since I never received the $175 (it's been a month) I called BA back. They actually told me on second thought I need to go to AA and they would not refund me. Can you believe it!!!! Why do I have to go through AA for a BA ticket I bought on BA.com??? AA will of course do nothing for me. I will never fly BA again.
Just to follow up on this - I wrote a very long letter to BA about this and they called me today (a week later). I will be getting my original $175 back as a refund (not BA credit). I of course wish I could get more, but I'll take what I can get. The customer service agent said BA is getting a lot of calls and complaints about the new interlining policy.
May 16, 2017, 9:25 am
#1367
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,248
That's ludicrous. In this situation - and given the time that's passed - BA ought to stand by their offer regardless of whether or not it was right or wrong originally. I would suggest you insist that they do what they said they would do. I have not read your original complaint but on the face of it, that's my view. I suggest you call back and demand to speak to a supervisor.
Jun 16, 2017, 3:58 am
#1368
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland
Programs: BA gold
Posts: 3,902
Back on revenue ticket with BA for the first time in ages (the more recent flights were redemption). One PNR but my TA must have booked two tickets, so BA won't interline onto CX at LHR.
I had forgotten I had this issue last year and it reinforces my preference for EK but was willing to give BA another shot since they seemed to have comped my gold card for another year with just over 500 TPs on it.
I had forgotten I had this issue last year and it reinforces my preference for EK but was willing to give BA another shot since they seemed to have comped my gold card for another year with just over 500 TPs on it.
Jun 16, 2017, 4:11 am
#1369
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
But I can say that in our case, it has now cost BA one short-haul sale. If BA would still through-check on two separate tickets (online not interline), on our next trip to ZA we would have bought a BA ticket CPT-JNB to transfer to a BA mainline JNB-LHR. But the timing was a little uncomfortable if the bags would not be automatically transferred, so we have tix on a slightly earlier SA instead.
The SA cash ticket we bought was in the cheapest economy class - just over Ł100 round-trip JNB-CPT-JNB. We'd picked flights on the long-haul aircraft which SA operate on this route several times a day, because past experience on them has been good - significantly better than a 737/320-size aircraft even in economy. When I got a bid-to-upgrade invitation shortly before the flight, just for a laugh I put in the minimum-possible bid in both directions, which amounted to about Ł70 each-way including VAT. Rather to our surprise, the bids were accepted.
So for about Ł240, we did these domestics in fully lie-flat long-haul business class seats, with lounge access before both flights. Not the bargain of the century, but still pretty decent value. And we'd certainly be open to doing it again, given the greater schedule flexibility that SA inevitably offers on most domestic ZA routes.
All prompted by there being no online through-checking across separate BA-BA tickets ...
Jun 16, 2017, 4:16 am
#1370
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Ipswich
Posts: 7,543
Back on revenue ticket with BA for the first time in ages (the more recent flights were redemption). One PNR but my TA must have booked two tickets, so BA won't interline onto CX at LHR.
I had forgotten I had this issue last year and it reinforces my preference for EK but was willing to give BA another shot since they seemed to have comped my gold card for another year with just over 500 TPs on it.
I had forgotten I had this issue last year and it reinforces my preference for EK but was willing to give BA another shot since they seemed to have comped my gold card for another year with just over 500 TPs on it.
Jun 16, 2017, 4:21 am
#1371
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,766
A PNR is just a wrapper, which can have all sorts of stuff in it - hotels, car hire. So even going back 10 years ago if the PNR had multiple tickets in it, a travel agency speciality, then that wouldn't allow interlining, assuming the agent was clued up on these things. This being NCL you can be totally sure the agent is so clued up! If it was one ticket, one PNR that should have been fine.
Jun 16, 2017, 4:27 am
#1372
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland
Programs: BA gold
Posts: 3,902
It's not new, it wasn't even affected by the changes raised in this thread.
A PNR is just a wrapper, which can have all sorts of stuff in it - hotels, car hire. So even going back 10 years ago if the PNR had multiple tickets in it, a travel agency speciality, then that wouldn't allow interlining, assuming the agent was clued up on these things. This being NCL you can be totally sure the agent is so clued up! If it was one ticket, one PNR that should have been fine.
A PNR is just a wrapper, which can have all sorts of stuff in it - hotels, car hire. So even going back 10 years ago if the PNR had multiple tickets in it, a travel agency speciality, then that wouldn't allow interlining, assuming the agent was clued up on these things. This being NCL you can be totally sure the agent is so clued up! If it was one ticket, one PNR that should have been fine.
However, the wiki seems to be misleading as it suggests one PNR but multiple tickets can be used for through check-in, despite explaining in the next paragraph that the PNR is just a wrapper.
I just checked my TA file, and it is indeed three ticket numbers in the PNR for NCL-LHR-HKG-BNE-ISA on BA/CX/CX/QF in Y/W/W/J.
Jun 16, 2017, 5:31 am
#1373
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Roswell, GA
Programs: BA Gold-Virgin Gold-Delta MM-Hilton Diamond-Hyatt Globalist-Marriott Gold-IHG Plat Amb-Accor Nobody
Posts: 259
Recently did BKK-HKG with a BA Avios Ticket on CX and had NO PROBLEM with CX interlining to a separate AA booking/flight from HKG to DFW.
BA WAKE UP !
BA WAKE UP !
Jun 16, 2017, 5:31 am
#1374
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Ipswich
Posts: 7,543
So I wonder if TAs are smart enough to consider the implications of this when booking 'connections'?
Not only does it take longer but there could be visa/entry considerations too. I bet many TAs don't - or rather the systems used by the TAs don't take it into account. I hope I'm wrong.
(Is it a connection if it's one PNR but two tickets?)
Not only does it take longer but there could be visa/entry considerations too. I bet many TAs don't - or rather the systems used by the TAs don't take it into account. I hope I'm wrong.
(Is it a connection if it's one PNR but two tickets?)
Jun 16, 2017, 5:38 am
#1375
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
I'm in the process at the moment of sorting out a trip for a family member. A TA booked HKG-LHR-HKG for her, leaving her to get a separate LHR-JFK-LHR that's intended to be nested in between. For the second half, on which she is not stopping at LHR, the TA's advice to her was to get a JFK-LHR that arrives at "about 9 or 10 am" for a 1225 LHR departure to HKG - without any apparent consideration of it being a T5 arrival if on BA, or the need to allow time to clear immigration, collect bags and clear customs even if arriving at T3 before checking-in with CX. My firm view is that 3˝ hours isn't enough time or margin for this, particularly for a 79-year old travelling on her own.
Jun 16, 2017, 5:38 am
#1376
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 1,499
if the PNR had multiple tickets in it, a travel agency speciality, then that wouldn't allow interlining, assuming the agent was clued up on these things. This being NCL you can be totally sure the agent is so clued up! If it was one ticket, one PNR that should have been fine.
Jun 16, 2017, 5:49 am
#1377
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,766
Interline journey on two ticket numbers in a single PNR/booking
LHR-DOH (BA) - Ticket 1
DOH-BKK (QR) - Ticket 2
Single PNR: AB12CD
LHR-DOH (BA) - Ticket 1
DOH-BKK (QR) - Ticket 2
Single PNR: AB12CD
Jun 16, 2017, 7:38 am
#1379
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland
Programs: BA gold
Posts: 3,902
Well I decided to check with the customer services desk in Zone D at T3. It was very quiet and I phrased my queries in such a way that I'm not expecting anything to changed for my current itinerary and more for future reference.
All three lasses, after much conferring and keyboard presses, insists that I could not interline with one PNR, different tickets to another OW flight. I mentioned the Speedbird website but they say their own information is that I could not interline.
They admit there is a lot of confusion due to changes to the policy in the last year.
I'll submit a webform complaint in, but whether I get a coherent and relevant reply is another matter, if I do, I might buy a lottery ticket.
All three lasses, after much conferring and keyboard presses, insists that I could not interline with one PNR, different tickets to another OW flight. I mentioned the Speedbird website but they say their own information is that I could not interline.
They admit there is a lot of confusion due to changes to the policy in the last year.
I'll submit a webform complaint in, but whether I get a coherent and relevant reply is another matter, if I do, I might buy a lottery ticket.
Jun 16, 2017, 8:45 am
#1380
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,709
Back on revenue ticket with BA for the first time in ages (the more recent flights were redemption). One PNR but my TA must have booked two tickets, so BA won't interline onto CX at LHR.
I had forgotten I had this issue last year and it reinforces my preference for EK but was willing to give BA another shot since they seemed to have comped my gold card for another year with just over 500 TPs on it.
I had forgotten I had this issue last year and it reinforces my preference for EK but was willing to give BA another shot since they seemed to have comped my gold card for another year with just over 500 TPs on it.