gudugan

Hi all,

I booked an interesting itinerary and had a question about baggage. The itinerary is:

BOI-LAX-MEX (one ticket).
BOI-LAX is a domestic ticket in USA operated by Skywest DBA Delta Connection
LAX-MEX is an international ticket from USA to Mexico operated by Aeromexico

The email confirmation says that a carryon is allowed on the flight but both the first and second bag are not allowed. The webpage linked in the ticket is:
https://www.delta.com/us/en/baggage/...s-restrictions

LAX-MEX is not Delta Connection and it's also not a regional jet (it's a 787-8). Do you think I'll be able to bring a bag on this flight? Thanks in advance!

Qwkynuf

I don't have the answer to your question (sorry about that), but I wanted to ask - what is the point in not just listing the cities or airports? It's distracting as hell to read, and I can promise you that somebody (probably several somebodies) is/are going to ask. And the actual airports might make a difference. Especially if one is high/hot for example, or limited runway - like EYW.

gudugan

Well mostly for privacy. I updated it to add BOI and LAX and MEX.

Anyways I wasted a bunch of time chatting to Delta agents online about it after no one picked up my phone call after 90 minutes.

First agent:
Second agent:

Schrödinger's luggage allowance.

ryw

I haven’t flown the route before, but my reading of the page is that this is about “excess” baggage after 2 checked bags. I’m not sure why the email is saying a checked bag is not allowed - are you sure it’s saying that bags one and two are not allowed, versus saying that bags one and two are not included (thus meaning that you’d have to pay for them, but could check them if you chose to do so)?

gudugan

When you click the + button a nice message pops up that says

gudugan

Anyway after two hours on hold I talked to someone on the phone who said that Aeromexico has an embargo from 16 November to 16 January which is the reason why I can't bring a bag.

I found a similar itinerary MSP-LAX-MEX (MSP-LAX is regular Delta, not Delta Connection and LAX-MEX is Aeromexico) and likewise a bag is not allowed.
However if you fly MSP-ATL-MEX (regular Delta the whole way) a bag is allowed.

So Aeromexico is apparently the culprit!
When I go on my booking on the Aeromexico website I similarly cannot add bags.

Case closed...

flyerCO

As your 1st flight is DL marketed, the DL allowance applies to your entire trip. There's no separate allowance for each flight. However system provides the allowance for each flight.

AM doesn't provide a checked baggage allowance starting Dec 4th for most cheaper Y cabin tickets except when flying to/from Europe/Asia.. This isn't an embargo, this is a change in AM policy. This is why it shows as zero bags allowed for the flight..

However as you're flying to/from US, US DOT baggage rules apply. The allowance provided by policy of the marketing carrier (the two letter code before flight number) of 1st flight applies throughout the entire journey, including return. Basically when looking at allowance for ticket from/to US, all that matters is the 1st flights allowance.

Even on return checking in with AM you would get same number of bags as when flew out.

gudugan

I am somewhat skeptical of this.

I am looking at the same direct flight LAX-MEX on AeroMexico metal:

BOI-LAX-MEX on Delta Website: Fare Class M for both flights, I cannot buy bags for this.
BOI-LAX-MEX on AeroMexico Website: I cannot figure what the fare class is, but it is much more expensive than the Delta website. I cannot buy bags for this.

LAX-MEX on Delta Website: Fare Class M, I can buy bags for this.
LAX-MEX on AeroMexico Website: I cannot figure out what the fare class is, but it's the same price as the Delta website. I can buy bags for this.

I'm not familiar with the fare classes on Delta and if M is a cheaper Y ticket, but this is pretty strange.

It does look like I could check a bag by booking separate tickets BOI-LAX (Delta) and LAX-MEX (Aeromexico) and rechecking the bag but that's quite a bit more expensive.

I also have had not so positive experiences trying to argue policy with check in agents this year so I'm pretty sure if the computer system says "you can't bring a bag" I'm not going to win that argument

flyerCO

This is well and long established policy for reservation going to/from US. Computer (including AM) understands this very well.

It shows the allowance for each flight because in some cases (such as when reservation doesn't stop or start in US) the allowance per flight can govern. Also in some cases, airline will give the greatest allowance, despite not being required. This policy is why airlines baggage policies must cover origin/destinations that they may not even fly.

In your case, if you were starting trip at LAX, allowance would be zero, as that flight is marketed by AM. You would need to pay for additional bags. You're not starting at LAX, your reservation starts at BOI, thus the allowance there governs.

Again AM doesn't have an embargo, they've simply changed their free allowance to zero on cheaper Y fares. If your BOI-LAX flight was sold with AM codeshare number then you would need to pay for bags. (In that case AM baggage policy would apply, meaning zero free bags)

gudugan

Well I was able to add a bag at OLCI.

Thanks flyerCO for being right...

resolute

What IS going on with baggage to MEX the past few months?? That is crazy! You are saying you just cannot check ANY bags? What do they expect people to do? I traveled down there a couple times this fall and had to do some sweettalking to get my bags back with no charges (the same ones I took down..) - this is all new too, because when I have traveled to MEX before about Oct. it never was an issue at all..

gudugan

To summarize:

Website when booking said it wasn’t allowed.
Agent 1 said it’s possible but agents 2 and 3 said it wasn’t.
I planned not to bring a bag but could add one a day before at check-in. Let’s hope it still works at the airport.

Zwiebelbauer

Based on IATA rules, DL's rules don't necessarily govern -- they just get to decide whose policies apply.

In this case, I think under standard MSC rules, whichever airline is marketing the LAX-MEX leg (regardless of who it's operated by) would be the most significant carrier as that'd be the first international sector. However, standard MSC rules don't apply here due to the USA rule that always defers to the marketing carrier for the first leg.

flyerCO

Your post is confusing. IATA rule do NOT apply when origin/destination is in US (or Canada). US DOT rules apply (Canadian Transport for Canada)
While US rules allow carrier to pick either 1st segment or MSC, AFAIK all carriers go by marketing carrier of 1st segment, not marketing carrier of MSC. (Most cases these are the same marketing carrier anyway)

flyerCO

No. AM changed their standard allowance for most Y tickets (domestic or N America) to be zero. However someone at DL incorrectly interpreted this as a baggage embargo when chatting with OP. There is NO embargo, Dec 4th AM bag policy changed.. This only matters if AM bag policy governs your allowance. In OP case as 1st segment was DL marketed, DL policy governs (including for return) and thus he gets DL bag allowance.