serguzest

Hi all,

I have a ticket USA to Europe, marketed by Lufthansa, operated by UA. My ticket clearly says I am allowed two 23kg checked in bags, but UA only allows me 1 bag. Last year I had the exact same ticket, and the checkin agent demanded $100 from me for second bag. I showed her the ticket, she called someone, but still did not allow me.

This year I wanted to be more proactive so I chatted with UA. The first agent said I only have 1 bag allowance. Then I called Lufthansa and they said "this is ridiculous, your ticket clearly says 2". Then I chatted with another UA agent and she said exactly the same thing: Yes, you have 2 bag allowance and whoever told you 1 is incorrect".

The weird thing is that both UA web site and UA app shows I have one bag allowance. So when I go to the checkin counter, I am somewhat 99% sure that the agent will demand $100 from me.

Does anyone have any ideas about what should I do/say at that time?

WineCountryUA

Welcome to FT!, serguzest

Do you have LH status? UA and other carriers may not recognize benefits due to status on another carrier.
Frequent Traveler, Star Alliance Silver?

UA normal economy TATL bag allowance is 1 bag as is LH, so not sure where you are get 2 bags

What cabin are you flying, Normal economy or Premium Economy or ???

serguzest

I don't have any status at any airlines. I am flying economy. Lufthansa baggage calculator shows any flight to IST from US has two bags allowed. I guess they are matching TK.

ani90

You state very well the problem and resolution. If you wanted to be proactive a more effective approach may have been to avoid codeshare and book ticket directly with operating carrier. Otherwise you will generally find a statement like this in small print: "If your flight originates with one of our codeshare partners or another airline you will need to check the operating carrier for baggage policies".

serguzest

Thanks for the suggestion ani90, but UA for the same itin was much more expensive. It is weird that this is marketed by LH but there is not a single LH flight among all 6 flights :-).

WineCountryUA

So your IST-USA ticket, starts with a LH segment and you got 2 bags (which is the LH allowance for IST-USA) That starting point is important

But you left USA to return to IST, your only got 1 bag?

correct?

If purchased from LH, you should get the 2 bags and the UA agent made an error.

The government body in USA for travel, DoT, requires airlines to honor the ticket allowance even if different from the airlines's policy. The second phone agent was correct to view the ticket allowance, not UA's policy.

The DoT policy is clear, the LH baggage allowance must be honored

Now I am confused, who flew the first segment from IST? wasn't UA.

serguzest

Both outbound and inbound flights are marketed by LH. OB first flight is UA, IB first flight is XQ. Ticket shows I have 2 bag allowance both for OB and IB.

UA (OB) agent last year demanded $100, but XQ (IB) agent just knew the rules and allowed me 2 bags.

As you say, UA agent was wrong, verified by LH customer service and a knowledgeable UA CSR. My question is: Do you have any suggestions if I end up with a non-knowing agent at the checkin counter again this year? Talk to manager? Call UA customer service?

IAH-OIL-TRASH

Are you flying 1) IST-xxx-USA, then USA-xxx-IST or 2) USA-xxx-IST, then IST-xxx-USA?

ani90

DOT is good after the fact but may not solve OPs problem on the day. OP still at mercy of whatever agent they meet at check-in, the likely time constraints and risk of being labelled disruptive that they may have little choice than pay whatever is demanded, as was case last year. Where possible best to avoid those scenarios that are liable to differential interpretation or misinterpretation of rules by check-in staff.

jsloan

If the first flight on the entire itinerary has an LH flight number, and the itinerary touches the USA, LH's allowances unambiguously apply.

If the first flight is US-(Europe)-IST, and the bags are being checked through to IST (no overnight transfer, no transfer > 12 hours), then the LH baggage calculator shows two bags as the correct allowance, even though the exact same itinerary, with a UA code, would only get one free bag.

If (when) UA attempts to allow you only one bag, show them the receipt and a printout of the LH baggage calculator. If they still refuse, be prepared to pay the $100 anyway -- ultimately, you can't force them to follow the law up front -- and then file a DOT complaint immediately. The process is simple and takes less than five minutes: https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer

Your claim is very clear: (a) your receipt shows two bags; (b) LH is the marketing carrier of the first segment; (c) LH's baggage calculator matches the receipt; (d) UA, as operating carrier of the first segment, charged you in violation of DOT regulation; (e) you attempted to resolve the issue at the airport to no avail.

While the DOT isn't going to initiate an enforcement action directly against UA, it will help to demonstrate a pattern of misbehavior (which UA unambiguously has in this area). Furthermore, you'll get a senior UA representative with authority to issue a refund to take a look at your itinerary. Since this seems so cut and dried, I imagine UA will refund you without any further complaint, and they may even throw in an ETC as goodwill.

Paying a much more expensive fare to try to save $100 in incorrect baggage fees (which will almost certainly be refunded when the matter is brought to the DOT's attention) seems like cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.

aznfreak007

you have it in reverse. the actual rule is that the allowance is determined by the first marketing carrier.

this is why i booked in the past UA coded operated by AC and continuing on UA, because UA is more generous to my final destination. 2 instead of 1, if my first flight is native AC code, i only get 1 bag coded into the e ticket.

JimInOhio

Yes, OP needs to list the full and exact itinerary and operating carriers so people can weigh in with the best answers. One thing I found is SunExpress (XQ) is a JV between TK and LH.

irishguy28

Good to know that Lufthansa now determines the baggage allowance for both Boliviana de Aviación AND Iberia!

jsloan

The operating carrier really shouldn't matter on an itinerary that touches the US. The only place I can find a reference to the most-significant carrier (MSC) rule in the DOT is a Powerpoint presentation they put together (linked here, with a 4/25/2012 date: https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/baggage ). The actual text of the rule is this:

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-1...section-399.87

You could read the first sentence as allowing for an MSC rule, but the second sentence pretty clearly calls out the marketing carrier's policies as applying. The only possible caveat is that LH could say "our policy is to defer to the MSC" and UA could say "our policy is one free bag;" however, that would need to be disclosed on the receipt. If OP's receipt says 2 bags, the DOT requires that OP receive two free bags.

RobOnLI

IB stands for inbound, not Iberia.

-RM