Were flights mis-sold?

leylandsunaddict

Kittykat74 wrote: »

Normally I would do my research how ever due to the nature of this situation we had to act fast.
We did not find out until my husband checked his luggage in at Heathrow that he would have to collect his bags at Joburg and then check them on himself for the connecting flight. This information was not in the booking info.
However I have since been told this is quite common. You have to clear customs in the airport you arrive into the country in.

No airline site will tell you if you have to collect bags at point of entry. That sort of info is the customers responsibility. When he checked in online he should have been checked in through to the final destination on his ticket, DUR.

Kittykat74

What is DUR?!!
It was not possible to check in online for the second flight.. it was also a different airline.

Pollycat

DUR is the airport code for Durban, SA - like LGW for London Gatwick, LHR for London Heathrow and MAN for Manchester.

Voyager2002

leylandsunaddict wrote: »

No airline site will tell you if you have to collect bags at point of entry. That sort of info is the customers responsibility. When he checked in online he should have been checked in through to the final destination on his ticket, DUR.

Apparently South Africa, like the USA, does not permit "through checking" of bags. And the inefficiency at Jan Smuts airport means that the MCT of 90 minutes is unrealistic.

It is fairly easy to find posts on other sites by passengers who missed connecting flights in similar circumstances. Unfortunately this is not the fault of BA.

leylandsunaddict

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Apparently South Africa, like the USA, does not permit "through checking" of bags. And the inefficiency at Jan Smuts airport means that the MCT of 90 minutes is unrealistic.

It is fairly easy to find posts on other sites by passengers who missed connecting flights in similar circumstances. Unfortunately this is not the fault of BA.

You can through check bags in the USA. You still have to collect them and clear customs at your first point of entry, but they are checked in and tagged through to their final destination, (providing the flights are on a single ticket) so you just drop them at the drop point straight after customs. The same applies to SA as I said in post #10.