FREQUENT TRAVELER Q & A

Avoiding the woes of rechecking bags

By Roger Collis

Published: June 5, 2008

E-Mail Article

Printer-Friendly

3-Column Format

Translate

Text Size

When I traveled from Geneva to Albuquerque, New Mexico, via Heathrow and Phoenix, Arizona, British Airways refused to check my baggage all the way through to my final destination because my connecting airline from Phoenix, US Airways, is not one of their alliance partners. Returning to Geneva, US Airways had no hesitation to check my baggage through, even though I was on two separate tickets. Has the International Air Transport Association's "interline" system broken down? John Vermilye, Crans-près-Céligny, Switzerland

Allowing for the fact that entering the United States, travelers must retrieve their baggage for inspection at the first gateway airport and recheck it onward, BA has a policy that it will "through-check" baggage for all passengers traveling on a "through ticket," but only to "BA, Oneworld, and Codeshare Partners" traveling on separate tickets. If you buy two separate tickets, do not expect to have your baggage transferred from one flight to another, as with an official "interline" connection; you will have to collect it yourself and check it again with the second carrier.

A more logical way to travel from Geneva to Albuquerque would have been to book all the way with BA, connecting with American Airlines at Dallas Fort Worth, allowing you to check baggage all the way. Steven Lott, head of communications, North America, for IATA, adds, "We are pushing our members to move toward interline electronic ticket agreements." So far, IATA carriers have still to negotiate new electronic interline agreements on about 10 percent of "low volume" routes. If yours was an e-ticket, it may explain why US Airways appeared to have a different policy from BA in your particular case.

I tried to find a flight from Tokyo to Boston on July 15, returning on Aug. 26. The agent quoted me an economy ticket with United Airlines for $1,546. She suggested that if I were to "shorten my stay" to one month or less, I could get a less expensive ticket. Is there a way to get a reasonably priced ticket with a flexible return? Ella Rutledge, Tokyo

The price you pay for a ticket depends on factors like how far ahead you book, and the date and time of the flight, rather than the time you are away; although some cheap tickets do have minimum stay requirements.

There are no nonstop flights between Tokyo and Boston, but there are several one-stop and two-stop options, so it's worth shopping around. Examples: Asiana Airlines flies via Seoul and Los Angeles; United Airlines/All Nippon via Chicago or Los Angeles; American Airlines via Chicago; Continental Airlines via New York Newark.

The best round-trip fare I could find for the dates you wish to travel was with Continental for $1,159. When I gave United a return date for a stay of less than one month (July 26), I was shown a round trip fare of $1,900. This shows your agent was misguided to suggest that shortening your trip would yield a cheaper fare.

Readers may contact Roger Collis by e-mail at rcollis@iht.com. Please include city and country.