This is a complaint, who moved it to international politics?
I see, well my experiences with KLM were fairly decent but I haven't flown with them too much. However, I completely understand being frustrated with an airline and choosing ways around in order to avoid them.
Exactly. I've got so many memberships, but just bang all my Star Alliance stuff on the Aegean Miles+Bonus one because it might...just might...make a difference with them some day (and the have the best coffee ).
Similarly if you have a Swiss/LH card and are flying United
Did you see a blue footed booby!
I did. What does this thread have to do with Living in Switzerland?
It's a complaint about flying to Guayaquil from Zurich and how to be aware of codeshare flights when traveling internationally. It certainly has nothing to do with international affairs/politics IMO.
Lol.
Next time do a lot more digging on the airlines’ websites. I found similar conflicting info on our recent trip to the US from Heathrow, booked as BA flights but operated by American Airlines. No AA codes for the flights at all on the ticket, only BA ones.
Yes, you’re allowed 2 suitcases up to 23kg each. Only by digging further did I find out this only applies to first class passengers. Economy can take 2, but has to pay the excess for the 2nd bag.
Hand luggage - BA’s dimension allowances are much bigger than American Airlines so had to rethink the hand luggage and buy a new one that was the right size. BA website did warn about this though and said to check the operating airline’s website for detailed info.
My advice next time - work to the operating airline’s specifications and if it’s a mixed flight go with the least specifications rather than the greater.
Bear in mind that Trev had confirmation in writing from LATAM itself that he could take two bags the whole way! I'd say he did his due diligence.
if you paid by credit card then raise a dispute, post on there twitter / facebook / other shite social media page etc
The check in agent knew the rules perfectly well. She was unfriendly, her English was terrible and she could not do basic maths (3 suitcases for two people means we have 1 extra, not two...). But she knew her system and that showed an allowance of one bag per person. I escalated it on the spot to her supervisor who in a slightly better English confirmed it. Latams reply today confirmed it again, so I take it as their policy. The problem is that Latam told me otherwise before, which was most likely a guy just checking one flight instead of the entire booking... but that resulted in avoidable costs and I don't think I should foot the bill.
P.S.: After making a bit of a fuzz about the extra charge and complaining to the supervisor about her employee trying to charge me for two instead of one extra bags... did our extra suitcase miraculously get chosen for an extra customs inspection... and we were only told so when we wanted to board. So we had to watch a completely bored guy open the bag, stare at it, say "ah, dive gear", shuffle it around a bit, close it and make us sign three documents that he searched our stuff. We were the last to board by then... when I was in the plane I could see our check in lady walking through the aisles with her supervisor... she thought I don't speak Spanish as I refuse to make a complaint in a language I am bad at... so she thought I would not understand here saying "oh, there they are, they managed to get back just in time"... I should probably make another complaint to Swissport (who operates the ground crews there), but I have no proof why I was "randomly selected"...
I did not pay the excess luggage to Latam, but to Iberia. Iberia did not do anything wrong from their perspective and if I raise a dispute will most likely the only outcome be that I get blacklisted, which I dont think is worth it...
Sorry, but if you call a simple e-mail reply due diligence you deserve to get stung.
I assume that the outward flight from Madrid to Ecuador was operated by Latam, the return flight by Iberia. So it’s quite clear if you look at their websites that yes, 2 bags weighing up to 23kg each are allowed.
https://www.latam.com/en_un/travel-i…ecked-baggage/
However, here is the caveat.
“When you are traveling with various airlines or on a codeshare flight between LATAM and other companies, the amount of baggage permitted is determined by the Most Significant Carrier, MSC, the section to check until the next stop, which is not always the most permissive or restrictive itinerary.”
"The Most Significant Carrier is decided by determining which areas or sub-areas are crossed. It is defined in the following way:
•The baggage policy of the first carrier flying in between continents applies. For example: from America to Europe."
https://www.latam.com/en_un/travel-i…aggage-policy/
This means Iberia’s luggage rules applied for the return journey. Which means that although 2 bags are allowed, economy passengers will be charged for the 2nd bag.
http://www.iberia.com/es/baggage/additional-baggage/
It also explains why Treverus wasn’t charged for the second bag on the flight from Zurich to Madrid as the significant carrier for the outward journey was Latam because on Iberia for domestic/European flights no checked luggage is allowed for economy passengers.
http://www.iberia.com/es/luggage/allowance-in-hold/
That, my friend is due diligence.
Not sure I agree with your conclusion....his first intercontinental flight was with LATAM from Madrid to Guayaquil on this particular ticket, not Iberia. The whole idea of the MSC is to have one allowance for the whole trip, not a different one for each direction.
In which case he can claim the excess baggage fee back.
This explanation, my friend, is proof of how "transparent" airline companies work
What’s a party?
Yeap, clear as mud transparency. Wait until you start dealing with those who aren’t! These alliances may make it better for the airlines, but certainly don’t for their poor passengers.
Out of curiosity: how much did you have to pay in the end? In principle you're absolutely right in trying to get compensated for their stupidity, but is the ROI worth it in this case?
Avoid it like the plague, there are way better options if you live in Europe (here in latin america we are screwed)
Honestly: The Latam plane I was on was better than the Iberia one on the way back. The only thing I really warn about is to check the code-share details as they are screwed up... and don't expect any customer service or clear answers.
That service part is not too different from Europe either. Try getting decent service from KLM or Air France... Aeroflot has a better customer service than them. And I actually mean it. Within the last ten times I flew Swiss this year were at least seven delays, literally every flight which goes back to Zurich in the evenings is "delayed due to late arrival"... airlines have overall a prettty terrible service these days. I guess the only reason they can do so is because people still mostly care about price and nothing else.