Dean1953

I’m flying 2 weeks from today Kansas City to Seattle. It’s the last flight of the day and has 1 stop in Phoenix but no plane change. I’m flying out the next morning on Singapore airlines to Chiangmai Thailand through Singapore and Bangkok. The reason for the last flight of the day to Seattle is that I’m just going to wait at the airport and hopefully get some sleep on my 16 hour flight to Singapore. Assuming that I make it to Seattle but my bags don’t, I have assurances from a Southwest call agent that Southwest will get my bags to Chiangmai. Has anyone had this predicament and did Southwest actually ship their bags to their final destination that was not on Southwest Airlines and half a world away?

joshua362

No, but I really find that really, really hard to believe they'll do that.

With no plane change, your odds of the bag not making it are really, really low assuming you get the bag loaded at KC. Get there in plenty of time. I flew WN out of KC monthly for almost 20 years, alawys checked 1 or 2 bags and never had a problem.

Good luck

NoStressHere

I think your chances of the bag arriving with you on WN in SEA is very high. Very, very high.

What worries me more is spending the night in the airport, then getting on a 16 hr flight. I am almost too worn out to even type this.

Also - what is your plan if the "last flight of the day" gets cancelled?

Since SWA does not have interline agreements, not sure how they are going to get your bag on that plane if it comes to that?

LegalTender

Pretty sure you'd need to present your bags for check-in at Singapore Airlines at SEA. Arriving Thailand without them seems untenable. Customs snags inevitable.

I'd call Singapore Airlines before leaving MCI and follow their guidance.

zachary

I have no experience on an international flight like one to Thailand. I did one time have a bag not show up in Phoenix when I was on my way to the Grand Canyon. WN put the bag on a US Airways flight to Flagstaff, where I picked it up. I negotiated that before I left the baggage service office in PHX.

This was obviously a long time ago -- before the AA/US Airways merger.

Dean1953

I’ve done this for 20 years but usually do it through LAX and never until now through Seattle. Usually, the transpacific flight was after midnight or at 1-2 in the afternoon and the MCI to LAX route had several non stops and I left myself plenty of time to take another flight on Southwest (it never happened). If I have enough time in advance of any cancellation, I can fly in the afternoon or morning, if I have to. If there is a cancellation close to departure, I’ll be on the phone with Singapore to change the flight to the next available day. I’ll be in Thailand for 2 months, so a couple of days won’t make much difference.
The itinerary is a killer. Spending a night in Seattle is bad but spending the next night at Singapore airport makes it a killer. Once I get to my house in Chiangmai, I’ll probably sleep for 24 hours

djp98374

what time is the departure to Thailand?

that MCI-PHX-SEA is a 1 am arrival.

Seattle airport design make it have some of the easiest to access hoteks of any airport. It doesn't have an airport hotel but has a crowne plaza, full Hilton, full Marriott, Radisson, and a few others that are under 10 min walk from baggage claim.

look at maybe a different route. Fly direct on AS.

you should not lose your luggage ifyou get to the airport early enough.

with southwest….because this is a continuation flight you run the risk of if there is a delay thry run the PHX-SEA route without you. It’s happened to me multiple times.

Dean1953

The flight to Singapore leaves at 10:20 AM. I wouldn’t be able to get to sleep until 2:30 at the earliest and have to be back at airport by 7:30 AM. I don’t think that it’s worth it for 4-5 hours at a hotel. If I have trouble sleeping on the flight, I’ll take one of the mild sleeping pills that my Doctor prescribed for me. I’m hoping to save the pill for Changi airport, so I can get on Thailand time sleeping patterns. It usually takes me 3-4 days to totally adjust to the 12 hour time difference.
The reason why I took the direct flight from KC to Phoenix to Seattle is that there is no plane change. I don’t change planes, nor do my bags. I can’t imagine under those circumstances that Southwest would lose the bags, then send them to Chiangmai as I was told. I was just curious if anyone else did have their checked luggage sent to their final destination, even though it was halfway around the world and on another carrier.

NoStressHere

No idea what "type" of ticket you have with Singapore Air. Can you change to next day without a charge if something happens?

Personally, I would fly ot Seattle mid day, and get a good meal and sleep at a nearby hotel. Remove the chances of delayed flights. Get some sleep,etc.

As said, my personal thoughts, you have done this enough to know what works for you.

I would make another call to SWA and see if they will check your bag through to Singapore Air.

Dean1953

I’ll try calling Southwest to see if they can check the bags through to either Bangkok on Singapore or through to Chiangmai on both Singapore and Thai Airways. Otherwise, I have to check them in KC, then Seattle and finally at Bangkok. Both bags will be near 50 pounds but I’ll bet that I get 3 different readings at KC, Seattle and Bangkok check ins .

jjbiv

There is zero chance Southwest will check your bags beyond Seattle.

Dean1953

But Singapore Airlines and Thai airways are members of the Star Alliance. At Seattle, they might check my bags through to Chiangmai. I don’t really care if I have to check them again at Seattle, as long as Southwest gets them to Chiangmai if they are lost, as they promised.

jjbiv

If your bags are lost, Southwest will deliver them to Singapore Airlines at SEA. Southwest is very clear about what they are and what they are not. They will get your bags to your final Southwest destination but they don't want any part of connecting bags to another carrier on a separate international itinerary. That simply isn't their business model (at least not yet). I'm floored a WN employee told you they would gets your bags to Thailand. Good luck with that if it comes down to it! As long as everything goes smoothly, you will have a nice trip. Beyond that, it is good you have flexible travel plans and hopefully SQ is accommodating if you need to change them.

What happens to your bags after Seattle is up to SQ. Knowing Singapore, they will get them to you as best as they can.

smmrfld

Southwest will absolutely not take any responsibility past SEA. Best to either change your plans or have an alternate plan in place.

m907

I think OP is fretting way too much.