Always worth asking at check-in though for the bags to goto a final destination even when on multiple tickets (have PNR ready and written down though), as I've found check-in staff (at least in SE Asia) are still quite accommodating on this. Although this may change.

But as above, prepare mentally for an exit through customs and a checkin, just in case.

The general rule has always been that if you may not interline checked bags across separate tickets. This has been the general case for IATA carriers for 60+ years and you should always presume it to be the case.

OW instituted a policy whereby it would do this for passengers transferring across tickets and accordingly when it abandoned that policy, it had to publish a specific policy exception.

There are limited circumstances, which will not work here, where it may be possible to check bags when transferring across two OW tickets. Typically that is when the two tickets are booked under a single PNR. That would be rare and would usually require an experienced TA's assistance.

Do understand that one of the benefits of a connection on a single ticket is that your bags are checked through and that your connection is protected, e.g., that if you misconnect, at an absolute minimum, the carrier causing the misconnect will rebook you.

On separate tickets, you will not be able to check your bags through and you likely will not have any protection should you no show for your onward flights. The lack of a connection may also cause immigration, customs and downstream visa issues in certain situations.

I'm in a sticky situation. In 2 months I'll fly the last legs of my DONEx ticket: MEL-DOH-JNB.

Because South African Embassy (both in Bangkok and Canberra) refused to accept my visa application (they say I have to apply in my home country), I'm forced to connect to my onward ticket JNB-MAD on IB the same day.

I cannot enter SA without a visa, so I cannot collect my bags. Do you think this qualify as extreme circumstances where they will check through my luggage?

No. That is not a reason for through checking of luggage. If you do not have a valid visa for your destination, I would be more inclined to expect that the airline will not permit you to board the aeroplane

The passenger is the one solely responsible for ensuring that they have any necessary documentation to allow entry to a country and not a special circumstance

I don't need a visa to transfer to another international flight to Europe, so they have no grounds to deny boarding.

The airline would seem to have grounds , since you would need to leave the transit area to collect bags in JNB, which would seem to require a visa.

As reported on other threads and here, OW airlines have been consistently enforcing the rule change for interlining bags. I think I only read one FT report of someone successfully having bags interlined after the rule changed. I personally experienced it this past summer on a LHR-CDG-DOH flight with two PNRs (BA first segment then QR second), BA was not bending the rule in any way regardless of my efforts. I also had issues with two connecting CX flights DPS-HKG-MNL booked on two PNRs, CX did not really want to interline even if both flight were CX. I had to insist and ask for a supervisor to push them to do it, and eventually they did. I agree that having a ticketed flight departing JNB should be enough to allow you to board in DOH. I am not familiar with JNB airport, but I assume checking bags will most likely be an issue for you without a visa to pass immigration and retrieve the bags, unless JNB QR or IB staff have a way to pick up the bags for you and take them to their check-in counter. Not sure if this is an option at some airports, I tried once in DOH (two QR connecting flights with two PNRs, asked QR to pick up my bags so I did not have to pay the entry visa etc, but they said there was no way for them to do that. I guess a last resort option would be to downsize luggage and only travel with carry on to eliminate this potential problem.

We have a master thread.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onewo...kets-pnrs.html

Maybe, JL is an exception. They still interline.

BTW, OP's question is
This thread had better be moved to Star Alliance forum,
or merged to above interline thread.

The new policy returned oneworld to industry standard re interlining across tickets/PNRs. Carriers can chose to do more then that should they decide to.

UL, JL and MH will still check through across tickets.
BA and QR will not check through, period. Even to themselves.
CX will check through to other CX/KA flights.
QF and AA will check through to their own flights, will check through to other oneworld provided one ticket is an award.

I've had good success with UL, especially UL -> QR.

Also had success with QR -> QF, also QR internally.

As I posted above, assume you'll be knocked back, but it doesn't hurt to try.

helpful, tnx. I've updated the wiki on the thread where this is not there.

CX is going back to being a full service carrier, thankfully..

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27638488-post284.html

Cathay are reversing the no bag interline policy. Post 284 in the CX thread linked above.
http://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_H...e-tickets.html

Edit.
New CX link as post 177 (7 Jan 2019)

https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...e-tickets.html

CX has always interlined bags on 2 separate CX PNRs. They briefly suspended interlining when the 2nd PNR was not CX, but they are reverting to their past pratice. MH did the same back and forth.
I think that many OW airlines feel the pressure from customers, especially business pax, that their new bag policy creates. I would expect most smaller OW airlines to keep interlining on separate PNRs as a "courtesy". BA is under a lot of flack for refusing to interline BA to BA. My guess is that they might revert for BA to BA if not BA to OW.

How much does it actually cost airlines for tag a bag say SYD-HKG-LAX on 2 separate PNRs instead of just SYD-HKG ?

It's not the cost of tagging it - it's the cost of dealing with the issue when the bag goes astray that they are worried about.

But this only helps if CX is the 1st carrier? A OW -> CX won't work as I understand it unless it is JL/UL/MH -> CX Correct?

I only came across this issue on Boxing Day at T5 when I checked in for LHR>DOH>AUH on 2 PNRs - due to one being an Avios booking and the other a cash booking (the sole reason being due to the vagaries of the Avios site... but that's another story!).

Very poor service from check in agent in First Class check in area. I handed him by BA boarding passes and QR connection information, and without any explanation or apology he just ignored the QR paperwork and tagged my bag to DOH.

I only noticed by chance when I saw that the receipt had DOH on it, and raised my concerns as I had a tight (but 'approved') connection.

I was given short shrift and told they couldn't tag it through because it was a different airline. I was not happy as this had never happened before, and asked if I could escalate it. He said I could speak to his colleagues at "J1-2-3"(?) but when I turned to take my case off the belt, it had already been despatched into the baggage system!

Not content with the situation, I raised the issue in the First Class lounge: cue profuse apologies and a promise to pass the issue on to the crew in an attempt to arrange fast track at DOH. Similarly when the CSD sought me out there were more profuse apologies and I was told that the captain had radioed ahead and that there would be ground staff there to assist on arrival.

Unfortunately due to fog at DOH the flight was diverted to BAH and eventually arrived 4 hrs late by which time no ground staff were there to assist.

So, connection missed, I then had to pay £20 for a Qatar visa just to collect and re-check my bag ..... oh and rebook a new ticket for a PM flight at my own expense.

All very poor indeed ..... especially when this morning I arrived at the QR desk in AUH for the return leg and asked it they could check my bags through to LHR ...... and they happily did, after the supervisor showed the check in clerk how to do it!

I can understand why they want to do this, but to me they are throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Rather than seriously impacting their customer service and annoying customers, why don't they just levy a charge for combining separate PNRs and checking bags through?

The customer would then continue to get good service whilst the airlines makes some more money. Win-win surely .... cos this is lose-lose, what with many front line staff being dragged into embarrassing situations and having to do additional work to try and overcome the problems caused by a crass policy change.

I'm actually curious about what would really happen in DOH if your flight was on time?

Unfortunately, BA seem to be taking a fairly hard line with this. I believe you were lucky to receive the accommodation you did. See the BA forum thread for more reports:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...e-tickets.html

Yes, so am I. Had the flight arrived about 10 minutes early, as originally predicted, it was probably achievable (just) based on the time it actually took me to clear customs and re-check my bag ..... and this, presumably, would have been expedited if ground staff had fast-tracked me within the normal constraints.

If I am a typical example of the hoops that front line staff are prepared to go through, then it begs the question as to whether this policy is cost effective.

I fully understand the reasons why they see it as problem (EU fares and/or baggage and flight compensation) but as I said in my original post this really is not the way to solve the problem.

Another huge issue I have is the sly way it was implemented. Such a significant change in custom and practice really should have been fully publicised.

Had I been aware of the issue I would have carefully reconsidered the whole booking process, and allowed more time for my connection if necessary - but the significant problems caused BA / One World's flawed decision were exacerbated by my not knowing about it!

As I said in the previous post, surely there is a better way? In terms of dealing with the ex-EU issue, surely they could allow interlining generally but with a specific exception for people who, for example, choose to fly LHR>FRA and then straight away fly FRA>LHR>GRU etc.

Also with the lost baggage/missed connections issue they could simply make it a condition of tagging bags through on separate PNRs that there is no protection and it is at the customer's own risk ...... or they could charge a fee (as you would pay for overweight luggage) for the added benefit of interlining baggage on multiple PNRs, with or without 'protection'.

I really don't think they've thought this through .... and clearly CX have now dropped the policy following a re-evaluation, and other airlines, like QR, seem to be choosing not to implement it a local level.

It appears that this practice also used to apply to BA outstations (maybe it still does - I will find out in CPT in a few weeks time) as two months after the 1st June rule change, BA counter staff at EZE tagged my bag through to MAN even though my EZE>LHR and LHR>MAN flights were on two separate PNRs. At the time the station supervisor commented that it was now more difficult to do (because of new systems) but was able to over-ride the system herself even though the desk agent couldn't. That said, she blamed the new system rather than an explicit change of policy.

Coincidentally, BA customer service have just emailed me about another unconnected issue which occurred on my o/b flight, and they are about to get both barrels over this!

On my usual itinerary, there's been no problem, either before or since the change. Check in at BOS for QR 744 and 668, BOS-DOH-CMB. Show them my separate UL itin (booked completely separately on UL's website) CMB-BKK and they're happy to book my bags all the way through, BOS-DOH-CMB-BKK and issue all the boarding passes. Easy peazy!

DXB-DOH, DOH-LHR-JFK interlining..
 

Hi there,

I have two separate tickets DXB-DOH (QR) and DOH-LHR-JFK (BA). I
was wondering if QR agent in DXB will interline my bag all the way to BOS ?

Are they allowed to do it or is it discretionary on the agent checking me in ?
Most of the time QR agents at DXB are contract employees with very limited
flexibility :-(

F.A.

By the QR policy:-> No. But you can ask.
You will need a passport/visa that allows entry into Qatar to pick up you bags and check in with BA. This takes time.
Open the wiki. There are links to the individual airline threads on this topic

Thanks. Visa is not a problem but was trying to avoid the $25 charge :-)

F.A.

I understand there's an airside facility at DOH where a passenger can ask for their otherwise non-interlined bags to be re-tagged and sent to their onward destination.

Is anyone aware of this? How does one go about it?

Data point: I'm flying now MEL-DOH-JNB on QR (revenue J) connecting to JNB-MAD on IB (Avios J) on a different ticket. QR check-in staff in MEL had no problem to check my luggage all the way to Madrid. She even tried to issue my BP for JNB-MAD but that was about 36h away and she couldn't.

LATAM checked bag through Iberia
 

Thought I would share that I flew EZE>GRU>MAD on Latam yesterday and then had a sep. ticket from MAD>LHR on Iberia. Latam checked my bag all the way through to London for me (I had to ask twice, really nicely but got there in the end!)

Thanks for sharing. Moderator could consider moving this to the combined interlining issues thread and updating the wiki to reflect LA exception in this case...

Bag interlining issues and OW policy changes (Combined threads)

There are on going reports from all airlines that occasional interlining on separate tickets may happen on request. More common at out stations. Many times this is not in accordance with the published airline policy. Cannot be taken as change in official policy.

No combined baggage routing
 

meanwhile I did the trip. In CDG at the AA checkin counter they said it is not possible to combine a baggage routing on two Oneworld tickets. As I insisted and said it is possible she went to the manager who reassured it is not possible.

unfortunately my trip to GRU got delayed in MIA by 4 hours so that we missed our second flight booked with LATAM.

But there This was the only good Oneworld benefit. We received a paper from
AA that it was their fault and LATAM rebooked us to the next
available flight to GIG even though it was a separate but Booked ticket.

Unfortunately the next available flight was
in the evening and we had to kill 8 hours in GRU. No lounge, no shopping mile only a nail studio,
a food court and a red lobster to kill time.

It is possible to through baggage on separate OW tickets, but (some) OW airlines have chosen not to, as per the policy.

oneworld turns 18
 

While we the travelling customers are facing all this additional inconvenience and hassle, what does oneworld CEO Rob Gurney say:

“Many millions of those passengers fly on multi-sector journeys requiring transfers between two or more oneworld member airlines – and this is really what oneworld, or indeed any global alliance, is all about: connecting airline networks together to make it as smooth and as easy as possible for customers to reach many, many more places than any one airline can on its own.”

https://www.oneworld.com/news-inform..._col_count%3D5

And now QR backtracks also.

https://www.ausbt.com.au/qatar-airwa...-baggage-rules

Finally some good news.

"a time-consuming headache which no business traveller needs" is both an extremely accurate description and a slightly understated criticism of OneWorld's consumer unfriendly policy. I hope that QR leads the pack.

From the AA thread

QR thread as well: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qatar...ar-2017-a.html (slightly more comprehensive).

Seeing if I have this right. I will have to get my bag and recheck in MIA, and again in MAD, I am traveling IPT, MIA, MAD, HRL, and then VNO.

I booked a single ticket IPT to VNO on AA, to depart today 15MAR2017. In Monday 13MAR2017 AA canceled the ticket, sent me a text that it was due to projected winter storm, and they were unable to rebook. I was worried as I need to be at a meeting in VNO on 20MAR2017, I tried to book but could not get the trip to go through. I then booked separately for Friday 17MAR2017 MIA to MAD on AA, them MAD to VNO on Finnair. For 36 hours I could not get a seat out of IPT on Friday 17MAR2017, but the AA Explat desk was able to get me a seat late yesterday.

So now I went from one ticket and one record locator to three tickets and three record locators. All on OW carriers, AA sold two of the three tickets, yet it looks, after reading 11 pages of this discussion, that I can't check my one bag from IPT through VNO.

Just posting this to make sure I am not missing something. Thanks.

How you got to 3 tickets is irrelevant
On separate tickets AA will not interline baggage. Nor will AY or IB (from the wiki links)
AA thread http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ne-2016-a.html
You will need passport/visa to enter the countries to get your bags & check in. That takes time

Route http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=i...OR=&MAP-STYLE= (have you got the airport codes correct?)

Open the wiki in this thread

Edit
Route revised IPT-MIA-MAD-HEL-VNO
http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=i...avy&MAP-STYLE=