gleff

I booked a SYD-MEL one-way flight for my upcoming trip (I fly MEL-LAX in F the next day).

The ticket is a red e-deal. So I'll be in coach for the short hop. I notice that QF allows only one checked bag and 2 carryons in WHY.

Since my fiance and I will be on our honeymoon and will be traveling for nearly 3 weeks in different climates (French Polynesia and SYD in June) I'm sure we'll have more than a bag apiece. I'm sure we'll have three bags total, one that we view as our normal carryon and two that we'd otherwise check. So maybe we'll be fine checking one and carrying on two.

But any idea what QF charges for an extra checked bag if it's too heavy to meet their carryon rules?

I couldn't find pricing on the website.

I haven't flown Australia domestic since a J flight on Ansett, CNS-SYD, about 4 years ago. But I remember Ansett as being particularly sticky with baggage weight. Is QF pretty strict?

Also, when booking the red e-deal I wasn't given an option to select seats. Can I ring up QF? Or do I have to wait until airport?

Thanks!

gleff

Oh, one more question.

When I return to the US I'll be on MEL-LAX in F. Flight arrives 7:30am.

On a separate ticket I'll be flying SEA-LAX-SEA on AS in F which I haven't booked yet.

* Will QF check my bags all the way to SEA, even though the LAX-SEA flight is on AS on a separate ticket?
* Since this answers whether I can just pick up my bag, walk through customs, and drop my bag off or not it'll impact the amount of time I need in LAX. Trying to decide between 2hrs and 3hrs at LAX. Is 2 hrs sufficient?

Thanks for any input, advice.

Best,
Gary

Dave Noble

"The ticket is a red e-deal. So I'll be in coach for the short hop. I notice that QF allows only one checked bag and 2 carryons in WHY."

Indeed

"But any idea what QF charges for an extra checked bag if it's too heavy to meet their carryon rules?"

It's rare that they would charge for 1 piece over anyway, but if they did it would be AUD11 ; hardly anything to get worried about

"I haven't flown Australia domestic since a J flight on Ansett, CNS-SYD, about 4 years ago. But I remember Ansett as being particularly sticky with baggage weight. Is QF pretty strict?"

Fortunately , they can be

"Also, when booking the red e-deal I wasn't given an option to select seats. Can I ring up QF? Or do I have to wait until airport? "

You cannot select seats for QF Domestic flights QF400 and above until day of depature

QF can check your bags through onto Alaskan but they are not obligated to do so; I would be surprised if they didn't

Dave

gleff

AU$11? Okay, I'm not going to plan the way we pack for the whole trip around an extra bag charge then!

And if no assigned seats prior to date of departure, then that's fine.. I won't worry too much if everyone is in the same boat, we shouldn't have difficulty getting seats together on a 767.

Thanks!

nonce

I can't see QF getting too picky about an extra bag or two on SYD-MEL. Just remember the maximum weight of a single piece cannot exceed 32kg due to occupational health and safety requirements. The 7kg weight for carry on is either enforced strictly or not at all, so this can be a bit touch and go. Some flights I get away with over 9kg and others the carry on bag has come it at 7.2kg and has had to be checked.

If you booked your seats on the same booking QF will make every effort to automatically seat you together. Having travelled with the US style of pre-allocation and the Australian style of computerised allocation the QF system works surprisingly well at not splitting people travelling together apart.

I have transferred from QF to AS in LAX (T4 to T3 and TBI to T3) on a number of occasions and this process can take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes depending on a number of factors. I would probably take the 3 hour option to play it safe.

deeruck

Don't worry about this! It's not one big pool of seats that everyone takes a pick from! Overnight the QF computer allocates the seating, using QF frequent flyers preferences, then allocates seating for everyone else. Changes to your seating can be made when you check-in (ask for exit-row), but your allocated seats will be together if you booked them together. If you booked them seperately, just ring QF before the day you fly, and they'll link the two bookings (there's a code, but I can't remember what it is).

HW

Having travelled this sequence many times, anything can and will impact your ability to get from your QF aircraft to the AS gate. On the plus side, you can be the first aircraft into LAX in the morning, be the first in immigration and be at your AS gate within 30 minutes. On the minus side, your QF flight may be late in (headwinds, delayed departure), you could be at the back of 2 aircraft's worth of immigration queues, the customs clearance snakes around the carousels, the end of the AS checkin line is who-knows-where, and the AS security line is out the door. And to make matters worse, if you clear customs within a certain period prior to the planned AS takeoff, you can't dump your luggage on the conveyor belt at the international terminal, you need to lug it around to AS and check it in - why this is faster for the airline is beyond me. More often that not it has taken me well over an hour to get from point A (QF aircraft docks) to point B (sitting in that horribly humid and unimpressive AS LAX gate area).

number_6

2 hours is plenty for the LAX connection -- you can do it in 60 minutes 99% of the time, particularly arriving in F on QF at 7:30 am (I'm averaging 15 minutes from deplaning to being curbside at LAX after clearing customs). The long wait occurs if you are not US citizen and get caught behind an Aeroflot arrival or similar; no danger of that for you, I think. I've never flown AS out of LAX but haven't seen huge lines at T3 unlike T1 or T2. Too bad you no longer get T3 lounge access from your F ticket; definitely incentive to book the earlier flight, you will still have an hour to spare.

wallaby

I think if you mention that you are flying F trans-Pacific the next day they would be quite flexible regarding your extra bag!

goosegreen

Just found this on QF's website:

"For international travel, a passenger using Qantas or QantasLink connecting services is entitled to the applicable international free baggage allowance."

Dave Noble

The poster isn't on a connecting service though; he has 2 separate tickets

Dave