Spicy B

I have an itinerary in the next couple months that is xxx-ATL-FRA on DL, then FRA-SVO-yyy on SU, obviously on two separate PNRs.

If everything is on time, I have a little less than 6hr30min in FRA between the two itineraries.

One thing that also scares me is that my layover in SVO is a little less than 60mins. AND my actual destination is about 220 miles away from yyy.

I'm preparing for the worst assuming my bag won't be there when I get there. If I do interline, will I only have claim checks from DL for my bag? Would I have a harder time at yyy trying to recover my bag and have it delivered if it was interlined?

Do you guys suggest interlining? Or collect my bag and recheck it again at FRA? If I don't interline, and my bag is late and arrives after I need to continue on to yyy, am I SOL in trying to get my bag to yyy?

I would have done this entire trip under one ticket, but the required destinations/timing of the trips made it at least $1k more. So I decided to save money and do US-FRA-yyy, yyy-FRA, FRA-US instead of US-yyy-FRA-US.

Any help in my dilemma would be greatly appreciated. I also have an Amex Plat if it helps my situation any.

kjh

With over 6 hour in FRA, IMO you do not have much to worry about if you go to FRA baggage claim to collect your xxx-ATL-FRA bags, do FRA customs (usually nothing due to the red/green lanes) and the recheck your bags FRA-SVO-yyy, then the problem (if one occurs) will solely be with SU. The Delta ATL gate agent should be able to tell you that your bag is/is not on the ATL-FRA flight (all the international bag security stuff has allowed them to track every bag to each specific passenger). IF your bag as not made it to your ATL-FRA flight, the Delta people should be able to provide you with a "work around" if you show them both of your itineraries/tickets.

IF Delta will check your bags all the way through (i.e. the inter-line thing) it might be OK (BUT you are relying on FRA to get your bags transferred correctly ... NOT necessarily a sure thing - I'm not disparaging FRA, just that you are dealing with 2 different carriers and foul-ups do happen sometimes)

toyotaboy95

SVO/SU are both notorious for their low efficiency during tight transfers. There is a chance that your checked baggage won't arrive onboard your flight. But it seems that the SU FRA flight now arrives at the new Terminal D, so there's better chance of getting your baggage if both flights are out of Terminals D/E since problems previously mainly arose with Terminal F.

Are you connecting onto a domestic or international SU flight? I'm not too familiar with the process for domestic but it seems that all SU flights are now flying out of Terminals D/E/F (connected) at SVO instead of including the previous [isolated] domestic terminal - so that's a bit more convenient.

exwannabe

You might want to insure that you do not have to clear customs in Moscow. If you do, then obviously the bag has to be claimed there, and 60 minutes is not good.

The interline at FRA should not be an issue, but you need to be prepared at baggage check. Have the flights printed out on paper you can just give the agents (in addition to telling them), take a look at the tags they put on your bag.

Spicy B

I am connecting to another international flight to Asia. According to flightstats, both flights are in/out of Terminal D.


Assuming I arrive before my bag, will SU deliver my bag to my friend's house ~220mi away from yyy?

eelars

I've interlined on two separate PNRs DL/SU for about the same reasons that you have (plus the fact that DL does not recognize all SU locations in its online reservations).

I've usually worried more about the SVO connections (although I have not gone through FRA as the intermediate connection). For some reason, I have had more worrisome experience coming back. The first two times:
1. All flights were on time, but my checked bag did not get from the one SU flight to the other (2 hour, 15 minute layover). It arrived a day later.
2. My first flight made an emergency medical landing in Samara. We got to SVO about 31 minutes before my other flight (and I did not even have a boarding pass for this second flight), but somehow my bag (which had been checked through) and I made it onto the flight.

My suspicion is that it will help that your first leg when switching to SU is that it is going to SVO.

toyotaboy95

With international-international at SVO, the process is pretty straightforward. Not absolutely sure (only experience I have is with Terminal F), but I do think you have to clear passport control (no Russian visas required) and security. No customs. Nor do you have to endure the notoriously inefficient Transfer Desk at Terminal F.

It really depends (airport staff/transport company) since 220 miles is not a short distance at all. Is yyy a major airport or a relatively smaller/regional airport? There's a better chance of them delivering if it's a major airport.

Remember to ask the DL agent to put priority tags on your baggage, it really makes a difference. There was one occasion I experienced where only priority tagged-bags were loaded onto the SU SVO-CDG flight (20+ other bags, connecting from HKG and NRT, were left in SVO) despite on-time departures.

That's SU for you.