UA Award ticket booked Economy X Light on Swiss? Bag allowance?
Jul 2, 2018, 9:28 pm
#1
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UA Award ticket booked Economy X Light on Swiss? Bag allowance?
Hi FlyerTalk,
This is my first post. I booked an award ticket on Swiss via United MP - no status. I was put in Economy X and when I check my booking on Swiss.com, I am in Economy Light. I am traveling with two small children and this means no checked baggage for us! Fortunately my husband booked via Chase Rewards and got Economy L, so he'll check one bag for all of us. Is this the new normal? I've often booked Austrian and Lufthansa in the past and never had this problem.
Flying JFK-ZRH-VIE
Thanks!
This is my first post. I booked an award ticket on Swiss via United MP - no status. I was put in Economy X and when I check my booking on Swiss.com, I am in Economy Light. I am traveling with two small children and this means no checked baggage for us! Fortunately my husband booked via Chase Rewards and got Economy L, so he'll check one bag for all of us. Is this the new normal? I've often booked Austrian and Lufthansa in the past and never had this problem.
Flying JFK-ZRH-VIE
Thanks!
Jul 2, 2018, 11:21 pm
#2
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I wouldn’t be surprised if Economy award tickets eventually become Light fares, but I’d expect (a) an announcement and (b) a big notification of that during the booking process.
Jul 3, 2018, 2:17 am
#3
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I would call Swiss directly and see what they tell you. Baggage guidance on Swiss awards (even in the Swiss documentation itself) is frequently wrong. The last business class award I booked with Swiss showed no free baggage allowance at all which was not correct.
Jul 3, 2018, 5:16 am
#4
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Unfortunately the booking class doesn't say anything anymore these days, as you can get both Economy Light and Flex Economy in the same booking class. As the others have advised, check the receipt, or call Swiss directly.
Jul 3, 2018, 6:42 am
#5
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If that's the case United is failing to comply with the DOT's passenger protections directive of January 2012. The passenger has a U.S. origin (or destination). It's a United ticket. DOT rules apply. UA is responsible for stating the baggage allowance on the ticket receipt.
Jul 3, 2018, 7:23 am
#6
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re: "B": Why? You can book plenty of revenue tickets on United.com today with zero warning or notification that it's a "light" fare on the LH group carriers. As far as I'm concerned a notification should be required but it's not and United has continued to do this since LH group introduced those fares years ago.
-RM
Jul 3, 2018, 11:29 am
#9
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If that's the case United is failing to comply with the DOT's passenger protections directive of January 2012. The passenger has a U.S. origin (or destination). It's a United ticket. DOT rules apply. UA is responsible for stating the baggage allowance on the ticket receipt.
But the bag allowance reporting by LX has been an issue in the past and hopefully that is what is happening here.
Jul 3, 2018, 11:47 am
#10
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Aside from that, baggage allowances are (usually) explicitly encoded on the eTicket at the time of ticketing. I'm pretty sure the allowance on United's eTicket display is decoding that. It would be pretty risky for a carrier to offer a less generous policy than what is encoded on the ticket given the DOT's rule. Plus, in some situations only the ticketing carrier is guaranteed to have a complete view of the itinerary in order to determine what rules might apply.
Last edited by Sykes; Jul 3, 2018 at 11:56 am
Jul 3, 2018, 12:24 pm
#11
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re: "A": I totally agree.
re: "B": Why? You can book plenty of revenue tickets on United.com today with zero warning or notification that it's a "light" fare on the LH group carriers. As far as I'm concerned a notification should be required but it's not and United has continued to do this since LH group introduced those fares years ago.
-RM
re: "B": Why? You can book plenty of revenue tickets on United.com today with zero warning or notification that it's a "light" fare on the LH group carriers. As far as I'm concerned a notification should be required but it's not and United has continued to do this since LH group introduced those fares years ago.
-RM
Even for flights that aren’t part of the JV, it seems a “I’ll scratch your back; you scratch mine” sort of situation.
Jul 3, 2018, 12:34 pm
#12
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This is true, but the DOT also requires accurate disclosure of baggage allowances and fees at the point of sale. ("To meet the requirements implicit in 49 U.S.C. § 41712 with respect to internet advertisements, air carriers and foreign air carriers should place a notice regarding the above-described additional baggage charges on the first screen in which the carrier offers a fare quotation of a specific itinerary selected by a consumer.") In the event that there is a discrepancy between what is shown at the point of sale and what the marketing carrier actually allows, then logic dictates that the more generous policy should probably apply.
Aside from that, baggage allowances are (usually) explicitly encoded on the eTicket at the time of ticketing. I'm pretty sure the allowance on United's eTicket display is decoding that. It would be pretty risky for a carrier to offer a less generous policy than what is encoded on the ticket given the DOT's rule. Plus, in some situations only the ticketing carrier is guaranteed to have a complete view of the itinerary in order to determine what rules might apply.
Aside from that, baggage allowances are (usually) explicitly encoded on the eTicket at the time of ticketing. I'm pretty sure the allowance on United's eTicket display is decoding that. It would be pretty risky for a carrier to offer a less generous policy than what is encoded on the ticket given the DOT's rule. Plus, in some situations only the ticketing carrier is guaranteed to have a complete view of the itinerary in order to determine what rules might apply.
OP says she checked the LX website and got the "no bag" message. Not a peep about the UA e-ticket.
Indeed, the allowance for this segment is the allowance of the marketing carrier, UA, for this segment and for all remaining segments of the ticket. That allowance will show up on the e-ticket receipt and will specifically show the fee or $0 for the first two bags.
The LX check-in agent will see that information at each check-in.
Jul 3, 2018, 12:52 pm
#13
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No! UA is not the marketing carrier for the first segment. UA award flights are always booked using native flight numbers. The marketing carrier is LX — marketing carrier means “whose flight number is it?”. The issuing / validating carrier is UA, but that doesn’t matter at all.
Jul 3, 2018, 3:58 pm
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