Why can I buy luggage for my outgoing flight but not my return?

score:7

Accepted answer

Is there a reason for this?

Yes, it's very straightforward.

In the "old days" you'd buy one "combined" ticket from one source. These days it's quite common that sites like Kayak, rather ingeniously "put together" various tickets from various sources.

(I recently had to urgently fly to London from the Americas, and saved - I shit you not - three thousand five hundred dollars by doing this. That is not a joke, like well over half a case of Margaux - ! :) )

As you have discovered, the precise downside of such tickets is that:

the conditions vary drastically on the various legs. They are not harmonized.

In the old days, when you about a "combined" ticket, they would be harmonized. So even if your say "third" leg was on Airline X which normally only allows 6kg carryon, Airline X would make an exception (knowing they were part of a "combined" ticket sale) and they'd offer the 12kg that the other airlines in the combined ticket offer.

Similarly you might get free meals and booze on one leg, have to pay for tapwater on the next, etc. You may be able to specify and/or buy seat positions on one leg, but have no option to do so on another leg. You may have convenient online checkin on one leg, but not on another. Etc.

This is indeed the specific, dramatic downside of these "put together" ticket purchases. Like, if you were to ask "So what's the downside of these very cheap fares that are glued together?" the answer is, indeed as you have found out "all the baggage / seat / etc conditions are randomly different throughout."

There is no way around it.

"does anyone know a way to work a rough price out?"

You'd have to just state the airline and leg, and someone who's done it would know.

Upvote:0

I am somewhat sceptical that they really will check your luggage through all the way from Quito to Manchester. The airlines are unrelated and you might find yourself having to retrieve your luggage at Bogota and re-check in. This could take hours and you might find yourself in need of a Colombian visa.

For what its worth, I tried a booking with https://www.avianca.com for Quito -> Bogota on a random date in January, and the indications were that Avianca have a free 23kg luggage allowance. You probably should double check this by giving Avianca a call with the exact details of your flight and booking ref.

You should also check with Air France, if they have a free luggage policy on the Bogota -> Paris -> Manchester legs, and if not, can you buy that in advance?

More post

Search Posts

Related post