eridrin

Hello,

I have two separate award tickets. The first one was booked using British Airways miles on Japan Airlines traveling from Tokyo to Taipei. The second one was booked using United miles on EVA Air traveling from Taipei to San Francisco.

Here are my questions:

1. Can I have my bag checked through from Tokyo to San Francisco on separate ticket?

2. If checking through bag is not possible, my flight from Tokyo is scheduled to arrive Taipei at 9:40pm and my flight on EVA air is scheduled to depart at 11:30pm. Am I allowing myself sufficient time for going through immigration, collect baggage then check in again?

Thanks.

LondonElite

1. Almost certainly not. It varies from airline to airline, but checking through on separate tix is generally not possible. This is in part because there is no connection between the two, so it becomes impossible for airline one to check through to a ticket which you have not started. There are exceptions; I've done it on BA, but that was one airline where they were able to link the PNRs. In your case I see no possibility.

2. You have plenty of time in Taipei!

Good luck!

fti

I have had the opposite experience than LondonElite. I have checked luggage through between multiple airlines and multiple alliances without any issues. When I attempt to do it, I arrive at the airport extra early, I am extremely polite to the agent and I have all my connecting flight info with me all written down and ready for the agent to use.

GeoSpark

I also had the opposite experience. I flew from BOS to JFK on Delta and then JFK to TPE. I checked in Boston for Delta only and checked in again at JFK for EVA. I never saw my bags after Boston. Though I did ask the EVA check in agent to confirm my 2 baggage and he actually did confirm them manually since the computer only lists the baggage has been transferred, but not the number of bags.

It will be important to ask the airline you are checking in with initially. In this case I asked Delta and she checked her computer and said it was ok. I was also in first class so I am not sure if that made a difference in the service they provide.

PS That was my first time flying Delta and if I wasn't so heavily invested in UA already I might actually switch. They were super nice from check in to the cabin crew. They were not stingy with the drinks at all and it was super short flight.

Often1

There is no way that you will know the answer in advance. The technical answer is no. An agent may choose to do it for you, but that is up to the agent. So, you will need to have a Plan B which involves retrieving your bags at TPE and checking them in to SFO.

fti

Actually the technical answer is yes for airlines having an interline baggage agreement (most airlines) until Delta implements their threatened policy to change it. Still having a Plan B is a good idea.

JMB777

1. It depends. In my experience, JL is usually willing to through check bags to other airlines as long as they have interline agreement. You need to have a print out EVA confirmation and ask an agent to through check when you check in. I am not sure if JL has an agreement with EVA though. You could call JL to add "connection" to your reservation. I've always done this in advance to reduce what a check in agent has to do.

2. I am not aware of EVA policy, but in general, check in cut off time is 1 hour prior to departure. You only have 50 minutes to go though immigration, collect baggage then check in. I would say it is a bit risky. If JL flight is late and missed your connection, it depends on EVA to accommodate you on next flight or not. JL is not responsible for rebooking you on another flight.