KA baggage allowance on UA ticket originating from USA
 

Hi,
I booked an international round-trip on United.com originating from US location to a third country via HKG. US to HKG is UA, HKG to the final destination is KA with 23 hr layover at HKG. Only after issuing the tickets did United tell me that the checked bags will come out at HKG and need to be rechecked with KA even though it is single itinerary and less than 24 hours.

Now, I am wondering if anybody knows what will be the baggage allowance for my KA flight in this case? I asked United and Dragonair but they give different answers.

As United Premier Gold, as I understand allowance should be 2 x 70lb when checking at United counter in USA. But will KA honor this at HKG for rechecking at second leg? Reading their website (http://www.dragonair.com/ka/en_IN/tr...n-baggage.html) it seems they honor the MSC/FMC allowance (which is UA in this case), but the telephone agent does not seem to agree. The eticket receipt says 1 x 50lb free for all legs, 2nd bag 50lb $100.

Any experience? Thanks in advance.

KA will likely not honor the UA elite bag waiver but is required to honor the standard bag allowance (which will vary based on the destination).

It is common for bags have to be rechecked for connections > 12 hours or overnight. It is worth trying to check thru but do not be surprised if denied.

US law requires that the allowance for the marketing carrier of the first segment applies to all segments of the same ticket. The allowance for the first segment is one bag at 50 lbs. Additional weight and pieces is a waiver and has no effect on downstream carriers.

Thus, at a minimum, you can expect KA to collect the overage. At worst, KA won't honor or understand the DOT rule. KA doesn't operate in the US, so there really isn't much that DOT can or will do.

why would checked bags come out at HKG if all on one tag to the final destination?

Personally, I don't think you will have a hard time getting 2 x 50lb. This is the standard Y allowance for CX, KA's parent.

Never expect your elite benefit can be crossed over.

Within Asia, it's 20 kg. However, I recently did SFO-HKG-PVG with HKG-PVG on KA the following day and the agent could see I came from San Francisco and gave me the CX allowance for US-Asia (2x 50lbs).

because of United's unwillingness to help...
 

Sorry for replying after a decade .. but the bags indeed came out at HKG (because of United's unwillingness to transfer), however the check-in counter was already open for the next leg (albeit the flight was after 23 hours). So, I dragged the bags from the baggage claim belts to the check in counter and checked in without further issue (I carried only 50lb x 2, not 70lb). The funniest part was - United claimed they do not transfer the bags because HKG does not allow overnight storage of bags due to security, which was clearly a lie, because Dragon Air took it immediately and kept it overnight. (Only difference was I had to go through extra hassle of dragging from baggage claim to the check in counter in different floor, instead of United doing its job.)

It's wasn't necessarily United's job. In any case, it worked out, albeit with a little hassle.

That is funny. I was once met at the gate at HKG by a UA agent following a late arrival which had caused a miss . . . agent said they would be storing my bags overnight for my (rescheduled) onward connection to BKK the next morning, and if I wanted them back it would take about 3 hours to retrieve them.

Actually UA's stated policy is not to check thru if >13 hours or overnight (and was in 2015),

but that discussion is best continued in http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...solidated.html

Because of KA doing it does not make UA lying.

Misconnecting and them keeping the bags to check on a new connection is completely different then trying to check through on a scheduled long or overnight connection.

This. UAs policy is not to check in on long connections. That the OP was able to check bags immediately at KA counter for connection doesn't change this - appears that KAs policy is different. If this was the other way around, UA would not have accepted the bag - beleive they won't accept it prior to 4 hours before flight time (I think there are exceptions, like using the counter at central HKG train station as opposed to airport).

As to KA using the UA policy for checked bags based on the TPAC portion, this is SOP and required. IATA MSC rules for itineraries from/to the US require the entire itinerary to get the bag allowance based on rules of the marketing carrier of the first flight but based on the itinerary destination. Therefore KA was correct to allow 2 bags at 50 lbs assuming this is what UA allows - note that elite waivers aren't considered, so OP almost certainly would have been charged overweight fee had they brought it to KA counter and they were 70lbs.

Suggest you try reading more carefully. I was responding to the quoted statement by a UA agent that:

That statement - which was offered to OP as the excuse for not checking through - is absolutely false. As evidenced by the fact that HKIA clearly allowed overnight storage of mine. (And that CX/KA will absolutely hold bags overnight.)

Also, as the regulars here all know, UA will in fact check bags through for longer than its published policy states (overnight and/or more than 12 hours). What's required is an agent who's actually interested in providing customer service rather than one who enjoys saying "no."