Codeshare confusion: Whose baggage policy applies to my flight?

Codesharing, or allowing multiple airlines to sell tickets on the same flight as if it were their own, can lead to a lot of confusion. And it’s more than just a matter of, “What flight am I on?”

Consider what happened to Abhijeet Utturkar, whose family had tickets to fly from Mumbai to Tulsa, Okla., on flights booked through American Airlines but operated by American Airlines and Jet Airways.

I was looking at the baggage allowances for the trips and found out that AA.com lists only one checked bag for free and charges $50 for second bag for travel to/through/from India and Europe.

It also has exceptions to the policy, in which it states that one and/or two bags can be checked for free if the flights are operated by a codeshare partner carrier other than American Airlines, Amergican Eagle and American Connection. Then the operating carrier charges will apply.

Here are American’s baggage allowances and Jet Airways’ baggage allowances, in case you’d like to follow along at home.

Utturkar wants to know: Who’s baggage allowances really apply?

I asked American Airlines. A representative responded:

On their way over to TUL, they are originating in BOM so they check in with Jet in BOM, they will be held by Jet’s bag policy and will pay Jet’s bag charges. When they leave TUL going back to BOM, they will be held by AA’s bag policy and will pay the AA bag charge.

(BOM is Mumbai, TUL is Tulsa, for those of you who don’t work in the biz.) Anyway, American is saying that even though all the flights were booked as its own flights, its luggage policy would only apply one way. Jet Airways’ would apply on the return trip.

But that’s not how it went down. When Utturkar’s mother-in-law flew from Mumbai to Tulsa, Jet Airways charged her $150 for her second checked bag.

What she was told at the BOM Jet counter was that since it was AA itinerary, she would have to pay $50 for each of her itinerary legs, that is BOM-BRU, BRU-ORD and ORD-TUL, resulting in $150 charge.

She had no other choice but to pay there and then. She even talked to two other agents, one of which claimed to be a supervisor.

Now that’s a creative interpretation of the baggage policy, don’t you think?

Utturkar is trying to get a refund through his travel agent. But his story raises some questions about baggage fees and codesharing in general.

First, the technology exists to allow passengers like Utturkar’s mother-in-law to pre-pay her baggage fee, or at least to know exactly how much it’ll cost to fly from Mumbai to Tulsa. If airlines can figure out something as complex as code-sharing, then they should be able to give their passengers an up-front price on a checked bag.

Second, it seems to me that the uncertainty over baggage policy is being used to generate more revenue. I don’t ever hear about passengers being undercharged for their bags on a codeshare flight, or on any any flight, for that matter. The $50-per-segment baggage fee is a new one to me. Who got the money? I’ll bet Jet Airways kept it, but I could just as easily see an overzealous supervisor in Tulsa doing the same thing for a hapless Mumbai-bound passenger.

And finally, why do we allow codesharing at all? Sure, airlines love to be able to say they offer flights all over the world, even though they don’t actually operate them. But isn’t codesharing fundamentally an unfair and deceptive practice to consumers?

It is, and it should end. Doing so would certainly bring some clarity to itineraries like Utturkar’s — and the hundreds of other air travelers who contact me every year suffering from codeshare confusion.

(Photo: Deb arka Banik/Flickr Creative Commons)

  • D-Money

    I just hope that none of her luggage was lost. It seems entirely too easy for codeshare partners to play the blame game.

  • Jake

    Codesharing needs to go the way of the dodo… all express carriers should be in-house.

  • Fred

    @Jake this isn’t an issue with express carriers, just with codesharing between mainline carriers.
    I think baggage fees apply based on the first carrier that you fly with (AA for outbound, Jet Airways for return). What about printing out the baggage fees page from the airline website before you fly to show that AA doesn’t charge a $50 per segment fee?

  • Monica

    That’s outrageous! I can’t believe they have the nerve to charge her for each leg of the flight. Flyers should be charged once to put the bag on the plane, and that should cover the bag until it is picked up at baggage claim. I hope the OP gets their money back.

    It makes me wonder if pre-paying would have helped. Someone at the gate probably would have had a good excuse about how the website was wrong and pre-paying wasn’t allowed for the *whole* flight.

  • Peter

    I think the contract of carriage of the ticketing airline should apply, otherwise what’s to prevent any airline from substituting itself into your itinerary and saying it’s $1,000 a bag?

  • cjr

    I’d say it’s the paying for baggage policies that are more the problem than codesharing itself. Every airline has their own policy, their own method of enforcement (or, depending on one’s POV, method of generating revenue), and so on.

    But it is no surprise that codesharing leads to problems like this, as the airlines jump at the chance to avoid responsibility.

  • The Mom

    Chances are the ticket she held was not a thru ticket (booked as one itinerary) she probably had different tickets for each leg…hence the multiple charges since the other carriers dont know about the other tickets. As for Codeshare…what ever airline operates the flight (IE: booked as UA operated by LH) then LH is responsible for the bags. Codeshare becomes a “necessary evil” when you are puchasing flights to a destination your carrier doesnt operate to. Airlines give each other the privilege to sell space on each others routes. And yes, it is confusing!

  • Abhi

    I am the Utturkar listed in the story.

    The tickets were purchased via a local agent as a single itinerary and AA charged my credit card only once as a single ticket (thankfully). Moreover, I had called in advanced to AA and Jet to confirm baggage allowance and my mother-in-law had webpage copies from both airlines baggage allowance pages with her while checking in her bags.

  • frostysnowman

    $50 per segment? That’s practically robbery. Hopefully it’s not a sign of things to come for all trips that have more than one flight segment.

  • Bill

    Some restaurants sell Pepsi and some sell Coke. If Coke and Pepsi had a “code sharing” agreement, we could have “Coke” branded Pepsi in places that sold Pepsi, and “Pepsi” branded Coke in places that sold Coke.

    Everyone would have their preferred beverage in every restaurant..because it is all just cola, right?

    This is what they do with code sharing on flights. Somehow it is supposed to be okay to book with an airline that has a young fleet, good service, etc and fly on one with an old fleet and bad service – as long as you get the points!

    I am fine with alliances, but each flight should have only one flight number…

    As for this baggage issue, since when do they charge “per leg”?

  • The Mom

    Wow Abhi.. that does seem unfair. Have you written to Jet? Chris is right that baggage rules follow the originating carrier. But Jets rule seems a bit excessive.

  • Joe Farrell

    “Effective 12/10/2010, for the convenience of our passengers, we are immediately subcontracting our luggage service to ‘World Luggage Services. WLS will charge you for your luggage fees from now on in order to make the process seamless to our passengers. Every segment of your flight, whether you check a bag or not, shall bear a $20 luggage service fee which shall be collected when you purchase your ticket. If any segment touches a country other than your country of departure that fee shall be $40 per segment for all flight segments.

    On this day as well, all seats not located at an aisle or window shall bear a $10 charge whenever booked. If your seat is assigned at the airport is shall bear a $15 fee. We are instituting this fee so all of our passengers have an equal chance at coveted non-middle seats. The fee shall be $5 for Regional Jet service which only has aisle and middle seats and there shall be no charge for propeller driven aircraft since we hate them as much as you do.

    Effective immediately there shall be a $2 per segment charge for softdrinks, collected in advance as well.

    Thank you for fflying R.I.Poff Air . . . “

  • Doug

    @Peter, substituting a different carrier after purchase would typically entitle you to a refund if you didn’t like the new terms. Different from purchasing a known code share up-front.

  • Aaron

    I have never had a huge problem with code-sharing, but I never thought about how baggage policies apply. I’m an AA Elite so I don’t pay bag fees, and I’d be majorly peeved if I booked a ticket through AA, paid AA, and then had to pay a baggage fee anyway. Definitely something to think about. — Aaron

  • BucksterSF

    Whoever charged for the tickets, their rules should apply.

  • Mary Graham

    Obviously “unfair and deceptive” practices don’t matter to this industry. How can consumers continue to be mislead and robbed and it be OK? It seems like laws are blatantly being broken and the great, big travel industry is getting away with it. How is this happening?

  • Gary

    In a simple way – first airlines rule applies.

    Regardless how the ticket is booked, the first carrier is the one you have to follow in term of luggage policy.

    So in this case, BOM-TUL – Jet Airways’ policy; TUL-BOM – AA’s policy.

  • http://oussamastake.blogspot.com/ Oussama

    Well, if my ticket carries a certain airline’s flight number I expect to pay that airline’s fees regardless of which airline I am flying on.

  • Ames

    I had this happen several times on international code shares with United as the US partner. Whole itinerary was on one ticket, paid to one airline. Arranged to pay all the baggage fees in advance including the extra luggage fees, but when I go to the airport that was not good enough for United even with the printed receipts and had to pay more to them or the bags would not go. Happened more than once so I expected it the second and third times. It is robbery, especially for a medical mission carrying supplies, but there was no alternative. Worst part is that on the way home, within the US, things were stolen from my bag. Open thieves at the ticket desk and hidden thieves in the baggage handling.

  • John

    It sounds like she was scammed by Jet Airways. What the AA rep told her was partially correct. The true correct answer is that when there is a multi-airline itinerary, particularly one involving domestic to international connections (or vice versa), the baggage fees of the international flight apply, whether or not there are codeshares involved and whether or not the 2 or more airlines on the itinerary are partners. For example, if someone was flying AA from OMA to DFW and then connecting to Lufthansa from DFW to FRA, then the LH baggage rules would apply to the entire itinerary.

    What Jet Airways did to the OP in BOM was, like I said, a scam. She should have been charged $0. The IATA rules state that when it comes to codeshares, that anything involving day of travel issues are handled by the operating carrier regardless of whose flight number the flight is. For example, if someone books an AA flight operated by BA to fly from, say, ORD to LHR and that flight gets canceled at the last minute, then BA has to be the one to rebook the passenger. They can’t say ” this is an AA flight number so you must contact AA.”

    What’s even worse is that Jet Airways charged her $50 for EACH segment. This is completely outrageous. Even if there was a $50 charge for the second bag, that charge should have only been applied once since all 3 flights from BOM to TUL were connecting and on the same itinerary. I typically wouldn’t say this, but this situation warrants at minimum a credit card dispute and a formal complaint to the DOT.

  • http://www.cheapglobalair.com/ Desiree

    that’s too unfair! they’re charging her too much. the fee should cover until it is picked up in the baggage counter..

  • David Z

    And finally, why do we allow codesharing at all? Sure, airlines love to be able to say they offer flights all over the world, even though they don’t actually operate them. But isn’t codesharing fundamentally an unfair and deceptive practice to consumers?

    Didn’t you mention before you’re not exactly a fan of codeshares? :)

    Anyway, I guess one can consider them fundamentally unfair and deceptive if they weren’t completely transparent. If they at least make it crystal clear you’re flying airline A but actually using a plane operated by airline B, then isn’t that enough?

    A problem here as mentioned by cjr is that each airline has its own set of policies; that if one changes suddenly, it might take time for others to catch on and update accordingly.

    I agree with Gary and John on how baggage fees an rules apply for itineraries involving multiple carriers/airlines. Sounds to me like someone at Jet Airways pulled a fast one, sigh.

  • flutiefan

    So what was the resolution to this? Clearly Jet Airways didn’t follow the rules, of neither the baggage allowance nor of the fee structure.

  • David Z

    Finally had a little more time to read Jet Airways’ and American Airlines’ pages for baggage. I hate to say this, but I found some “loopholes” possibly explaining what happened:

    Unless and otherwise specified in the fare rule, the 2 piece baggage allowance will apply on all Jet Airways operated flights and Jet Airways Konnect services provided the connecting flights to / from USA / Canada are ticketed in the same ticket as the Jet Airways / Jet Airways Konnect service, failing which excess baggage charges will be applicable.

    Excess baggage charges on the piece concept are calculated at the rate of USD 50 for any piece weighing between 23 – 32 kg and USD 150 for each extra piece.

    Blimey.

  • Abhi

    David Z, I too came across the condition Jet has on its website. In this case the connecting flight to USA was ticketed in the same ticket as Jet Airways operated flight. Hence Jet should have allowed 2 piece baggage allowance conforming to their own rule. The ‘failing which’ condition was not applicable.

    Jet Airways in its baggage allowance policy has 2 free check in bags for flights to USA. Pre-payment online or otherwise is not an available option on their website. Same case with AA website for flights operated by Jet Airways. The charges were paid in cash at the Mumbai airport in Indian Rupees since it was the only available resource to pay that kind of outrageous fee at that moment. So credit card dispute is not a possibility.

  • flutiefan

    Not only that, but those fees are “per piece”, NOT per flight leg.

  • ct

    “I don’t ever hear about passengers being undercharged for their bags on a codeshare flight, or on any any flight, for that matter.”

    Not to be too snarky, but I was undercharged for an overweight bag. Comair of South Africa, the initial airline, didn’t charge me. Nor did BA or AA. When I connected from AA to AE for my last leg, the agent saw the overweight tag and said “Oh, you must have already paid the overweight fee” and put the bag on the belt. I didn’t argue.

  • MeanMeosh

    Aaron, the situation you describe happened to me on a recent trip. I’m elite on AA and booked a ticket to Kona. The Honolulu-Kona portion was a codeshare with Hawaiian Airlines. On the flight out, I wasn’t charged for baggage, since I checked it through to KOA and AA’s policy was applied. But on the way back, I had to pay $10 at KOA to get the bag to HNL. Of course, I didn’t think about this while booking the ticket. Very irritating.

    Abhi, I suspect you were victimized by a common scam doing the rounds at Indian airports. Something similar happened to my mom not too long ago at Chennai airport. BA claimed her bag was “too big”, and the agent demanded 6,000 rupees cash if she wanted to check it. My mom argued to no avail, but luckily her sister was with her and left the bag with her since she was coming to the U.S. a couple of weeks later anyway. The agents running the scam know they have you over a barrel because you’re trying to get back home, so they get away with it.

  • Scott

    Many people are quoting different policies but a few got it correct. This is actually rather simple. And it really is not a code-share issue (though code-sharing can certainly be involved).

    When you check in for a flight, the originating carrier’s baggage rules apply. Period. So if you said that starting in TUL, then AA policies apply, and in BOM that Jet’s policies apply, you are correct.

    The people posting that whoever they bought the ticket from that their rules should apply….then sorry, you are wrong, and are not really considering the situation. The fact that you are flying different carriers can happen for any number of reasons, not just code-sharing. All of these reasons are sales and marketing related. In practice, agents at the airport only work for one carrier and they only know their carrier’s rules. That is why it is agreed that the check-in carrier’s rules apply. Simple.

    @ John: It is absolutely incorrect that the rules of the international flight apply. It would be correct to say that the international baggage policy of the originating carrier would apply.

    This per-leg charge is atrocious, and the OP got jobbed.