FlyerTalk Forums - Oneworld connection protection on separate tickets

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Mwenenzi (Post 24436540)

What AA does is not necessarily the same as other Oneworld airlines do.
The thread is about Oneworld protection or lack thereof

See post #1 of this thread - take it as you like.

My thoughts are in some of my various posts on FT - search for 'waiver' ...

So I have an awards booking from the UK to Europe. Then I have a cash booking from Europe to América. Both on OneWorld. I put a long layover in between, but you never know...

When I check-in at London, could I ask for the bookings to be linked? On the off chance I am massively delayed on my way to the continent? Would my bag go all the way across the Atlantic even with such a long layover?

Is there no danger that I'd be charged more? I.e. the taxes/APD for a UK to America flight?

Quote:

Originally Posted by galego (Post 24489484)

No you will not be charged anything else.

You can ask for the booking to be linked, but they are not actually linked. They just annotate the PNRs with the information. Whether the next agent is interested in that annotation is a matter of conjecture.

Which carriers are you flying on?

You may ask for your bags to be checked through if it is oneworld-to-oneworld.

There is no such think as "linking" PNR's. All that can happen is that one agent types a note in two sets of PNR notes referencing the other PNR. But, it's only useful to the extent that anyone bothers to look up your PNR and read the notes (unlikely) and, if they do, that they take some action on it.

The misnomer here is the use of the word "connection". One cannot connect between two tickets. They are separate and thus if you are late for your second flight, it is no different than oversleeping, getting caught in a traffic jam or getting drunk at an airport bar.

What exactly happens on OW-OW will be dependent on the specific onward carrier and its tolerance (with the exception, of course, of the AA policy which is above and beyond both OW and tariff).

Of course, one can request "Information" and "Ghost" segments that can be inserted into a PNR to indicate incoming/onward travel.

Of course, none of these will ensure protection against mis-connects.

I wonder how a TA issued set of "conjunction tickets" would work (or not).

Quote:

Originally Posted by serfty (Post 24493796)

This is not what a conjunction ticket is.

Conjunction tickets in a single ticket booklet are treated as a single ticket.

A single ticket can only hold four sectors, including surface sectors. Conjunction tickets defeat this restriction by allowing you to combine up to four tickets in a single ticket booklet. The other ticket numbers should be printed in the conjunction ticket field. So if you've ever had more than four flights on one itinerary, it was a conjunction ticket.

It would be quite improper to conjoin unrelated tickets, in the same way it would have been inappropriate to print the sectors on the same ticket to start with (if this was disallowed by the fare rules).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calchas (Post 24494778)

It would be quite improper to conjoin unrelated tickets, in the same way it would have been inappropriate to print the sectors on the same ticket to start with (if this was disallowed by the fare rules).

My last 3 DONE3's have had additional "connecting" flights booked on a separate ticket.
JFK-BOS-JFK/ORD-STL-ORD-DTW-ORD/MAD-BCN-MAD
JFK-BOS-JFK/ORD-CLE/DTW-ORD/HEL-ARN-HEL
JFK-DCA/PHL-CAE-PHL-LGA/LAX-SFO-LAX-LAS-LAX/ORD-DTW-ORD
Each flight is "unrelated" to the other flights on the ticket, yet they were all issued (including the flights in Europe) on the same ticket, by the same airline. Are you saying it was "improper" to do so?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Himeno (Post 24498934)

What do you mean by "ticket"?
PNR?
Ticket number?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mwenenzi (Post 24499230)

What do you mean by "ticket"?
PNR?
Ticket number?

Ticket number. They had different PNR's for each airline, but they had the same ticket number.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Himeno (Post 24498934)

Nope that's fine: from the DONE3 fare rules

Code:

COMBINATIONS

    SINGLE/DOUBLE OPEN JAWS/ROUND TRIPS/CIRCLE TRIPS NOT

    PERMITTED.

    END-ON-END NOT PERMITTED. SIDE TRIPS PERMITTED WITH

    NO RESTRICTIONS.

However many dirt cheap fares do not allow end-on-end or side trips. This is there to prevent people stringing a bunch of cheap fares together on a single ticket and leaving the airline to pick up the pieces if something goes wrong (while also potentially undermining the intended fare for the city pair).

Does anyone have experience flying separate tickets with IB and through-checking luggage and/or IRROPS? I'm about to ticket an award and buy a short onward segment, mostly because IB availability is only in business and I don't want to pay 3X mileage for intra-european J.

If I book TATL IB (award) - Shengen IB (cash), will I have any issues with luggage? I assume not. What about IRROPS - any practical experience on whether IB is accommodating?

Confirmation of Misconnection Protection

Following jagmeets' example, I also sent off an email to oneworld. In summary, oneworld will protect you in the event of a misconnection on separate itineraries, however they won't openly publish this benefit.

This sums it up pretty clearly:

Quote:

Once a passenger is through-checked, that passenger is provided protection in the event of a flight disruption, even if the passenger has chosen to purchase separate tickets.

A caveat:

Quote:

If you have been provided a connecting boarding pass – regardless of any baggage – the oneworld carriers will provide protection for you in the event of a flight disruption.

The caveat duly contradicted:

Quote:

If you are attempting to combine three tickets (three separate airlines) into a single itinerary, through check-in will fail for the third segment. Today’s airline systems generally do not support interline through check-in for a third (or more) airline in the itinerary, whether on a single tickett [sic] (and in a single booking record) or not. If these are three oneworld member airlines, then, yes, with today’s policy our members should treat this as a single itinerary regardless of the through check-in. However, the airlines may not have information about your full itinerary in order to create the most convenient protection for you. A single booking record (and a single ticket) will provide more protection in spite of our best intention with your separate tickets.

Excuse for not publicising the benefit:

Quote:

oneworld has chosen not to publicly highlight (on our website or other communication channels) our policy of through service provided for separate tickets. Traveling on separate tickets for a single itinerary can compromise our member airlines’ (or any two airlines) ability to provide proper through service for our customers, even where there are just two airlines in the itinerary. For example, our ability to provide through check-in service can be compromised if passenger names are not entered in exactly the same way during the two separate booking processes

A more logical explanation:

Quote:

As an alliance, we are reviewing this policy. One concern, for example, is that without adequate fare information for the downline segment the originating carrier cannot properly assess bag charges while regulators have specific requirements regarding baggage charges on single itineraries. In this case, carriers face a potential obligation for which they do not have the information to meet that obligation. There are other factors which airlines will individually review, including economic concerns of providing expensive services and disruption liability for which the traveler has chosen not to pay.

This would suggest that member airlines cannot claim ignorance of the policy:

Quote:

Our members confirm that they have trained their agents according to this policy. While we do not list this information on oneworld.com, many of our individual members clarify this policy on their own websites.

Quote:

I don’t believe you should encounter a situation where one of our members or an individual agent chooses to ignore known/understood policy for commercial reasons.

How to go about getting this protection

Quote:

When you check-in, advise the agent* of your actual final destination (the agent will not otherwise have this information) and show the agent details of your reservation with a oneworld member airline. The agent should attempt to generate a connecting boarding pass (which will usually be successful) and will check bags to final destination (which should always be successful - subject of course to the need to reclaim bags at an interim point for customs clearance, for example, upon entering the U.S. with continuing domestic U.S. travel).

For protection from policy failures – you could bring with you a printout from the member airline webpage (for example, the aa.com page listed below). I don’t believe you should encounter a situation where one of our members or an individual agent chooses to ignore known/understood policy for commercial reasons.

For protection from technology failures – those “conflicting reports” may indeed reflect technology failures to complete through check-in messages. While an agent can generally create a through check-in with separate tickets, itineraries built as a single itinerary issued on a single ticket will have a higher success rate for through check-in than itineraries constructed through separate reservations processes. I don’t have any secrets to share which would improve upon this success rate other than purchasing a single ticket for a multi-segment itinerary.

The passenger contract is with the airline, in the form of the ticket. Once a member has checked you to final destination, each member in that through itinerary is obligated to provide full service including, for example, protection in the case of disruption. If you encounter a problem with one of our members applying this policy, you would need to pursue any concerns with that airline.

[...]

* The requirement to use an agent at check-in is another concern being reviewed by our members regarding this policy. In every travel market, airlines including oneworld members are attempting to facilitate movement through the airport with increased self-service opportunities. For example, print-at-home bagtags will soon become as common as print-at-home (or mobile) boarding passes – but these clearly will not work when the originating airline does not have the full travel details.

TL;DR

oneworld will protect you on separate tickets
try and see an agent at the airport to get tickets linked
you should still be protected even if you didn't tell the airlines you'd be connecting

Of course, it seems that informing the airline at check-in is the best thing to do because they'd be able to re-accommodate you whilst your delayed flight was still in the air, and in the event of major IRROPS, you'd probably have better chances of getting a decent routing. One thing that is a bit vague however is what the procedure is if you end up missing the first flight on a ticket and have it voided.

If anyone wants a copy of the emails, send me a PM. Alternatively I'd suggest emailing oneworld -- maybe if enough interested customers enquire, they'll finally publish this on oneworld.com!

Quote:

Originally Posted by PWMTrav (Post 24572767)

Every time I have connected via MAD, either on the same ticket or across tickets, the computer has tossed up problems with the through check. I have normally had to collect and recheck. The one time they went with a manual tag, the bag got lost at the next port.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Himeno (Post 24577739)

I'm sensing a strong suggestion to get it on one ticket or collect my luggage :D I appreciate the input. I think that if I'm going to Europe with a toddler, I need to do what I can to ensure the luggage gets there.

Anyone have experience linking British Airways to Dragon Air? I have a trip coming up and taking a flight out of HKG 4 hours after arriving to HAN would save me a day in Hong Kong having to wait until the next day. I am not sure 4 hours would leave time to get through immigration, collect bags and then recheck in.