CommuniK

Have upcoming flight to SEA in F for 2 adults & 2 children made up of 2-4-1 voucher for adults and 2 full fare for children.
I called BA to add SEA-PDX on OneWorld Partner Alaska and was quoted over £18000
Even though I can purchase these flights directly with Alaska for $800.
The reason I want it added to my itinerary is so I can get the baggage checked all the way through.

I was told that BA have to match these tickets to full price F tickets or something. I still don't understand.
Does anybody have a clue?

UKtravelbear

It will be because it is priced up as a fare change so if the fare has gone up then you have to pay that, plus the change fee plus the cost of the additional flight.

KARFA

I am not sure what they were quoting for as you can't add non BA flights to a 2-4-1 or merge in revenue flights with reward flights on the same booking.

For the two full fare children I imagine they were quoting the full cost of doing a change to those tickets.

AS is not a oneworld partner btw, they aren't in oneworld, they are just a BA partner.

orbitmic

Cap'n Benj

ajeleonard

You have to claim and recheck your bags anyway, and the Alaska ticket is likely flexible at that price point. May as well just buy it yourself independently

mmxbreaks

You won't be able to do this anyway, so I'd just book separate tickets and take the risk. Avoid the connection being too tight, however, in the instance of delay.

CommuniK

Thanks for the responses. It was the duty manager @ BA that said they were OneWorld and said I would be able to check it through it I purchased the tickets separately and presented the other boarding cards at check in @ LHR. Of course, I laughed as I've tried that numerous times over the years. I was also told by BA last time I tried that if I booked all the way through I wouldn't need to recheck.
I will never believe them now and accept the inconvenience at SEA. It is an inconvenience btw because the Alaska desk is the other end of the airport at SEA and with 2 toddlers in tow a PITA/.

Airprox

The collect and re-check is because you are doing an International to Domestic connection at SEA and would be the same between any two airlines, regardless of alliance or partnerships. You must claim you baggage and take it through US Customs yourself before handing it to your onward carrier. At some places this is much easier than others.

zebranz

Seattle to Portland is about 3 hour drive on a major highway in case you want to look at options. Of course you will have to drive on the wrong side of the road but with everyone else.

KARFA

Technically that is kind of correct a subtle way, in that you bag can and would be checked to the final destination - so the bag label would say LHR->SEA->PDX on it.

However, as is the case for any INT-INT or INT-DOM connection at any US airport (apart from MIA in certain cases) all checked bags must be collected at your first port of arrival and taken through customs. Once through typically there are re-check desks immediately after customs where you just bag drop and your bag will then go back in the system - no need for a new label as your existing label already covers the domestic connections.

alex67500

O/T but you've been looking for it...
Semantically, it's called the right-hand side because it's the right side. Left being wrong, or worse if you go back to Latin: sinister.

Often1

For what it is worth, BA has interline agreements with both AS and DL. Even if AS were in OW, it would not matter. The SEA-PDX block time is about 50 minutes and flying time can be as little as 15-20.

1. AS runs a shuttle service SEA-PDX with service approximately every 30 minutes. Singles run $90-105 depending on whether you care about flexibility (if you do). If you misconnect, you may wait 30, 60 or 90 minutes depending on availability or you may split up and wait at PDX for an extra 30 minutes or so for the family to catch up. No different on the same ticket as availability is availability

2. The work flow for your bags will make a 2-3 minute difference whether they are checked to PDX or SEA. If checked to PDX, you will claim them at SEA, cart them through Customs and drop them post-Customs and then claim them for good at PDX. If only tagged to SEA, you will then stand in lime at the bag drop post-Customs so that new labels can be affixed. On a very tight transfer, that might matter, but given the frequencies to PDX, this is not an issue.

The bottom line problem you faced is that one cannot "add" anything to a ticket. Rather, if one makes a change, the old ticket is cancelled, a new ticket issued and the value of the old ticket less any fees is deducted. You were not quoted £18,000 for SEA-PDX, but rather the best price then available for LHR-PDX via SEA. Approx. £4,500 for that ticket in F does not sound out of range.

Unfortunately, BA phone staff are able to sell tickets and make changes, but they really have no idea about who is in an alliance or what the logistics are at a given airport. All they can tell you is that you can't check bags across two tickets not in the same PNR.

Cymro

This. Last time I did LHR-SEA then drove down to PDX, then flew back up to PDX.

Given the length of time it takes to change terminals, etc. in SEA, the need to re-check bags, etc. you may as well drive - it's likely to be quicker. Maybe have a night at the airport after landing to make things a little less stressful, although I have also done the drive immediately after getting off the LHR-SEA flight and I found it manageable - though I'd avoid it if I had time.

Tiger_lily