JDiver

Qatar Airways will again interlink baggage on itineraries on separate PNRs as of 1 March 2017, as long as MCT / Minimum Connection Times are met.

This policy update occurred 23 Feb 2017 in the QR ground operations manual, was found by Australian Business Traveller and verified by a Qatar Airways spokesperson.

See Qatar Airways ditches Oneworld's (sic) restrictive baggage rules (link) by David Flynn, 26 Feb 2017.

As verified by Australian Business Traveller, Qatar Airways is veering away from the oneworld policy introduced in 2016 allowing oneworld airlines to decline interlining baggage for passengers ticketed on separate PNRs (Passenger Name Records). Most one world airlines, including QR, adopted this policy speedily, causing those flying on separate PNRs to recover their baggage at their connection airport falling between PNRs and to check it in with the continuing airline, meaning in some cases retrIrving baggage, having to process immigration and customs officially arriving at an interim international country, rechecking landslide and on those occasions using departure immigration. Highly inconvenient, but often cheaper than having all flights on a single PNR. (Also see Gary Leff's article here.)

Of course, to take best advantage of this, your originating flight must be operated by QR.

E.g. SFO-LAX on AA connecting to QR LAX-DOH-CMB on separate PNRs, AA will check your baggage to LAX, where you must recover landside, transfer it to the QR desks (moving to TBIT later this Spring) and recheck your bags.

If you connect from AA to QR at LHR, AA will require you to process immigration, recover your bags, process customs, arriving in the UK, transferring your baggage as necessary and checking in with QR or other connecting airline - AA, as do most oneworld airlines, will require this as they take advantage of oneworld's interlining ruling to enhance revenue and discourage passengers flying on separate PNRs.

But if you check in with QR as an originating flight and you have separate PNRs at DOH to your destination, even to another oneworld airline, QR will interline your bags as long as you fulfill MCT at DOH - you'll not have to process immigration, recover baggage, process Qatari customs and then again check in for your ongoing flight; merely use the usual transit procedures, as QR will forward your baggage to your ongoing QR or oneworld flight.

oneworld airlines that will through check baggage on separate PNRs:

Cathay Pacific - CX (as of 1 Jan 2017); Japan Airlines -JL as of Oct 2016 Malaysia Airlines - MH (has consistently through checked); Qatar Airways - QR. See Wikipost for this thread in oneworld forum.

I hope this will signal a growing defection of airlines from the passenger unfriendly oneworld interline changes. I know regardless, it incentivises me to fly QR on long multi-sector multi-PNR routes.

Johnnieboy

Thanks for posting that. Just in time for my flights this week, good news!

Lucentis

What about other QR interlining partners, e.g. LH?

LadyB

We through checked our bags on 23/2 KUL-DOH-HEL-LHR flying QR on the KUL-DOH-HEL legs with HEL-LHR on BA, separate tickets. We were asked by the agent at KUL for proof of our BA flights, we showed our BA boarding passes on my phone which we'd got from OLCI whilst in the queue to bag drop for QR.

We checked the status of our bags at each layover, they arrived pretty much first off the belt on arrival at LHR.

plunet

A very welcome development in an age of airlines continually cutting back on genuinely useful passenger services such as interlining. With JAL, CX and now QR reinstating this service, I wonder is this will encourage BA to reconsider their stance on interlining, I would hope so although I won't be surprised if it doesn't.

orbitmic

^ Wait a few more months and BA will be the only ones who don't even through check between separate BA PNRs

obduro

This is excellent news, will take advantage of this on my SYD - MUC return at the end of March as I am travelling onward to LHR shortly afterwards (same day).

hkgg

I have 2 tickets (one with QR and one with CX), connecting from a QR F flight at BKK onto a CX flight to HKG.

The QR flight has 65kg checked allowance, while the CX flight has only 35kg. I'm OWS, so I should get 50kg on the CX connecting flight.

With QR now through checking again, what would happen if I through check 65kg with QR onto CX? How would they charge the excess baggage for the CX flight? Or is it possible at all?

Thanks.

Phil the Flyer

Excellent news - and yet another reason (if any were needed) to fly QR.

Mrs PtF and I are, more and more, combining a short-haul BA flight into/out of LHR with a long-haul QR itinerary via DOH.

So while it would appear that in future QR>BA means no need to collect bags and check-in again at an intermediate airport ^ the same still cannot be said of BA>QR.

d3vski

Yep. I'm doing the same. My flights eastbounds to Asia and south to Africa are on Qatar nowadays.

Although, I'll be honest, I have never had to buy two separate tickets so will never need the interlining facility.

(FYI, I am lucky that my work does not insist I head into work immediately coming off an overnight into Africa hence why I prefer the QR arrivals in the late morning or afternoon compared to an early morning directs from Europe)

remdk

hkgg welcome to FlyerTalk and especially to the QR forum. You may find a useful tool in the dashboard on this forum.

Since the bags are interlined, and I imagine that you will be checked.in for all flights at your origin, then you can expect that IATA resolution 302 will apply to your flights. Since the DOH-BKK is the 'Most Significant Sector' you can expect that QRs baggage allowance will apply for the entire journey.
You do not give enough details about flights to be 100% certain but unless you are flying from an Indo China airport you will cross an IATA area boundary DOH-BKK and have QR baggage allowances.

Look at the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qatar...e-luggage.html widget and you will find a great deal of useful informaton.

hkgg

Thanks for the reply.

So, for separate tickets, the Most Significant Sector rule still applies?

Im flying QR F CAI-DOH-BKK and then on another ticket with CX PEY BKK-HKG.

flyingbubbles

Great news!!

Just in time for my flights from SIN-DOH-MAD connecting to OPO on IB.
Guess I'll probably have to retrieve my bags and check in again at MAD on the way back from LIS though.

Abyssin

Great news !!! for my next flights .

hkgg

So the Most Significant Sector rule also applies to separate tickets?

My itin is QR F CAI-DOH-BKK and then onto CX PEY BKK-HKG (meeting MCT requirements).