Which airline baggage rules apply (complex question)
Sep 13, 2011, 9:22 pm
#16
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Sep 14, 2011, 1:28 am
#17
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Absolutely not, though often it happens to be the longest segment so it can give that impression! In short the MSC is the airline flying the sector that is the first to cross an IATA area or subarea, and for trips within a single IATA area the airline flying the first international sector ... it is of course more complicated than that. For greater detail see for example http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/qanta...effect-qf.html
But it looks like for garyschmitt, the US exception will apply to him if the US is his destination, so whatever the first operating carrier is sets the rules. Hopefully that clears things up for you, Gary.
Sep 14, 2011, 6:08 pm
#18
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I spoke to a travel agent, who then said that "it's a LH flight", and that therefore LH rules apply, and therefore only one bag allowed. It's difficult to accept that though, considering the US DOT rules saying it's all based on the first flight, and the SN and LH websites both saying it's the "operator" of the flight that's significant.
Sep 14, 2011, 6:28 pm
#19
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I spoke to a travel agent, who then said that "it's a LH flight", and that therefore LH rules apply, and therefore only one bag allowed. It's difficult to accept that though, considering the US DOT rules saying it's all based on the first flight, and the SN and LH websites both saying it's the "operator" of the flight that's significant.
Sep 18, 2011, 10:57 am
#20
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I spoke to a travel agent, who then said that "it's a LH flight", and that therefore LH rules apply, and therefore only one bag allowed. It's difficult to accept that though, considering the US DOT rules saying it's all based on the first flight, and the SN and LH websites both saying it's the "operator" of the flight that's significant.
It's also worth looking at how all of this affects faring. If you can save $1,000 in airfare and be required to pay $300 in excess baggage, it's worth it. If you get the second bag without fee, but the fare is $1,000 higher, it wasn't really "free."
Sep 18, 2011, 11:11 pm
#21
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The TA may be dead bang wrong. There is only one way for you to answer your own question and that is to carefully read the IATA rules (check IATA website) which became effective in April 2011 on MSC. Your TA gave you the easy answer which is usually correct, but may or may not be in this case. Because excess baggage charges on intl segments can be grotesquely high, this is something worth figuring out in advance, printing out, confirming with the carrier with which you will physically check your bags and having them note in your record.
It's also worth looking at how all of this affects faring. If you can save $1,000 in airfare and be required to pay $300 in excess baggage, it's worth it. If you get the second bag without fee, but the fare is $1,000 higher, it wasn't really "free."
It's also worth looking at how all of this affects faring. If you can save $1,000 in airfare and be required to pay $300 in excess baggage, it's worth it. If you get the second bag without fee, but the fare is $1,000 higher, it wasn't really "free."
If certain airline services is worth more for the ticket, then its worth considering whether that differentiation in services and marketing is worth paying more for..