sstolp

Hi all,

Next week, I will be taking my first flight to JNB where I am connecting to Airlink on a single BA ticket, so flying LHR-JNB-ELS. When checking the baggage details from both BA and Airlink (as my single ticket gives me a larger allowance on Airlink than they allow on a separate ticket), there is mention by both airlines that in order to get the larger allowance, luggage must be checked through to their final destination. I understand how to do that for the return flight from ELS easily enough, however on the outbound I will need to collect my luggage in JNB to go through customs. Has anyone got experience with this? Is it possible to check a bag through onto a South African Airlink flight, when you need to still collect your bag half way through the journey?

cauchy

I wouldn't worry - the staff see hundreds of interline passengers daily (especially if they are manning transfer bag drop after customs), and know what to do.

Also, when you check in at LHR, your bag will be tagged to ELS, so even though you're collecting it to clear it through customs, it won't need a new tag when you drop it off again.

corporate-wage-slave

A number of countries clear customs at the port of initial port of entry, the USA is the grand-daddy of this, and for South Africa the system is quite similar. You do need to reclaim your checked bags anyway in JNB, clear them through customs, then re-check, but that's totally a standard way of life in RSA and many other places. This was the same with Comair and is now also true of CemAir. We're a bit privileged in Europe that clearance is at the final destination. It's not half-way through your journey, East London isn't quite as close as Canning Town, but it's just a hop from JNB.