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Finnair baggage on separate tickets after June 1, 2016 OW decision!?

Old May 12, 2018, 2:05 am
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Last edit by: intuition
Official policy as it was published in 2017. My bolding to direct readers to the most commonly asked part. Do note wording 'allow'.


THROUGH CHECK-IN POLICY
Finnair takes care of passengers through check-in in all cases where the passenger has an agreement of carriage with Finnair and the through check-in is technically possible and is according to local instructions. This agreement of carriage requires that the passenger holds a Passenger Ticket and Baggage Check, or an electronic ticket, as defined in the Conditions of Carriage and issued by Finnair or on its behalf.
Passengers flight reservation (PNR) and flight ticket (single agreement with specific airline) are not always the same thing. Each ticket with different ticket number is an independent agreement of carriage with the ticketed air carrier. It is not possible to through check either passenger or baggage between separate flight tickets even if they are in the same PNR. Check-in is possible only to the final destination on each individual agreement of carriage (= flight ticket).
Its important to remember that MCT (Minimum Connection Time) at each airport is based on the assumption that flights are booked on the same ticket and this way passenger and baggage may be through checked to the final destination. In case flights are on separate tickets, passenger has to collect baggage and recheck on the connecting flight at the transfer station thus MCT is no longer valid. Passenger shall be informed already at the time of reservation that check-in can be done only as far as Finnair has a contract of carriage with the passenger.

FINNAIR THROUGH CHECK-IN POLICY
Passenger and baggage shall be through checked to the final destination as indicated by the flight ticket, provided it constitutes one single agreement of carriage with Finnair. Finnair will provide through check-in for a journey ticketed in a single PNR; this includes segments ticketed separately but booked in the same PNR (and/or referenced in a single PNR during the time of booking).

In addition to the basic rule Finnair will allow through check-in of customer and baggage with separate tickets on separate PNRs on AYAY (including AY franchising flights operated by Norra) connections when the transfer is within the Minimum Connection Time (MCT). For AYAY connection flights on the separate PNRs have to be both marketed and operated by Finnair or Norra and flights ticketed on the 105-stock. The agent shall always inform the customer of the destination where the customer and his or her baggage are checked-in to.
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Finnair baggage on separate tickets after June 1, 2016 OW decision!?

Old Jan 12, 2018, 7:52 am
  #76  
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
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QR sent my bag from MEL to TLL, although HEL-TLL leg was on a separate PNR.
I dropped a line to Platsku support with some feedback, including how awsome it is that QR and CX are doing this.
I got this reply: "Hopefully, in the future we could also check the baggages to final destination on Oneworld airlines, even on separate bookings."
I was expecting "Blah blah blah, policy, blah blah blah, no"
juhanh is offline  
Old Jan 17, 2018, 12:45 pm
  #77  
 
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Not sure if this the right place to post but anyways...friend of mine was booked on Jan 17 VAA-HEL-CPH on AY leaving at 6 AM and arriving in CPHaround 8 AM. From there he had a seperate ticket at 12 15 PM on Air Canada to YYZ. His original flight got cancelled for mechanical reason. He got rebooked on a later flight leaving around 9 am and arriving in CPH at 12 40. at the same his Air canada flight was delayed about 45 min so he ran and made the connection in CPH but now his bag that he checked is somwhere in CPH. Just curios what are his chances of getting reunited with his bag in Toronto or maybe Chicago where hell be from Jan 20 to Jan 26. Or would Finnair be willing to return his bag home to VAA or another option would be that he picks it up on Jan 30 when he transits CPH again but question is how long they keep bags in CPH before snding them away. He gambled and lost. He is going to file a claim with Finnair online when he arrives today in YYZ. Just curios if anybody has any input in this case that could help.. Thank you all.
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Old May 11, 2018, 11:37 pm
  #78  
 
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Originally Posted by intuition
Yes, AY to AY is OK under certain conditions.
If I book AY LHR-HEL and then separately AY HEL-HKG, will AY agent at LHR check me through?
Isochronous is offline  
Old May 11, 2018, 11:40 pm
  #79  
 
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Originally Posted by Isochronous
If I book AY LHR-HEL and then separately AY HEL-HKG, will AY agent at LHR check me through?

Originally Posted by intuition
There is a general clause saying through-check is only done if "it is technically possible and according to local instructions", so there is some rubber-band built in right there.

As others indicated, AY-AY is the only case where they do through-check on separate PNR, and there are a lot of requirements too:
Quote:In addition to the basic rule [ = through-check only on single PNR trips - editors note] Finnair will allow through check-in of customer and baggage with separate tickets on separate PNRs on AYAY (including AY franchising flights operated by Norra) connections when the transfer is within the Minimum Connection Time (MCT). For AYAY connection flights on the separate PNRs have to be both marketed and operated by Finnair or Norra and flights ticketed on the 105-stock. The agent shall always inform the customer of the destination where the customer and his or her baggage are checked-in to.
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Old May 12, 2018, 2:08 am
  #80  
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I turned this into a wiki and added the full policy (at least as far as I know it) on top.
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Old Jul 3, 2018, 2:56 am
  #81  
 
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just few days ago i had KEF-HEL-SIN on AY and SIN-HKG-TPE on CX.

at KEF ground agent helped me short-check to HEL only, so i could try my luck at HEL. (i didnt expect third party ground agent in Iceland to be able to thru check to CX so i didnt bother)... so picked up my bag, went to Platinum checkin (i was flying J on both AY ane CX and OWE) and asked if they can tag to HK. they simply asked if this is same ticket, i said No, so they refused.. i ended up clearing immigration at Sing and recheck (i knew it was coming) so instead of a 90min connection if the bags were checked thru it became a 4hr run..

i guess there is cost AY pays ground agent to load bags to another airline. hey here is suggestion AY: why dont you offer interline bags at additional cost say 25eur? i would have happily paid that.... i think actual cost of loading bags is about few eur each ground agent charge (a recently debated carosel fee at HKIA is about 20eur cent for one bag loaded to carosel) so heck i am happy to pay it

i guess this rule is to protect their high yielding routes and direct business to a codeshare journey at inflated prx. but AY business model is hub*spark from asia centers via Hel and there isnt codeshare on all routes.. somehow such user pay scheme might be another successful addon fee if they wish to penetrate deeper to peripheral Asian destinations, as current setup is prohibitive for customers not based out of AY outports
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Old Jul 3, 2018, 4:12 am
  #82  
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Originally Posted by fakecd
...

i guess this rule is to protect their high yielding routes and direct business to a codeshare journey at inflated prx. but AY business model is hub*spark from asia centers via Hel and there isnt codeshare on all routes.. somehow such user pay scheme might be another successful addon fee if they wish to penetrate deeper to peripheral Asian destinations, as current setup is prohibitive for customers not based out of AY outports
Yeah, the rule doesn't really make sense for AY, since they serve only a limited number of destinations on their own. They serve several major OW hubs, but there are IMO very few codesahares in general, and some of the codeshares can't even be booked IRL (at least not on AY web page, maybe a TA can).

But AY vigorously defends the rule so there must be something in it for them. But it seems to be a rule that only pushes business away. I can't see the benefit if passengers to TPE and CAN for example chooses CX or QR.


BTW, not sure the add-on fee would work. At least according to what has been said publicly, the rule is there because "bags on separate tickets often won't make the connection, and then it is unclear who is responsible" not because of costs.
intuition is offline  
Old Jul 3, 2018, 5:08 am
  #83  
 
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Originally Posted by intuition
Yeah, the rule doesn't really make sense for AY, since they serve only a limited number of destinations on their own. They serve several major OW hubs, but there are IMO very few codesahares in general, and some of the codeshares can't even be booked IRL (at least not on AY web page, maybe a TA can).
You don't need to be on a codeshare to book the trip on a single ticket. E.g. to TPE you can buy a ticket from AY with HEL - HKG on AY and HKG - TPE on CX. They same applies to a number of CX destinations which don't have AY codeshares. In the end being not able to buy a single ticket is a marginal case when connecting through OW hubs, so AY must have calculated that they will get more revenue by encouraging people to buy their trips on a single ticket.
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Old Jul 3, 2018, 5:44 am
  #84  
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Originally Posted by r2d2
... In the end being not able to buy a single ticket is a marginal case when connecting through OW hubs, so AY must have calculated that they will get more revenue by encouraging people to buy their trips on a single ticket.
Yes it is true there needn't be a codeshare to combine fares into one ticket. However, IME it makes it easier, not sure why. Perhaps the website treats codeshare destinations like AY-destination and there is something in the search engine that prefers codeshares?
Anyway, the site does indeed offer connections to TPE via HKG on BR, CX and KA. Don't think it used to do that but it is great it does!

To me personally the case is not marginal though. Searching a ticket EU-CAN in november on ay.com fails with "no such flights". Sometimes it offers a connection via PEK on CA, but never via HKG. HKG surely is a OW hub, but IME the possibilities to book HKG-connections are limited on ay.com, especially with OW affiliate KA.
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Old Jul 3, 2018, 6:02 am
  #85  
 
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Originally Posted by intuition
Searching a ticket EU-CAN in november on ay.com fails with "no such flights".
In the case on CAN it seems very strange that they do not offer any connections there. In the summertime when they have direct flights to CAN it would make perfect sense to offer connections to those passengers who would need to fly in the other direction on a day that AY doesn't operate. Now all those passengers will go to other airlines. And as they do operate there in the summer season, the business case for offering connections can't be marginal.
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Old Jul 3, 2018, 2:48 pm
  #86  
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The whole CAN strategy of AY is a mystery. One of the major (and richest) Chinese regions, Guangdong has 105m inhabitants. If that doesn't qualify for a year round daily service, I don't know what does.
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Old Jul 4, 2018, 1:34 am
  #87  
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Originally Posted by fakecd
just few days ago i had KEF-HEL-SIN on AY and SIN-HKG-TPE on CX.

at KEF ground agent helped me short-check to HEL only, so i could try my luck at HEL. (i didnt expect third party ground agent in Iceland to be able to thru check to CX so i didnt bother)... so picked up my bag, went to Platinum checkin (i was flying J on both AY ane CX and OWE) and asked if they can tag to HK. they simply asked if this is same ticket, i said No, so they refused.. i ended up clearing immigration at Sing and recheck (i knew it was coming) so instead of a 90min connection if the bags were checked thru it became a 4hr run..
Did you try a transfer counter at SIN (airside)? They will usually take your baggage tag receipts and retag your bags for you. I'm not sure how that works with CX being in T4 these days though.
That said, the SIN website now talks about needing to have "transfer facilities" included in your ticket to do this. I don't remember seeing that before. But it's always worth a shot....
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Old Jul 4, 2018, 2:11 am
  #88  
 
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Originally Posted by caedwa
Did you try a transfer counter at SIN (airside)? They will usually take your baggage tag receipts and retag your bags for you. I'm not sure how that works with CX being in T4 these days though.
That said, the SIN website now talks about needing to have "transfer facilities" included in your ticket to do this. I don't remember seeing that before. But it's always worth a shot....
i heard of that service at SIN but dont trust it so didnt try. afterall not knowing if such service is even present, i had to give plenty of time for connection so just did it the long way.
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Old Feb 2, 2019, 2:07 am
  #89  
 
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can i just confirm that the AY-AY separate ticket through-check policy is still valid? am planning to redeem HKG-HEL / HEL-CPH on 2 separate tickets (from different FFPs)
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Old Feb 2, 2019, 6:42 am
  #90  
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AFAIK, it is. I checked a few days ago and same policy was communicated.
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