How to know which airline info to believe?

[Pearl64]

We are flying from Pittsburgh to Auckland in a couple of weeks. All of us on our cruise are trying to figure out what our carry on baggage rules are. Our tickets show that we follow United baggage rules. We are flying United from Pittsburgh to LAX with a 23 hour layover before our Air New Zealand flight to Auckland. United says we can bring up to 40 pounds in our carry on plus a personal item of the same weight restrictions. But, Air New Zealand says we can only have 15 pounds carry on and the personal item can only be the width of a very thin laptop. Another AirNewZealand rep says we can have no personal item since we are flying out of LAX due to their heightened security. The rep said my purse needed to fit inside my carry on. I do usually follow rules but in this case I don't know what the rules are. Can someone enlighten me? I don't want to get to LAX and find we can't take all we did on the United flights.

 

The United rep said our checked bags would be sent straight through to Auckland even though we have a 23 hour layover. I am a little concerned that it may get lost in that time frame. I also asked about having a second bag for one of us. The price is $70 but that is per segment and we have two segments going and 3 segments coming back home. That seems quite a bit. Why is it not just $70 the entire way?

 

I am just trying to get correct answers or advice on what we should do. We will be away for 7 weeks without adequate laundry facilities so don't want to take too much but yet want to be able to take what is needed.

 

Thank you all for any advice.

 

Pearl

[6rugrats]

When flying on Air New Zealand, you must follow their carryon rules; doesn't mattter what UA's were.

 

You don't pay per flight segment for checked bags for your situation; it's just one fee for outbound and one for return if you are on one ticket.

 

Why not check one bag at your departure airport, and carry one on. Then you'll have it during your stop in LA. You can then check it at LAX for your next flight.

[waterbug123]

 

The United rep said our checked bags would be sent straight through to Auckland even though we have a 23 hour layover. I am a little concerned that it may get lost in that time frame. I also asked about having a second bag for one of us. The price is $70 but that is per segment and we have two segments going and 3 segments coming back home. That seems quite a bit. Why is it not just $70 the entire way?

 

I'm not positive, but I believe you can ask that your bags only be checked as far as LAX. You retrieve them there, take them to the hotel with you, and re-check them the next day for your flight to Aukland.

 

When flying on Air New Zealand, you must follow their carryon rules; doesn't mattter what UA's were.

 

You don't pay per flight segment for checked bags for your situation; it's just one fee for outbound and one for return if you are on one ticket.

 

If the OP claims their bag at LAX and re-checks it the next day for Aukland, perhaps that results in the per-segment bag charge? I don't know, but it seems like I've heard of people getting caught in a similar loophole, where it's not so much the fact that there are 2 segments, but rather that the person is re-claiming their bag in between the segments and then re-checking it.

[paul929207]

We switched airlines (Delta to Austrian) at JFK a few years ago and the second airline made us gate check our carryons.

 

In South Africa, we had to move things from out carryon to checked luggage when switching fom an international flight (Delta) to a Domestic (South Africa).

[Nonna and Papa]

In June, we flew home from AMS on Delta, but had to check in at KLM, Delta's code share partner. Even though we bought our tickets through Delta, and not KLM, we had to follow the KLM carry on policy, which restricted carry on weight.

 

Next week, we'll be flying United to SIN and overnighting in SFO, by choice, to break up the flights. We will have to pay for our luggage both at PIT and when we check in the next day in SFO, and our flights are on one ticket. When we bought our tickets, United had a listing of baggage fees for each of our flights on the receipt page.

 

Mary

[6rugrats]

Next week, we'll be flying United to SIN and overnighting in SFO, by choice, to break up the flights. We will have to pay for our luggage both at PIT and when we check in the next day in SFO, and our flights are on one ticket. When we bought our tickets, United had a listing of baggage fees for each of our flights on the receipt page.

 

Mary

Because you broke up your trip, perhaps that's why the fee for your ??-SFO leg, though if it's on one ticket, I think you have a good case to not pay any fee for that first bag. You should have one free checked bag for SFO-SIN:

 

http://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/travel/Pages/CheckedBaggage.aspx

[Nonna and Papa]

Because you broke up your trip, perhaps that's why the fee for your ??-SFO leg, though if it's on one ticket, I think you have a good case to not pay any fee for that first bag. You should have one free checked bag for SFO-SIN:

 

http://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/travel/Pages/CheckedBaggage.aspx

 

Yes, we can check our first bag at no cost, but then the second bags are each $70, because we purchased our ticket before fee changes went into effect. But because we chose to break up our trip, and we're 17 minutes past the 24 hour stopover time limit, we'll have to pay again in SFO. No one likes all these high luggage fees, but unfortunately it is what it is! Plus when you're packing challenged......!! For me packing lightly means bringing a smaller kitchen sink!:D

 

Mary

[Gardyloo]

We are flying from Pittsburgh to Auckland in a couple of weeks. All of us on our cruise are trying to figure out what our carry on baggage rules are. Our tickets show that we follow United baggage rules. We are flying United from Pittsburgh to LAX with a 23 hour layover before our Air New Zealand flight to Auckland. United says we can bring up to 40 pounds in our carry on plus a personal item of the same weight restrictions. But, Air New Zealand says we can only have 15 pounds carry on and the personal item can only be the width of a very thin laptop. Another AirNewZealand rep says we can have no personal item since we are flying out of LAX due to their heightened security. The rep said my purse needed to fit inside my carry on. I do usually follow rules but in this case I don't know what the rules are. Can someone enlighten me? I don't want to get to LAX and find we can't take all we did on the United flights.

 

The United rep said our checked bags would be sent straight through to Auckland even though we have a 23 hour layover. I am a little concerned that it may get lost in that time frame. I also asked about having a second bag for one of us. The price is $70 but that is per segment and we have two segments going and 3 segments coming back home. That seems quite a bit. Why is it not just $70 the entire way?

 

I am just trying to get correct answers or advice on what we should do. We will be away for 7 weeks without adequate laundry facilities so don't want to take too much but yet want to be able to take what is needed.

 

Thank you all for any advice.

 

Pearl

I would definitely ask that my luggage be "short checked" to LAX, rather than having it sit unattended at LAX for a day. This should pose no issues with United; in fact, given the length of your layover, they might actually require it. (Some airports have "secured" storage for in-transit bags; I don't know if United or Air NZ have this at LAX. Regardless, on that long a trip I'd regard keeping my bags close to me as a must-do.)

 

Have a read of these pages: http://www.airnewzealand.com/checked-in-baggage and http://www.airnewzealand.com/cabin-baggage . United will have the say-so on baggage allowances for the whole trip, OR they can punt and use the new(ish) "Most Significant Carrier" rule to allow Air NZ's policies to cover the whole trip. It's a bit confusing, but I don't think it's as negative as you fear.

[jaybur]

Having just flown Philadelphia to Auckland last month on Air New Zealand, I can tell you that with regard to your carry-on they definitely impose that 15 lb maximum. They keep a scale right by the jetway and will weigh any bag they think may be over that limit. Mine was 16 lbs because I had my coat inside it. Had to remove it and put it on before they would let me on the plane. Not a big deal but they do check.

 

With regard to the personal item, they are very lenient with that and rarely give it a glance. A backpack or computer bag is fine. Just don't try to convince them that a rollerboard is your personal item!