BNEpilot

I flew TK from VIE to IST in Economy.
Even though this was a short international flight it landed in the Domestic Airport. I had a connection on to an Emirates flight to Australia and only had two hours to collect my baggage and check in for the Emirates Flight.

IST Passport Control and Customs requires a visa to exit Passport Control and pick up my baggage from the carousel before checking it in for the Emirates flight. This is because we landed in the Domestic Airport. The international Terminal doesn't require a visa for transiting PAX.

After talking to five different TK Staff who either DGAF or couldn't care less they finally told me to go to the INTL Terminal, board my flight, then file a Delayed Baggage Claim when I landed in PER.

I did this and my bags arrived two days later.

Am i entitled to compensation from TK?

Dnata would not deliver my bags from PER. I had to pay $60 delivery charge for the late delivered luggage.

MichaelBaku

Were you on 2 separate tickets? If you need to collect your bags at IST and re-check them, you have no alternative but to go thru immigration. Baggage collection is AFTER immigration and unless your bags could be checked thru to Australia from VIE then immigration, baggage collection and re-checking in with EK is the way to go.....and 2 hours connection time is cutting it very fine indeed in IST to do something like this. Why do you think TK should compensate you? I can't see they did anything wrong unless I'm misunderstanding the situation.

airoli

Something doesn't add up here.

A VIE-IST flight cannot land at the "domestic airport", since it is international. If it had indeed arrived at domestic, you would not have encountered any passport control and walked straight to the baggage claim.

So you arrived at the international terminal, as you should.

Then, as MichaelBaku correctly points out, if you did not check your bags through (interline TK-EK) from VIE to PER, by necessity you will have to claim and re-check them in IST. And by necessity, as in any other international airport I know, baggage claim in IST is after immigration - meaning that you need whatever paperwork is required to clear it.

In short, it seems like TK did nothing wrong at all, you did. And you should not be entitled to any compensation, but be glad that EK at least allowed you to have your bags follow you on later flights at no cost.

BNEpilot

The VIE - IST flight landed at the Domestic Terminal. When i exited the plane there was a ramp with a Turkish Airlines rep who would not let me enter the upper International Terminal concourse without a boarding pass.

yes, travelling on two separate tickets. I would have had to obtain an Evisa, clear passport control and customs, pickuo my luggage from the domestic terminal then check in for the EK flight to IST>DXB>PER>BNE.

Two hours was not enough time. The Turkish Airlines staff repeatedly gave me incorrect information. The IST Airport website implies that i do not need en Evisa for transit but as we landed in the Domestic Terminal this seems incorrect.

I agree its a fine line who is at fault. Maybe TK owes me no compensation. After 32+ phone calls to TK over two days TK did forward my luggage on to BNE. Dnata did not agree to send the luggage to my home, so i incurred another $60 charge for delivery.

MichaelBaku

It is possible that the plane parked at the domestic terminal but TK wouldn't let you enter the International departures area without a boarding pass. TK often park at the domestic terminal and bus you to the door that takes you up to Int arrivals or Transit. That's normal. you should have been directed to arrivals and thru immigration. 2 hours was not enough time as you say but when travelling on separate tickets, you have to give yourself enough time to enter Turkey, collect bags, re-check and then back thru to Intl departures. There's no fine line here. And agree with *airoli*, you are very lucky your bags are not still at IST waiting for you to collect them. $60 delivery was a good deal in these circumstances IMO. Travelling on sep tickets can make your trip cheaper but it's fraught with pitfalls. When I do this at IST, I allow myself in the region of 4 hours. Yes, it's a pain hanging around and maybe I'm overcautious but it gives for a relatively stress free connection. IST can be a bit of a bear garden at busy times. Anyway, it seems it all came out fine in the end for you.

BNEpilot

You guys have been a great help. Now that I think about i MUST have been at the International Terminal Arrivals Area and not a Domestic Terminal.

Reading here: http://www.ataturkairport.com/mobile...aspx&type=Page

My mistake seems to have been not going to the Transit Desk and having the airline (or most likely a contractor) check my bags thru to BNE on EK (without me actually obtaining the bags). The transfer desk printed my boarding passes so they must have some manual process for collecting the luggage from the separately ticketed VIE to IST leg and then check it in on EK for the rest of my ticket to Australia.

airoli

If you arrive from VIE (a "clean" EU destination), you can go directly from your plane up the jetbridge into international departures if you have an onward boarding pass in hand. Given that you were travelling on 2 separate tickets, by non-partner airlines, you did not have that.

Consequently, you were directed down into international transit, where you can get an EK boarding pass at the transit desk and then go through transit security without having to clear immigration and security. However, this still only works if you have no checked luggage, or your luggage was tagged at VIE all the way to your final destination.

No, they do not. And it's really not their job, either.

If you book 2 separate tickets on non-partner airlines (TK / EK), likely even without interline bag agreement, and you do not manage to get the check-in agent at your departure airport (VIE) to properly tag your bags to the final destination, then it is your responsibility to claim them landside at your connecting airport (IST) and re-check them with the next airline (EK).

There is no fine line. Neither TK or EK did anything wrong.

craigthemif

The OP is really quite lucky here, after showing some truly over-entitled behaviour and a lack of any sort of advance research.

1. If you buy a ticket from VIE - IST, you need to collect your luggage in IST and abide by any and all regulations for entering the country. Luckily there is still a visa on arrival facility at IST or you could still be in VIE due to incorrect documentation. A separate ticket is practically irrelevant to TK, since you could miss that connecting flight and be unable to exit the airport, making TK responsible for returning you to VIE.

2. If you choose to abandon your luggage in any airport, you should never be surprised if that luggage just sits there and is eventually thrown away. That EK agreed to deliver a suitcase that was never handed over to them for safekeeping... I'm simply amazed! And A$60 is a bargain for shipping a suitcase from Europe to Australia door-to-door.

Compensation? I suspect that the OP is closer to being banned from one or both airlines.

lento

When you are in two separate tickets, you are "officially" NOT on transit. Lucky that you were flying to a country where visa is available on arrival, you could have been denied boarding at VIE (if you were changing flight where visa on arrival is unavailable for your passport).

Often1

OP did not transit IST. He bought a ticket to IST and then a second ticket from IST on another carrier. He could not check his bag through and no matter where he deplaned, he would have had to claim and then check his bag with his new carrier.

He is not entitled to any compensation and should send a note to TK thanking them for forwarding his bag when they had no obligation to do so.

BNEpilot

I followed the Turkish Airport instructions on their website.
http://www.ataturkairport.com/en-EN/preflight/Pages/Transfer.aspx


"Transfer PassengersInternational Transfer Passengers With An International Connection Flight) A boarding card is issued for the passenger (if not issued in the country of origin) at the transit desk of the relevant handling company on the Arrivals floor. The passenger does not go through passport control. Instead, he/she directly proceeds through the transit area into the International Departures area. Baggage will be automatically transferred to the connecting flight."

This means the Transfer Agent who printed my boarding passes was responsible for rechecking my baggage on to BNE on my EK Flight.

MichaelBaku

No it doesn't. As has previously been explained to you, if you are on 2 separate tickets, you will have to collect your bags at the arrival point of the first ticket. This is unless you can get the original (VIE) check in agent to check your bags thru to you final destination. Did you ask them to do this?Thru checking of bags on separate tickets is becoming rarer and rarer especially across 2 different airlines. The transfer desk will only issue you with an onward boarding pass and do not get involved with transferring your bags which will go thru the system and appear in the baggage hall. Your bags were tagged to IST (correctly) because that was your ticketed destination. What do you expect IST employees to do? Maybe go down into the baggage system and haul out your bag and re-tag it? It ain't going to happen.

lento

You were not transfer or connecting passenger.
Your final destination was Turkey. Then you started your new journey from there.

hfly

BNE, sorry, you were wrong, wrong again and wrong again now. Had you been on one ticket or PNR you would have been correct, but you were not. You were not at the domestic terminal, and you would have been in the exact same situation at any airport in the World.