Last week My sister and her family of 9 travelled from Honolulu to Perth with Air NZ in Business Class. The flight they had to take involved an 18 hr transit time in Auckland . Because of this they decided to stay the night at the Airport Hotel. They asked Air NZ to check their baggage through to Perth and they would only then have to take a small carry case with a change of clothes etc. This would save a lot of hassle . Air NZ refused to do this and insisted that they collect all baggage and take it with them to the Hotel. This presented the group a lot of hassle with so much baggage as there was for the 9 pax. I would have thought that because they were ongoing to Perth it should not have been any issue at all for Air NZ to through check their baggage. Is this normal practice for other Airlines?? Seems to be quite unreasonable and I cannot think of any security problems as the baggage will have been check by security out of Honolulu. If anyone can give me a sensible reason as to why Air NZ did this I would like to know.
It is not unusual for an airline to refuse through check for an extended transit, especially if it is overnight. I think the security implications are obvious, hence the refusal here.
mannej: That really does not seem at all logical to me. Would not the baggage again go through exactly the same xray/ screening as it would have if it were checked in normally? There would have to be a bit of freight/ cargo going through as well so would that not also be re- screened. The baggage would be on the air side of things so should be secure and if it is then put through screening again with all of the other luggage newly checked in surely that would be well and truly secure and safe. It would not make one iota of difference whether the baggage was screened at a normal check in or if re-screened by simply placing it with all new baggage to be screened.
Suspect it’s not about screening the baggage. It’s more likely to be about what to do with it for 18 hrs so it’s kept secure. Having said that I’ve had Air Canada hold checked luggage overnight in Toronto during an unexpected diversion. Then they lost it lol!
It's all a matter of logistics for airlines to manage checked luggage for each flight. Very few pax ask for luggage to be stored for 18 hours, therefore they don't do it.
We're so lucky at Sydney international that Qantas allows check-in of luggage any time on the day of travel.
There is absolutely no reason why baggage simply cant be kept air side until the required flight starts check in. It could just be put in a baggage container and left waiting.Being stored air side should not be of any secutirity concern Surely that's not too hard for any Airline that regards customer service as important. Having said that it must be too hard for our Kiwi friends to do.
Personally I think you’re expecting a little too much. As soon as your sister elected to break the trip with a stopover in Auckland this situation was always going to be a possibility regardless of the carrier and how long the stopover was.
Just to clarify things my sister did not ELECT to break the trip , there was an 18 hr transit time at the Airport before her next flight. There are not too many people who would sit at the Airport for 18 hrs even if it was in the Business Class lounge. Not a real lot of choice but to go to the Airport Hotel.
It’s an interesting question in that case. Did ANZ take that position because they left the secure area or would they have said the same thing if they’d elected to stay airside? Assuming they could of course.
I’m not being judgemental here, just asking if anyone knows if that makes a difference.
So far the reasons extended that I can gather here have been 1) that the gap between flights was too long - this doesn't really help for the question of more generally when do airlines through-check baggage - how long is too long? Is it too long if the gap is 30 mins? 3 hours? 10 hours?
2) "Obvious" security implications. This is pretty grey.. care to enlighten those of us not smart/telepathic enough to see this as obvious and expand on that?
Rod, it seems to be a problem in Aus too - regardless of airline, if you come from an International flight and have a connecting flight on the same booking that's domestic, you have to collect your luggage and take it to a bag drop. It's quite a pain and I'm curious why too. I saw a thing about Oneworld changing their policy on this, but that doesn't explain everyone else. Maybe it's countries' regulations?
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Through checked baggage??
Rod H
Rod H
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 06 Mar 2015
Total posts 271
Last week My sister and her family of 9 travelled from Honolulu to Perth with Air NZ in Business Class. The flight they had to take involved an 18 hr transit time in Auckland . Because of this they decided to stay the night at the Airport Hotel. They asked Air NZ to check their baggage through to Perth and they would only then have to take a small carry case with a change of clothes etc. This would save a lot of hassle . Air NZ refused to do this and insisted that they collect all baggage and take it with them to the Hotel. This presented the group a lot of hassle with so much baggage as there was for the 9 pax. I would have thought that because they were ongoing to Perth it should not have been any issue at all for Air NZ to through check their baggage. Is this normal practice for other Airlines?? Seems to be quite unreasonable and I cannot think of any security problems as the baggage will have been check by security out of Honolulu. If anyone can give me a sensible reason as to why Air NZ did this I would like to know.
mannej
mannej
QF
Member since 21 May 2014
Total posts 176
It is not unusual for an airline to refuse through check for an extended transit, especially if it is overnight. I think the security implications are obvious, hence the refusal here.
Rod H
Rod H
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 06 Mar 2015
Total posts 271
mannej: That really does not seem at all logical to me. Would not the baggage again go through exactly the same xray/ screening as it would have if it were checked in normally? There would have to be a bit of freight/ cargo going through as well so would that not also be re- screened. The baggage would be on the air side of things so should be secure and if it is then put through screening again with all of the other luggage newly checked in surely that would be well and truly secure and safe. It would not make one iota of difference whether the baggage was screened at a normal check in or if re-screened by simply placing it with all new baggage to be screened.
aggie57
aggie57
QF
Member since 04 Apr 2014
Total posts 136
Suspect it’s not about screening the baggage. It’s more likely to be about what to do with it for 18 hrs so it’s kept secure. Having said that I’ve had Air Canada hold checked luggage overnight in Toronto during an unexpected diversion. Then they lost it lol!
Phil Young
Phil Young
Qantas
Member since 22 Oct 2012
Total posts 253
It's all a matter of logistics for airlines to manage checked luggage for each flight. Very few pax ask for luggage to be stored for 18 hours, therefore they don't do it.
Rod H
Rod H
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 06 Mar 2015
Total posts 271
There is absolutely no reason why baggage simply cant be kept air side until the required flight starts check in. It could just be put in a baggage container and left waiting.Being stored air side should not be of any secutirity concern Surely that's not too hard for any Airline that regards customer service as important. Having said that it must be too hard for our Kiwi friends to do.
aggie57
aggie57
QF
Member since 04 Apr 2014
Total posts 136
Personally I think you’re expecting a little too much. As soon as your sister elected to break the trip with a stopover in Auckland this situation was always going to be a possibility regardless of the carrier and how long the stopover was.
Rod H
Rod H
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 06 Mar 2015
Total posts 271
Just to clarify things my sister did not ELECT to break the trip , there was an 18 hr transit time at the Airport before her next flight. There are not too many people who would sit at the Airport for 18 hrs even if it was in the Business Class lounge. Not a real lot of choice but to go to the Airport Hotel.
aggie57
aggie57
QF
Member since 04 Apr 2014
Total posts 136
It’s an interesting question in that case. Did ANZ take that position because they left the secure area or would they have said the same thing if they’d elected to stay airside? Assuming they could of course.
Blake
Blake
Member since 03 May 2017
Total posts 39
There is lots of reasons why not, its just that you dont like the answers you have been given.
Rod H
Rod H
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
Member since 06 Mar 2015
Total posts 271
Blake. I don't see any from you that would make any sense. Care to enlighten us?
ABTUser132
ABTUser132
Member since 21 Oct 2018
Total posts 1
So far the reasons extended that I can gather here have been 1) that the gap between flights was too long - this doesn't really help for the question of more generally when do airlines through-check baggage - how long is too long? Is it too long if the gap is 30 mins? 3 hours? 10 hours?