skyflyer99

So, I have this weird UA-plated 016 ticket to get from Manila to the U.S. and back, which starts with a China Eastern (MU) flight to PVG, then PVG-SFO on UA. My confirmation email from United said that I get at least two checked bags when I check in with China Eastern (lists the price as 0 and 0). However, China Eastern is saying that their system says I get zero! I called United and they confirm the same thing. United also claimed that they can’t touch the baggage allowance system and that the best I could do is nicely ask for reimbursement from UA after the fact.

Do the experts have any idea what happened and what I can do about it? Is it UA’s system telling MU’s system to give me zero bags?

My only theory is that it’s because I added my China Eastern mileage number to the China Eastern segments. I could try taking that out and maybe add it back only after I've checked my bags? Another change since ticketing is that I upgraded PVG-SFO to business with a GPU but I doubt that’s the problem.

I can’t figure out by what reasoning they could come up with zero bags. The rules about which carrier's baggage limits hurt my brain, but both allow bags. China Eastern’s baggage rules would seem to give me 2 bags based on a trip to the U.S. (plus an extra because I have silver status with them). I believe that all their international flights allow at least one bag. Meanwhile, United’s rules give me at least 3 bags based on 1k status flying international business.

P.S. Even if not for this, I can’t really recommend China Eastern. Customer service wait times are long and the reps are surly. Sometimes the planes are smoky. Their website is difficult to use. Their miles seem difficult to use too.

jsloan

Is this a single ticket, or two tickets? Is it the outbound, the return, or a one-way ticket?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

emcampbe

skyflyer99

It's the outbound of a roundtrip ticket (just one ticket). I'm 1k and the first segment (on MU) is economy (S).

The confirmation email says the cost of the first and second bag is 0 CNY and 0 CNY. Above that it says "In compliance with U.S. Department of Transportation regulations, checked baggage policies for your current itinerary have been deferred by the marketing carrier, (China Eastern Airlines), to the operating carrier. As a result, your baggage policies will be determined by United Airlines. "

I'm looking at the reservation just now and the same information has changed to list the cost of the first and second bags on the outbound as...1000 CNY per person1000 CNY per person50lbs (23kgs)

Wait, isn't that about $300 for my two bags?

skidooman

MU == Skyteam, which likely means no benefit for you. Not as far as your MP card goes.

Even if there is an agreement to the contrary (as others mentioned), I would expect trouble at the airport. MU personnel in Manilla may not know about this. They may take a look and simply apply "business as usual" rules, and these, as far as I know, would mean zero elite benefits.

This being said, I would be quite surprised that MU doesn't let you check in a bag for free. It is the rule usually for all Chinese carriers - even in domestic, even in Economy, the first bag is always free. Which is why there is much less of a commotion when it comes the time to get bin space.

raehl311

If United was showing $0 based on your 1k status (rightly or wrongly) and you changed the FF number on your first leg to a program with no status, I'm not surpised your bag fees changed....

jsloan

So, US DOT regulations apply the allowance from the marketing carrier of the first segment to all flights in the reservation -- that's MU, in this case. However, there's a loophole wherein the marketing carrier is allowed to, but doesn't have to, delegate to the MSC, which would be UA. UA is claiming that MU has chosen to do that.

Your allowance should be two bags at 50 pounds each. This is actually exactly the same as the MU allowance for MNL-SFO.

Therefore, you should get UA's non-status allowance for MNL to SFO, in your originally ticketed cabin.

That would be the correct behavior. UA waives baggage fees for 1K, but other airlines are not required to do so. The DOT allows this -- it's basically treated as "UA elects not to collect an amount that it's due; that's on them."

skyflyer99

Oh, I see that the first line of my original post got deleted somehow. I added it back, but to answer the question, this is a roundtrip flight from manila to the U.S. and back. So the DOT rules should apply. The first segment is operated by MU with an MU flight number followed by UA 858 PVG-SFO.

Because the first segment is an MU flight (S fare), does that mean that they are the "marketing carrier" even though UA is the "plating" carrier? And if their bag rules apply, would it be their rules for a flight to Shanghai or a flight to the U.S.? It's so confusing. Either way, I'd get more than one bag. The excess bag fee of 1000 CNY and 1000 CNY seems like a clue. China Eastern says that they charge $165 to the U.S.

So the mysteries are....

1) why did the baggage limit change between booking and now?
2) how could they come up with an allowance of zero bags, given that both airlines would give me at least one bag based on their rules?

If I just book a flight on MU's website, they list a baggage allowance of "20kg" for a flight to PVG in all economy fare classes, including the one I booked. To the U.S. the bag allowance is "2 pieces". Additional bags are $165. If I book a new trip on United.com, it says even general members get 2 bags; $200/bag after that.

flyerbaby19

MU doesn't charge for bags does it? I flew about 50 segments on them last year, and never once paid a bag fee checking in 1 or 2 bags, and it was 95% domestic (within China).

Lomapaseo

I've had the same on another partner, (I entered their FF # into the record). It was all solved in seconds at the airport checkin when I produced my FF status card

skyflyer99

That's interesting. Was it the same situation where you got zero checked bags even though both airline's rules would have given you more?

If I had just lost my "bonus" 3rd bag that I got from being 1k, that would make some sense. But it would still say 2 bags, not zero. And the bag fees probably wouldn't be stated in CNY currency.

I tried calling China Eastern to remove my FF# from the first segment. It wasn't easy and the chinese lady actually started yelling at me because I was asking for dumb things. The abuse seems to have been for nothing, because united.com is still showing 0 checked bag allowance.

jsloan

Yes.

I'd expect them to give you the allowance that they'd give their own customer to the US, except that UA says they're delegating to UA's rules. But, again, it's academic, since they have the same rules -- 2 free bags at 23kg each.

It didn't. UA's receipts get wonky when you upgrade a segment, because UA policy, outside of the DOT rule, is to give you the highest allowance of any of your legs.

That is an excellent question.

Yes, they charge for bags, but there is a free allowance even on domestic flights, unlike UA.

That's not going to solve anything in this case, at least on the outbound; MU doesn't care about UA status. It will solve any problems on the return trip, however.

raehl311

Baggage Allowance and Additional Service | China Eastern Airlines

They publish 2 50-lb bags free on all economy tickets to US, so I think you'll be fine when you get to the counter.

skyflyer99

jsloan: So, your theory is that it was my upgrade that somehow caused the screw-up, not entering my FF#? And that there isn't really a screw-up? The receipt is incorrectly showing the 1000 CNY bag fees but that's independent of the rules that will actually be followed at the airport?