Bangkok Airways changed policy on connecting-flights

[Ricardo]

Just a heads-up, that Bangkok Airways appear to have revised their policy, on booking your luggage through to/from a connecting-flight on other airlines, where you have two separate tickets ?

http://www.bangkokair.com/pages/view/separate_ticket

In the past they have always be happy enough IME to accept me as an international-passenger on CNX-BKK, and book my bags through on other carriers such as Jet Airways & British Airways & Korean, all-the-way from BKK to my final destination, often issuing boarding-cards for my onward-sectors, even though I had two different tickets (which I've usually found to be cheaper than getting just one ticket all-the-way).

Apart from needing a visit to the onward-airline's transfer-desk, there was not problem in inter-lining, and clearing Immigration in CNX which is quieter/easier.

However their web-site is now warning that this won't be possible in future, and that I'll have to travel CNX-BKK as a domestic-passenger, then collect my bags in BKK and check-in again for the onward journey upstairs in Departures.

This will obviously be less convenient, and I'll need to allow extra time in BKK, if I'm not a transfer-passenger there. Since I've already booked tickets for a trip in September, with only a 1hour-20minute onward-connection onto Eva Air, this may now cause me a slight-problem !

This does not affect people whose single-ticket shows both the Bangkok-Air and onward airline, or where you're connecting to another PG-flight.

Does anyone have any recent experience, which contradicts their web-site ? (he asks hopefully !)

[siam2007]

I am pretty sure this has to do with security concerns and they have been ordered to do it that way by authorities.

They have codeshare agreements with so many (actually TOO many - causing a lot of flight delays recently, waiting for delayed aircraft of codeshare-partners!) airlines, so it should be easy to have your connecting flights on just one itinerary with the same PNR, thus making it possible to check through your luggage to the final destination

[Ricardo]

That may well be the case, so this change may then also apply people flying with Thai International too, on domestic connections to International-flights, if indeed it's mandated by the authorities for some reason.

In my own case, the domestic-flight in September is anyway an EVA code-share, and my onward-flight is on EVA, although Chiang Mai doesn't seem to be recognised on EVA's own booking-site (which seems odd), and I'm therefore asking PG if they'll make an exception in this case.

They've told me this afternoon that " the policy of seperate ticket was changed on 27March, 2016. ", so I think I may have a case for leniency, given that I booked four months ago in December. We shall see.

Another option might be to travel outbound without any hold-luggage at all, which would perhaps be possible if I took a couple of folding-bags in my carry-ons, and clear Immigration in Chiang Mai as a hand-luggage-only passenger, with an online-check-in boarding-pass already printed-out the previous day for the EVA-flight out of Bangkok.

I only load-up when returning to Thailand from the UK, with lots of goodies !

Once again, I would emphasise that this apparent new problem (since 27th March) only affects people who've got two separate tickets (and two PNRs) for their journey. Single ticket/PNRs are not affected.

[Kered]

This is a new policy introduced by the airlines particularly Qantas. You cannot transfer luggage unless the entire journey is on one ticket or you are transferring to another One World carrier in the case of Qantas and there is no One World domestic carrier in Australia. It appears to be a money making exercise as the additional fare charged by Qantas for the Bangkok - Chiang Mai sector if you buy a through ticket is around Baht 10,000 on a business class ticket and of course Bangkok Airways who is the Qantas code share partner does not have business class to Chiang Mai. Not sure which airline benefits from the extra income. I do not know what the Thai Airways position is but I do know from personal experience that Qantas will not transfer luggage if you hold a separate Thai Airways domestic ticket or a Bangkok Airways domestic ticket.

[Ricardo]

Bangkok-Airways have now come back and offered to waive their B800 change-fee, and put me onto their early-flight (crack of dawn !) instead.

That seems only fair & reasonable, since it's the airline's change-of-policy which causes the problem, rather than me changing my mind !

However I really don't want to get up at 04.00, to connect to a flight out of Swampy at 12.50, so I have decided to stick with my original flight, and just travel (outward) with hand-luggage only. It's less inconvenient, to take a big soft-bag folded in my carry-on luggage, and leave my hard-suitcase at home this trip.

I can then clear Immigration in Chiang Mai, as originally planned, and connect to Eva in Bangkok using an online-checkin boarding-pass printed-out before I leave home, or even the previous evening. And get a full night's sleep at home, before setting out.

I would tend to agree with Kered , that this change-in-policy is mainly for commercial reasons, as it is invariably cheaper for me (and hence less profitable for the airlines) to book separate tickets ... that's one reason I tend to do things that way ! A saving of B3k-4k per trip, on my own 3-4 trips per year, and again for other members of my family, is not to be sneezed-at !

But another problem with using popular search-engines for longer/more-complex journeys is that they simply don't throw up so many alternatives, there are too many possible options, and the ones they find tend to be the less-cheap ones ? Purely coincidentally ... I doubt it !

As an example I recently booked a ticket for my son to come over from Canada for his summer break. Searching on Vancouver to Bangkok threw up the most inexpensive options, as I had expected, but Vancouver to Chiang Mai dropped out a lot of these cheaper alternatives for the long-haul travel, and searching on Kelowna to Chiang Mai was a nonsense ... the options were three times more expensive.

I found the same problem last year, when I researched a possible holiday-trip to Mombasa. Flying three sectors, with the main journey on Kenya Airways & two local-connections (one at each end), would cost about GBP800-return. Flying four sectors, on Jet Airways to Mumbai connecting then to Kenya or Ethiopian cost only GBP500-ish, but the search-engines didn't offer that option because it was too complex a routing/fare for them. They're simply not set up to find the very best fares in that way ! Which is fair enough ... most journeys are between popular high-volume city-pairs, after all.

I also found that someone else had also already experienced this same problem with PG/EVA, and started a thread in the Suvrnabhumi sub-forum just over a week ago, to try to warn other people. That's the way ThaiVisa helps us all, passing on experience & knowledge of changes, Thank You to him !

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/907836-eva-and-bangkok-airways-interline-bags/

[Ricardo]

British Airways have now introduced the same policy, with very little warning to customers, and a wave of protest on www.flyertalk.com. (45 pages !)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1767540-ba-no-longer-interlining-baggage-separate-tickets.html

After much protest, they are now allowing interlining of hold-luggage on two PNRs, where both flights are with British Airways themselves, amazingly (to me at least) they were initially refusing to interline even with themselves !

It does seem somewhat of a contradiction in terms, when two airlines in the same OneWorld-alliance, are unable to check your bags though ! What good are airline alliances for, if not to do this sort of thing, one wonders ?

This must surely upset a lot of customers, and weaken the case for trying to stick with one alliance ?

[smokie36]

Not so long ago I travelled from the UK to a destination in Thailand without passing any customs check whatsoever.

This is the likely reason.

[DUS]

Not so long ago I travelled from the UK to a destination in Thailand without passing any customs check whatsoever.

This is the likely reason.

What has this got to do with interlining?

[Khun Han]

As Ricardo pointed out, BA were refusing to interline on separate tickets even between their own flights to and from anywhere! They've now backtracked, and only decline interlining with other airlines.

As an aside, I emailed Bangkok Air about interlining between their Luang Prabang flight and an intercontinental flight at Swampy, and they confirmed it was ok.