Paying baggage fees for each airline.

[Thumper_Man]

I have a friend planning a trip and he asked me for some advice, since DW and I have been to WDW before. He was looking at some of the travel sites online for booking flights. On one of the sites he was looking at, he noticed on some of the flight choices that he would fly one airline to Houston, then change planes in Houston to a different airline before getting to Orlando. He asked me some questions I didn't know the answers to. So got me thinking about them and now I'm trying to research. So far I can't find a definitive answer.

Here's the questions:
If he were to fly to Orlando let's say on Delta, then changes planes in Houston and flies on Continental to Orlando; would he have to pay luggage fees for both airlines? Even though he did one booking through the travel site?

Would Delta transfer his luggage for him to Continental? Or would he have to retrieve his luggage from baggage claim, then re-check it on Continental?

Why he would want to do this is beyond me. I think maybe because he found a cheaper deal this way, beats me. I told him to just stick with one airline, but it just got me thinking about the answers to these questions. Has anyone ever done this and know for sure? I just want to know now out of curiosity. TIA

 

[lyonking3]

Here's my advice. Stick with one airline. Interairlines baggage transfers are ify at best. Chances are you'll get hosed. And yes, as far as the first airline he flies on, they might just deposit his luggage in baggage claim. They fulfilled thier obligation. Get him to Houston. Different airline reservation systems don't always talk to eack other.
However, if it's a code share partners (united/continenatl/us airways) you might have a chnace. But DAL to CAL, he's asking for a headache.

 

[mieuxmew]

I wouldn't chance the luggage. Consider shipping luggage to hotel ahead of time and/or use carryon bag.

Hope it helps.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Yes, his bag should be transferred in Houston. As far as the baggage fee, I really don't know the answer because I have never paid a baggage check fee.

It really is better to stick with one airline for this trip. If there is a problem, it will be a real hassle dealing with two airlines (such as late arrival to Houston and missing the continuing flight on another airline). He can't be saving enough money to make up for that.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Yes, his bag should be transferred in Houston. As far as the baggage fee, I really don't know the answer because I have never paid a baggage check fee.

It really is better to stick with one airline for this trip. If there is a problem, it will be a real hassle dealing with two airlines (such as late arrival to Houston and missing the continuing flight on another airline). He can't be saving enough money to make up for that.

It really is better to stick with one airline. As said, if there is a problem with baggage transfer from one airline to the other, how do you find out who is to blame?

 

[Thumper_Man]

I have a friend planning a trip and he asked me for some advice, since DW and I have been to WDW before. He was looking at some of the travel sites online for booking flights. On one of the sites he was looking at, he noticed on some of the flight choices that he would fly one airline to Houston, then change planes in Houston to a different airline before getting to Orlando. He asked me some questions I didn't know the answers to. So got me thinking about them and now I'm trying to research. So far I can't find a definitive answer.

Here's the questions:
If he were to fly to Orlando let's say on Delta, then changes planes in Houston and flies on Continental to Orlando; would he have to pay luggage fees for both airlines? Even though he did one booking through the travel site?

Would Delta transfer his luggage for him to Continental? Or would he have to retrieve his luggage from baggage claim, then re-check it on Continental?

Why he would want to do this is beyond me. I think maybe because he found a cheaper deal this way, beats me. I told him to just stick with one airline, but it just got me thinking about the answers to these questions. Has anyone ever done this and know for sure? I just want to know now out of curiosity. TIA

I thank everyone that mentioned sticking with one airline. If you read my original post, I also stated that he stick with one airline. Everybody that's read my posts in the past knows I am mostly a SWA fan.

If it helps, he is going to stick with one airline. Again, it's just my curiosity if someone were to do this, how it would work. Only some of my original questions got answered.

IF anyone were to do this, would he/she have to pay the baggage fees for both airlines if they booked through an online site like Expedia or Travelocity? I'm guessing the answer is yes, but I haven't found a certain answer. Still waiting to hear back from one of the sites for a definitive answer.

Thanks everyone for the answers so far.

 

[Disflyer]

I think the best answer is that it deppends on the ticket. If you are booked on one reservation with multiple airlines then there is no extra bag fee, however if you are booked into Houston on DL and then you need to re-checkin for your CO flight to MCO you will have to pay the CO bag fee. The DOT just came out with some new regulations regarding bag fees for traveling on more than one carrier but the rules do not go into effect until Jan 2012.

 

[DebbieB]

I think it would go by the first airline, the one you check-in with, assuming both are on the same ticket. Some airlines do have interline agreements, so you could go Delta to Continental, both do interline. But I would be concerned about a timely transfer. Southwest does not, so you would have to pickup the luggage and recheck it.

 

[ironz]

I think it would go by the first airline, the one you check-in with, assuming both are on the same ticket. Some airlines do have interline agreements, so you could go Delta to Continental, both do interline. But I would be concerned about a timely transfer. Southwest does not, so you would have to pickup the luggage and recheck it.

Just going to clarify this, for any newbies. If your WHOLE trip is on SW, on one itinerary, they WILL transfer the luggage. If you change from another airline to SW or vice versa, you would have to claim and re-check. Or, if you stacked two SW itineraries, you have to claim and re-check.

 

[bumbershoot]

No one can definitively answer yet b/c even Orbitz (the place I looked around on when I first read your post) doesn't even know. They leave it open. They give a link to the various airlines' baggage fees, and say that you might be charged some or all.

I will say that it was difficult fo rme to find a multiple carrier flight that had non-sharing airlines listed. Most were, for example, Alaska and Delta, United and Continental, that sort of thing, where the airlines are already connected. And with those, if booked under one reservation number, bags are sent to the next one no problem.

I also noticed that, at least on the random date I chose with the route I chose (I used your location to MCO), multiple carriers was positively the most expensive way to go.

 

[corster]

To answer your questions:

1) On a multi-carrier itinerary, the baggage policies of the first carrier (their limits, their fees) apply to your entire journey, as long as they are booked on a single ticket. If you were switching from United to Delta, you would pay a baggage fee to United, but nothing additional for the Delta flight on your ticket.

Similar to this, if your luggage gets lost, you deal with the LAST carrier on your ticket, regardless of who you checked the bag with or where it may have got lost. (you could have connected between 3 flights on United before your 1 flight on Delta, but you deal with Delta for your claim).

2) Airlines with interline agreements will transfer baggage between each other at airports. You won't be able to buy flights with non-interline airlines on a single ticket so you shouldn't have to worry about that.

Generally, the legacy carriers tend to have interline agreements with most other legacies, the low cost carriers on the other hand tend to have fewer interline agreements, Southwest having none as an example.

 

[Thumper_Man]

I think you all answered my questions now. Personally I would never do it, and have suggested to my friend it would be a hassle if he were to try and do it this way. I relayed all your information to him. Hope he listens to me/us.

Thanks again for all your answers.