Hi everybody,
last month I bought an air ticket from Seattle to Italy and flight back with United airlines.

The flights are with some layovers and my question is about a codeshare flight from Milan to Zurich.

In the first email they sent me about the flight confirmation these are the flight:


"UA 1082 - Seattle, WA (SEA) to New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) on Mon., Jul. 21, 2014
UA 3466 - New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) to Toronto, ON Canada (YYZ) on Mon., Jul. 21, 2014
Flight UA 3466 is operated by SHUTTLE AMERICA DBA UNITED EXPRESS.
UA 8700 - Toronto, ON Canada (YYZ) to Milan, Italy (MXP) on Mon., Jul. 21, 2014 Flight UA 8700 is operated by Air Canada. "

And flight back WITHOUT any flight from Milan to Zurich!!!

"UA 135 - Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) on Sun., Aug. 24, 2014
UA 1151 - New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) to Seattle, WA (SEA) on Sun., Aug. 24, 2014"

And yesterday United sent me an email about a "Codeshare flight ticketing delay" saying:

"This notification is being sent to you because one or more flight segments associated with the confirmation shown above is on a codeshare partner(s). This itinerary will remain in effect for 24 hours through Tue., May. 13, 2014. Once our codeshare partner accepts this reservation your fare will be guaranteed, your ticket will be issued with the form of payment authorized and a receipt will be sent to you."

And here is my flight segments:

"UA 1082 - Seattle, WA (SEA) to New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) on Mon., Jul. 21, 2014
UA 3466 - New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) to Toronto, ON Canada (YYZ) on Mon., Jul. 21, 2014
Flight UA 3466 is operated by SHUTTLE AMERICA DBA UNITED EXPRESS.
UA 8700 - Toronto, ON Canada (YYZ) to Milan, Italy (MXP) on Mon., Jul. 21, 2014 Flight UA 8700 is operated by Air Canada. "

And here the flight back.

"LX 1639 - Milan, Italy (MXP) to Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) on Sun., Aug. 24, 2014
Flight LX 1639 is operated by SWISS EUROPEAN AIR LINES.
UA 135 - Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) to New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) on Sun., Aug. 24, 2014
UA 1151 - New York/Newark, NJ (EWR - Liberty) to Seattle, WA (SEA) on Sun., Aug. 24, 2014"

Now the ghost flight from Milan to Zurich, that I was sure to have bought, appeared!

So, they are all UA flights except the flight LX 1639, in fact on the first flight email confirmation the flight from Milan to Zurich was not listed, and I was wondering about how I could get in Zurich, since I just bought a flight from Seattle to Milan and the flight back.

So, my main questions are:
-what I'm going to experience with that codeshare flight? Is there any issue? What is a codeshare flight? Have I all my rights as every standard flight even if I miss a connection cause some delay from Milan to Zurich?
-what about my luggage? Have I to take my luggage in Zurich and checkin it again?

Thank you for your time!
Have a good day!

Massimo

Since the subject of your post pertains specifically to a UA ticket, I've moved the thread to our United forum where it will likely receive more knowledgable attention.

FlyerTalkers replying to this query are asked to please note that this post originated at the flame-free Information Desk.

Thank you, and best of luck to the poster!

~Moderator, Information Desk

The codeshare flight you have is your UA8700, which is a United flight number on an Air Canada operated plane. A codeshare flight happens when one carrier gives another carrier some inventory on its flight to market. Your LX flight is not a codeshare, it is marketed and operated by Swiss.

It is normal that a carrier issuing a ticket (you have a UA-issued ticket) has to wait for another carrier to approve issuing the ticket with its flight on it (which basically always happens; I wouldn't worry about this unless your fare is "too good to be true"). This is happening for your LX flight because UA isn't marketing (i.e., selling their own inventory on) that flight, so they aren't really the final decider.

UA will wait for Swiss to OK the ticket (which should happen quickly), and you will then get a receipt with a ticket number and all the flights on it. Sometimes this takes a day or two. (I find it odd that your OP implies you got the ticketing delay email a few weeks after you purchased?) If you are worried, check your itinerary online, or call UA.

You don't have anything to worry about. The key thing to remember is that all major carriers operate under international conventions that if one carrier runs late, it is their job to get you to your destination, so if LX doesn't deliver you to ZRH on time and you miss the UA flight, it is LX's job to get you to SEA: an LX agent should rebook you on available space on some carrier to get you to SEA on some route (don't let them send you to UA to solve the problem).

You will be able to check your luggage all the way through, and will not need to claim it until EWR customs (where you then recheck to SEA without retagging).