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So what is an interline agreement?
Simply, an interline agreement allows a passenger to get to a destination using different airlines, change planes, and have a checked bag be on the final baggage claim when they land. This allows airlines to issue a single ticket on different carriers. It’s also how airlines can issue you a ticket in the event of a delay or cancellation on another airline: one they have an interline agreement with.
Passengers don’t pull their hair out and airlines make more $$$
Interlining is helpful to passengers in a variety of ways. Here’s a few
- Those who may live in an area that one airline alone doesn’t serve and therefore need two different airlines. Instead of that passenger needing to book two separate tickets, retrieve their luggage and recheck it, they can rest easy knowing their bags will be transferred to the other airline and they can just go to their gate, and get their bag at their final destination.
- Award tickets avail from a hub but not your city
- Two separate tickets are just cheaper
Interlining is helpful to airlines
- They earn more money because their network effectively expands
- They can accommodate stranded passengers with interline partners at pre-negotiated industry prices
United’s Interline info
I always wondered how this worked and was playing around with expertflyer when I came across United’s interline agreement which looks like this: United has one of the most generous interline agreements
As you can see above, there are two categories that expertflyer shows for United’s interline agreement: E-Tickets they can issue, and Paper ticket/baggage they may check. Maybe you’ve noticed websites like Orbitz, Expedia, etc can sell tickets that will put you on two different airlines. If that first airline is United, then they will have to have an interline agreement with the second airline in order to complete the process. They have interline agreements with most legacy carriers it appears and therefore can check your bag on through to them.
It’s worth noting tho that American has a very limited interline agreement when dealing with separate tickets. They will only check bags on through to American, American Eagle, and One World partners.
Delta has no interline agreements
How could the information on expertflyer be useful?
As mentioned above, I think it to be particularly useful when booking award tickets. Sometimes you need to book a positioning flight in order to get to your main departure city, often a hub.
- Let’s look at this scenario – IAH to DME on Singapore Air – It’s a fantastic value at 57,375 miles ( after the 15% online discount) But you need to get to Houston.
- Well, United and Singapore are both in Star Alliance so, in theory, this shouldn’t be a problem for the agent to check your bags on through to the Singapore flight, even if you are using two separate tickets. That’s pretty great, especially if you have a quick transfer.
- However, don’t count on it – a lot of agents either won’t have the know-how or won’t be bothered to sort it out for you.
BUT IF YOU’RE THE FRISKY TYPE LIKE MILES….You wanna try!!!!
Here’s the check list.
- Make sure that it’s actually possible by double checking on Expertflyer
- Cross your fingers and pray that you get a very knowledgable and willing agent
- it’s completely up to their discretion
- Make sure that you are checked in to all flights and have boarding passes for those flights.
- Your checked baggage meets the most restrictive requirements for any of the airlines you’re traveling on.
- You will pay the bag fees of the origin flight – even if you qualify for waived fees on the connecting flight
- in the above scenario, Singapore would allow 2 free. United would charge for both if booked into coach for the positioning flight.
- If you need to pass through customs on your trip…’America and Australia’ – you still collect and recheck bags.
Lemme know your interlining experiences.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.