DLHflyer2013

A friend of mine is going to Hawaii next month. They purchased the flight from an Expedia-type site and involves multiple airlines. They fly Delta MSP to SEA and then Alaska Alrlines from SEA to HNL.

As I understand it, there is no luggage check-through policy in place with DL and AS. I assume this means when the get to SEA they will have to go to luggage claim and then re-check with AS? They have a 1.5 hour connection in SEA so I feel a bit stressed for them already if that's the case...

Thank you!

Aliquot

No, as long as it was purchased in one transaction on Expedia it will have been booked as one ticket and baggage will be checked through.

flyerCO

There's no through checking on separate tickets anymore, unless it's one of DL'S partners that they give an exception for.

As long as it's one ticket you can have bags tagged on DL and UA flights even.

TrojanTraveler

I'd note that you will be subject to the baggage fees of the airline with which you check your bags, so if one doesn't have any status/card related to AS, then they will charge baggage fees (even if you bought your ticket via DL) on the return (if the first return flight is on AS).

DLHflyer2013

Good to know! Thank you much for the clarification!

BHammy

TT,
Are you sure about this?

I've been going round and round with DL on this exact issue for flights I had with HA on an inter-island hop with ticketed fully through Delta and with similar situation with VA between cities in Australia.

I've read up on the IATA resolution 302 quite a bit and Delta, Virgin Australia and Hawaiian all agree that baggage fees are based on the marketing carrier.
So if the ticket was booked through Delta, and has DL flight numbers, then the baggage rules that apply - even on AS - would be Delta baggage rules.

Granted, since DL and AS are only codeshare partners (like HA), no alliance or anything more, then only basic traveler baggage is the rule. Unlike VA that is a "seamless" partner , they actually honor DL Medallion benefits and vice versa.

However, my experience last year - at the Hawaiian Airlines counter - was to take my money. I had to argue with the counter agent and then a manager who finally looked at the print outs from email to HA customer service as well as their own website. She finally let me board with 3x 50lbs (2 more than I should have)
Then she let a travel partner board with 2x 70lbs because he had it noted in his record (from Delta) the he was Platinum and allowed 3x 70lbs.

In my emailing Delta, one response contained this:
"While the exception to fees such as frequent flyer benefits must be disclosed, this is not a benefit that is part of an agreement between all airline partners. For example, Alaska Airlines is a partner but they do not honor our Medallion members’ status and do not extend those benefits. With that said any travel on Alaska Airlines even if it is a Delta marketed flight no frequent flyer benefits will be extended including baggage waivers."

But it's a vague game that the airlines play in that Delta says Alaska Airline rules may apply, then Alaska states that baggage "may be subject to other airline's bag charges."

My VA issue was that DL booked by Australian connection from OOL to SYD as a domestic ticket with no onward international travel attached, so VA was only giving me VA baggage as if I was a basic domestic traveler. Only with my itinerary printed out did they grant me the 3x 70lbs because I was GUC upgraded to D1 on the outbound.

With VA, Delta says: "*Complimentary checked baggage allowances for Diamond and Platinum Medallion members will be equivalent to a Velocity Platinum member... Please visit Virgin Australia for more details on baggage policy."
But Virgin Australia says: "If you have purchased your travel with Delta and you are travelling on a Delta codeshare flight operated by Virgin Australia, please refer to Delta.com for your baggage allowance."



So to understand interline/codeshare baggage, one should be able to assume the FMC: First Marketing Carrier - but be prepared for something different.
The issue is mostly what airlines are selling/marketing and what actually gets relayed to the counter agents - very little. I've dealt with the issue for the past 6 years between Delta and Virgin Australia - each time, literally having to educate the counter agent and manager to what their two airlines have agreed to offer their customers:
"This means you can look forward to more convenient connections and reciprocal frequent flyer benefits."

Often1

There are three totally different issues being mixed and matched here.

First, OP did not say that the tickets were purchased from Expedia. He said "Expedia-type". That could mean anything. Many third party opaque sites sell what appear to be a single itinerary but which are composed of multiple tickets. Unless you are sophisticated and check this out, you won't know until things go wrong. Even Expedia sells multiple tickets under one PNR.

Second, If two carriers have an interline baggage agreement, they may choose to interline bags. But, they need not. And, most often they will not across separate tickets. So back to #1.

Third, IATA is a trade group and its resolution 302 was supplanted 5 years ago by DOT's rules which are US law. Those rules provide that the baggage allowance of the marketing carrier of the first segment, applies to the entire ticket. But, that allowance does not include bag waivers for status, CC's and other specialty privileges. DOT rules also require that the baggage charges, if any, for the first two bags be included on the e-ticket receipt.

As to OP's specific situation, there is no way to answer the question without knowing whether the friend is traveling on one or two tickets.

flyerCO

Yes baggage fees are based on either 1st flight marketing carrier or most significant carrier in case of having a long-haul. However they baggage fee waiver for elites is not considered to be a part of that policy by DOT. Elite benefits don't carry over to other airlines unless there's an agreement to do so. Now if the baggage policy allows free bags when in 1st class, that does carry over (as long as in 1st class on the return) as that is part of the baggage policy.

BHammy

Agreed to Often1 and flyerCO.

It's a crap shoot with so many variances. Check with Delta, check with the codeshare/interline. Print out as many references/rules as you can, expect to "negotiate" or pay what they are asking.

3Cforme

As others note, that assertion is now fully four and a half years out of date for travelers with a U.S origin or destination.

IATA resolutions don't help much here, either. The relevant regulation is found in the U.S. DOT's expanded passenger protections of 2012. The DOT allows use of the IATA convention in limited circumstances but doesn't demand it.

The passenger check in systems used by major carriers in or to the US are programmed to offer the correct luggage allowance based on first marketing carrier/codeshare/MSC logic defined by the DOT. Most of the FT threads complaining about multicarrier baggage allowances show an error expecting elite or credit card allowances to carry across, and that simply isn't how the DOT mandates it.

TrojanTraveler

Just to make sure that I follow, are you agreeing with me? I always have to pay HA to check a bag when they are the first operating carrier, even if it is a DL codeshare. This hasn't changed, has it?

exwannabe

The problem is that while DL rules would apply (first marketing carrier), the FF Status "discount" is not part of those rules. Thus you pay.

If the flight was marketed by WN (I know, ...) then the bag would be free.

flyingdoc747

I was checking in Barcelona and the nice agent showed me the screen on her computer showing how to add any airline, Flight number and destination. There was a drop down menu that had pretty much every airport in the world. I don't understand why there is a restriction of interairline agreements if the delta program allows the agent to place any 2-character carrier code followed by the flight number and destination.

It was a cool screen to see. Anyone saw this to would like to add?

jason_g

I just came back from a trip which included flights on DL and HA. On the outbound from HPN-ATL-HNL (DL) then HNL-LIH (HA) DL kept telling me that there was no way they would check through to HA given the separate tickets. I knew this before I left so I shipped our bags. On our return for KOA-HNL then HNL-ATL-HPN, the HA agent (first class) couldn't have been nicer and checked our bags through. We had several interisland flights over a few weeks and I kept asking agents what I should expect on the return. The answer always was 'it depends upon how nice the agent wants to be.' They're clearly not supposed to do it, but often do.

flyerCO

1)The DL software only allows the agents to pick airlines that DL has an interline with. 2)There's a business reason for not interlining - It incurs costs to get a bag between airlines, especially if not located in the same area at an airport. Why incur costs to give a benefit to a customer flying an airline that's a competitor? This includes cost if the bag gets lost and never transferred. While the last flown airline will pay the passenger, that airline can then ask for compensation from the airline that never handed the bag off. Also, bags are more likely to be lost when transferring between airlines that aren't partners. A lot of airports use separate baggage systems for different parts of the airport/airlines. Some bigger airports like DXB have one large system used by everyone, but most airports have completely separate baggage systems for each terminal, and in some cases airlines.