My fault or?

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  • stevescoots
    Participant

    My schedule was/is flying EK BHX to SIN, a night and day in Singapore then onto Ho chi Minh with Vietnam airlines.

    To be brief, landed in T1 Singapore and no bag. After waiting an hour Changi ground staff told me bag was in a container at T3 waiting to go on next day’s flight to HCM. Looking at my tag I realised EK at BHX had tagged it all the way as my booking showed that. They did not tell me/ask me at BHX and to be fair I did not check, assuming as that as my flight to HCM was 24 hours later and on different airlines, and no boarding pass issued for HCM. As they say assumption is the mother of all………

    Changi ground operators told me they will try to retrieve my bag but it will take 2-3 hours but they could not deliver to my hotel as it was not airlines responsibility, in other words it was mine. As by now it was 11pm, I was tired, annoyed and have an important 9am meeting to attend. 1am I get a call that I can collect my bag so got out of bed taxi to airport, 30 mins getting through process and then back in a taxi to hotel and bed.

    Before I go complaining to EK and at least try to get my taxi fares back, or sulk at my own stupidity, who is to blame here?


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    Steve, was the time difference between flights less thanor greater than 24hours?

    If less, IIRC that IATA rules say the airline can check through to final destination.

    Either way, with such a long connection, I think it was poor service not to ask you if you wished to check though or collect.

    Whether EK will care is entirely another question – the airline industry loves to blame the customer!


    stevescoots
    Participant

    was less, arrived at 21.30 and due out at 18.30 next day


    K1ngston
    Participant

    steve, I think its a 6 and 2 x 3rds if you ask me…. Should always check is my motto, and I know we often take things for granted it happens regularly but nonetheless….

    Hope the rest of your trip is uneventful, Vietnam Airlines are a great, I use them when I can and their service in and out of Vietnam is good..


    SimonS1
    Participant

    I had a similar situation recently with 24 hours in Dubai before an onward to South Africa.

    I asked at Gatwick for my bag in Dubai and was surprised that a supervisor had to be phoned for approval for the ‘short check’.

    Maybe they have changed policy?

    In this case 50/50 I would say. Irritating I can imagine.


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    [quote quote=820613]I had a similar situation recently with 24 hours in Dubai before an onward to South Africa.

    I asked at Gatwick for my bag in Dubai and was surprised that a supervisor had to be phoned for approval for the ‘short check’.

    Maybe they have changed policy?

    In this case 50/50 I would say. Irritating I can imagine.

    [/quote]

    SimonS1, I can see your situation happening quite easily, since EK often prices LON-DXB-XXX at a discount to LON-DXB and under some circumstances, people may game the system – I’ve done the same occasionally, but not with EK.

    Steve’s journey is a little different, as he had three segments on his ticket and the third was for a different carrier – usually the first carrier couldn’t really care less about the second carrier.

    Maybe it’s just an EK thing….


    esselle
    Participant

    Always ask; never assume the airline knows what you want to happen.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    Before I go complaining to EK and at least try to get my taxi fares back, or sulk at my own stupidity, who is to blame here?

    A combination of circumstances. I would just write it off to experience and a lesson for next time. I think EK did what seemed logical, and Changi gave excellent service in recovering your bag.

    Sometimes ……. one learns. A couple of years ago I booked online a hotel in Edinburgh thinking it was the one previously known as the North British hotel, above the station, now called the Balmoral, and in fact I’d booked a rather scruffy place further up Prince’s Street. I should have twigged that the price was too low. Realising my error I went to the Balmoral, checked in at the walk-in rate, and lost my money for the first night at the other place. Could only blame myself for doing things in a hurry and not checking. But mistake can make a anyone!


    AlanOrton1
    Participant

    [quote quote=820620]Always ask; never assume the airline knows what you want to happen.

    +1

    I remember the last journey, where I booked a ticket that allowed up to a 24hr stopover, asking specifically for the check in agent to only tag the bag to where the first flight terminated.

    A little different for you in this instance but I suspect EK, if you complain, will only say they were doing you a favour / state you never told them not to through check.


    Swissdiver
    Participant

    Steve,

    One ticket, with less than 24 hours in transit: it seems logical to me that the default option is to have the luggage checked through provided there is an inter line agreement. The only blame you could address to EK, imho, is not to have offered you the option of taking your bag in SIN. But we know that handling agent are not always up to the game. So at the end of the day, I think it is up to the pax to check his luggage tag, something I do systematically since the day a handling agent sent my luggage to GRU instead of GIG (flight was making a stop).


    FaroFlyer
    Participant

    Steve, sorry, it is you. Less than 24 hours is a transit, not a stopover, so is entirely logical to check through.

    If you had stopped over in SIN, rather than transiting, you would have paid SIN airport fees etc. but as a transit you don’t. This is a good trick to use with RTW fares in the USA. If each stop, as you progress E>W or W>E, is less than 24 hours you can make as many stops as you want as you will be in transit at each.


    canucklad
    Participant

    Alas Steve, I’m with capetonianm on this, put it down to experience and a lesson learnt.

    Plus, I’m assuming you checked in with a through ticket.
    I know it’s slightly different , but when I travel long haul and I can find a through ticket that allows for an overnight transit I ensure my cabin carry on bag will facilitate my 1 day bonus city break.

    Having said that QR at EDI did ask if I wanted to collect my luggage at Doha even though the transit time was only 16 hours.
    I refused, partly because of the above, and more because I’m a lazy bugger who wanted to get out and about in the limited time I had there.

    Anyway enjoy your stay in the Orient


    stevescoots
    Participant

    Thanks all, As I sit in SIN waiting for my flight to SGN, that’s a lesson learned, a very tiring one 🙂 I guess as i did not get a boarding pass for SIN to SGN at BHX it never occurred to me


    K1ngston
    Participant

    After all that steve I hope your stay in SIN was a fruitful one if not a very warm one…


    TimFitzgeraldTC
    Participant

    Bit of a grey area. If on 1 ticket then something you would probably have to ask to not be through checked in to SGN. If you have an efficient check in agent – they may do this as a matter of course (if you ever do QR to QR at Doha and stopover is under 24 hours you have to check in bags through to the destination – they won’t allow you to pick up bags at Doha – or you’ll end up in a verbal fight with check in staff – you might not win!).

    If you are on 2 separate tickets on the example you mention – then no. They shouldn’t really through check you without asking as you may have very good reason for wanting to pick up your bags at SIN. Ironic when many airlines won’t do this for you at all now – that Emirates have gone and done it when in this instance you didn’t want this! You could send a letter of complaint – but maybe one to put down for future learning. Or you could ask to put on a separate PNR if split tickets – but this can also work against you in other instances or issues. Possible check in agent missed this (if separate tickets) or was being overly helpful but didn’t communicate what they thought was a kind deed.

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