colorafred

My family and I are moving to Adelaide (from Denver) for one year. Our flights are ticketed by United all the way there: DEN->LAX->MEL->ADL, with the last leg on Jetstar. As a Mileage Plus Gold member, all my family is entitled to 2 pieces of baggage free of charge. That's great.
I am worried about the transfer in MEL though. I understand our baggage are tagged all the way through, but it seems we'll still have to collect them when exiting the international terminal and then re-check them with Jetstar. Is that correct? If that's the case, could Jetstar charge us an arm and a leg for excess luggage on the last leg?
Can anyone share their experience connecting in MEL between United and Jetstar (on the same ticket)? Thanks in advance.

SeriouslyLost

Yes, you'll need to collect the bags when you go from Intl to domestic. If it's a single ticket then in theory Jetstar should honour the first carrier baggage policy. You might have to argue the point with them though; Depends entirely on who you get at the counter.

colorafred

Thanks for the reply, SeriouslyLost. I figured I could call upon the first carrier baggage policy and the fact that United and Jetstar are partner airlines. But this is still a bit daunting to just wait and see. I hate to imagine the scene at the counter. Did anyone out there actually go through that transfer? I imagine it's not that uncommon. Did you encounter any problems? Thanks!

Mwenenzi

As MEL is your entry into Australia you go through immigration, customs & quarantine.
Collect you baggage and go upstairs and to the left to the JQ check in area. A 3 minute walk.

United and Jestar are not partner airlines. Jetstar is a low cost carrier owned by Qantas.
UA is just being a travel agent in selling you a ticket to Adelaide.
UA Mileage Plus Gold member means absolutely nothing to JQ (or QF).
If UA have not bought you a fare with a bundle (baggage) you are out of luck.
Look at the www.jetstar.com web site and make a dummy booking.
Even if JQ accepts your checked baggage, you will be subject to the JQ carry on limits. These are a lot less than for USA based airlines

http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/plannin...hecked-baggage
http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/plannin...rry-on-baggage

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

what Mwenenzi said.

There is zero co-operation between Jetstar and any other airline when it comes to any baggage or status benefits. The only thing Qantas elites get is lounge access before a Jetstar flight - nothing else.

colorafred

"If UA have not bought you a fare with a bundle (baggage) you are out of luck."

I checked again with United. They say they do have a baggage agreement in place and the baggage will be tagged all the way to ADL. So technically, we won't have to check our luggage again. On the Jetstar website, at least as far as baggage are concerned, there seems to be an agreement with United, see the list of partner airlines at the bottom of the page: http://www.jetstar.com/us/en/plannin...gage-transfers

This being said, my experience flying two separate airlines on the same ticket has been that I needed to get at least my boarding pass at one of the second airline counters or the gate. Often (but not always), they replace the tags on the luggage at the same time to use their own system... and that's where I am afraid things could get hairy.

Mwenenzi

It may be tagged, but you will have to pick them up and drop off at JQ. They will check if you(UA) have paid for (23kg?) baggage as part of the ticket when you check in. And likely put a JQ tag on it. UA cannot check you into the JQ flight

From your JQ link
You are not connecting from an international JQ flight

You are putting too much faith & trust with UA
Here is Australia we know how they operate.

When are the flights?
After your trip please report back on how it went.

number_6

The catch is that the page you reference is about JQ International connections to UA ... helpful if you were flying JQ to Bali or Singapore from MEL but not applicable to ADL unfortunately. So you will have to carry your bags to the JQ counter, meet their very strict cutoff time for baggage check-in, and argue about the entitled allowance. JQ is an LCC, so charging for baggage is a big part of their revenue. UA should have booked you on QF which would avoid this problem as QF will accept the IATA allowances. Presumably UA got a cheaper price from JQ than for QF MEL-ADL

colorafred

Will do, although it is safe to say that we will take some steps to reduce the amount of baggage we'll take with us. Our flight is on June 26th (in MEL). We know someone in MEL that might be able to drop by the Jetstar counter ahead of time and ask someone there... If worst comes to worst, is there a way to store luggage at the airport? Or some kind of forwarding service that would be cheaper than a ridiculous (per kg) charge. ADL is not too far from MEL.

Mwenenzi

Would be best if you purchased a greater luggage allowance now. Costs a lot more at the airport.

MEL to ADL is a days drive.
You will not find a forwarding service at the airport passenger terminals

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

The other option is perhaps you (or one of you) could discard the last Jetstar flight and purchase a ticket on Qantas? Fares can be pretty cheap (AUD89 or less one way) and excess baggage is just AUD30 per piece pre-paid (up to 23kg each). One of you could fly and take the extra bags fairly cheaply, but you'd need to do a cost comparison.

I'm not sure if there's any point sending out the family friend to MEL airport to check Jetstar baggage prices. You can find all the information you need on line... and parking is very expensive out there even for a short term park (less than an hour).

bwwt

You could try phoning UA and getting the Jetstar booking reference? Then you'd be able to see what info JQ has?

colorafred

A colleague of mine dropped by the Jetstar counter. The person at the counter went straight to the Jetstar confirmation number and stated what is allowed by the Jetstar fare (23kg per person in cargo / 7kg per person carry-on). So I guess we'll be traveling light. Still weird this disconnect between what United and Jetstar say. From my perspective, my booking was completely transparent to the Jetstar requirement... but we all know better of course.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

Even 23kg is strange as it doesn't fit with any stated Jetstar luggage allowance. On fares which include baggage as part of the price, the max is 20kg (three kg short of what your colleague was told).

Maybe they are carrying through some sort of allowance from UA... ie one piece at the international allowance (23kg)?

Mwenenzi

You can buy more than 20kg (or 15kg) when buying a JQ ticket.
Or buy more via the JQ web site before check in: is cheaper than buying at the airport.
http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/plannin...hecked-baggage
JQ will enforce the check in baggage weight and may/may not strictly enforce the carry on weight.