Fly/Cruise question

[Goldryder]

In December I am flying from Leeds/Bradford airport to Heathrow, changing planes, Heathrow to Madrid, changing planes and Madrid to Santiago de Chile for two nights at the Sheraton. Then on the way home its Buenos Aires to Madrid, change planes. Madrid to Heathrow, change planes and back from Heathrow to Leeds/Bradford.

 

My question is, do I collect my suitcase inbetween plane changes or does it just go through to each plane and I don't see it from first check-in to last landing?

[Globaliser]

I assume that LBA-LHR is on bmi, LHR-MAD is either BA or Iberia, and MAD-SCL is on Iberia. Is that right?

 

Second question: Do you hold one ticket for the entire LBA-SCL journey, or is there a separate ticket for the LBA-LHR part of it?

 

The answers to these questions are important, because bmi is changing its through-check policy for baggage from 1 August 2005. bmi will no longer through-check baggage onto a connection, whether the onward flight is operated by bmi, another Star Alliance member or some other carrier, unless both flights are written on the same ticket. The bmi website says:-

changes to our through check-in facility

 

From 1 August 2005, passengers with connecting journeys using separate tickets will no longer be offered the facility of through check-in or through tagging of baggage. This means that only customers on connecting flights with itineraries issued on single tickets with one booking reference will qualify for the through check service subject to minimum connection times. This policy applies to all connecting flights (bmi to bmi, bmi to other carriers and code-share flights).

If you have e-tickets, check the e-ticket numbers (it'll be a 13-digit number, not the 6-character booking reference) for all the sectors of your journey. If you have different e-ticket numbers for LBA-LHR and LHR-MAD-SCL, then you have two different tickets.

 

On the way back, I suspect that Iberia will be more willing to through-check your bag all the way to LBA, but I don't know their current policies. If your baggage is through-checked to LBA, then when you arrive at LHR, you will clear immigration at the Flight Connections Centre before you are routed through to the domestic side of Terminal 1, but you will not collect your baggage. You will collect your baggage at LBA and you will clear Customs there - although that may be more of a nominal process than a real one.

[Goldryder]

The booking confirmation emails from BMI and Iberia both have the same 9 digit ID number on them. They were sent after I sorted seats out for the Iberia legs from London to Spain to Chile and Argentina to Spain to London. Both airlines sent each others info on the emails, so am I right to assume it will be the same on the tickets when they arrive?

[Globaliser]

It's possible, but not guaranteed. How did you make the booking? Was it with a travel agent, or directly with one of the airlines? Is the 9-digit ID number the travel agent's booking reference, or was it given to you by the airline you booked with? If you booked it with an airline, did you book the entire trip at once?

 

The fact that an airline has connecting flight information may mean no more than it has been passed those details for information - you can find that information even when the two airlines have issued completely separate tickets. Even the fact that a travel agent or an airline has put all the flights on a single booking doesn't necessarily mean that they will only issue one ticket for the entire journey, although it's more likely.

 

The only way to be sure is either to have a paper ticket in your hand, or to get the ticket number(s). If the ticket was issued by bmi (whether just for the bmi flights or for both bmi and Iberia sectors), it should be a 13-digit number starting with 236. If the ticket was issued by Iberia, it should be a 13-digit number starting with 075.

 

If you have a single ticket for the entire trip, it is possible that two tickets have to be issued because you have six sectors in your booking. But if that occurs, the ticket numbers are usually sequential and the tickets will be noted as conjunction tickets. In any case, the first ticket will usually be written with the first four sectors (the old maximum) which would cover LBA-LHR, LHR-MAD and MAD-SCL.

[Goldryder]

All the flights to/from the UK were organised through NCL and booked by them when I booked the cruise. On the email confirmation from BMI/Iberia the 'travel provider' is listed as NCL UK. It was organised as a package along with the cruise for 14 nights and 2 nights each end at Sheraton hotel's.

 

Basically therefore, the entire flight/hotel/cruise package is all done through NCL UK.

 

I am not anticipating the tickets for the flights to arrive until at least mid November ish seeing as I am travelling on the 15th December, returning on the 4th January. The bookings were all confirmed by the airlines back in mid June.

[Globaliser]

It sounds like you won't know for sure, then, until the tickets arrive. One last thing you could try is to call the airlines and ask them if the tickets have yet been issued - but if it's NCL, I doubt it (because ticket issue is the point at which NCL has to pay the airlines). If the tickets have already been issued, then you may be able to get the ticket numbers directly from the airlines.

[Goldryder]

The entire holiday has been paid for in full back in late June, so I guess that chances are the tickets will have been confirmed and sorted. On the flight email from the airlines it does say all flights and seats are confirmed booked. And the email was received about 3 weeks or so after I paid for the entire package in one go.

[Globaliser]

You certainly have confirmed reservations.

 

But there's an important difference between a reservation and a ticket. Until the ticket is issued, there's no travel document against which you can travel.

 

Traditionally, a ticket was issued when the actual paper document was completed. These days, it's more likely to be an electronic "document" which is issued only in the sense of being created by a computer. However, the point of creation of the e-ticket is still important because it marks the moment from which you have a valid and valuable travel document which will be accepted by the airline for travel.

 

The point of ticket issue is also important if a booking is made by a travel agent who is the airline's agent (as NCL almost certainly is). The agent's liability to pay the airline arises when the ticket is issued. Consequently, many agents tend to issue tickets late in the process if they can do so. This doesn't only benefit the agent, because it often means that they do not have to ask you for the air fare until nearer the time of travel (in the case of UK agents, usually about 2 months before travel).

 

It goes without saying that a ticket number will only exist when the ticket is issued.

 

I've had a look back at my last few NCL air tickets. In 2002, a paper ticket was issued on 7 October for travel on 25 October. In 2003, an e-ticket was issued on 29 September for travel on 25 October. And in 2004, a paper ticket was issued on 20 September for travel on 22 October. So that will give you an idea of the time frame within which you can expect to know for sure whether you'll have to retrieve your bags at LHR on the way out to your cruise.