I've booked a ticket to fly from India to Kelowna, BC, Canada. My roommate and I are flying together. I have a stopover in Vancouver and due to some emergency I won't be able to catch the Kelowna flight. My roommate is going to be in the flight though. Is there any way that my baggage goes along with my roommate, as those are heavy and I won't be able to carry them with me? Due to some urgent reason, I have to be in Toronto on the same day, so I'm boarding another flight from Vancouver to Toronto.
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6Is this the first half of a round-trip ticket? If so, you have another problem: once you don't fly the Vancouver->Kelowna flight, all the other flights on your itinerary will be cancelled.– Zach LiptonApr 7, 2018 at 10:14
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1It is worth noting that since the Air India bombings, YVR is very strict with regards to matching people to bags and ensuring that bags are not where they shouldn’t be.– Jacob HorbulykApr 7, 2018 at 11:24
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@Zap Lipton, It's not a round trip ticket– Harkunwar SinghApr 7, 2018 at 15:26
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1if you want to do this, make sure your room mate agrees. Most people do not transport items for casual friends and even with very good friends they might not want to take the responsibility. Too many people have be caught transporting drugs.– Willeke ♦Apr 7, 2018 at 15:27
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2Send your luggage to the final destination as cargo. It is not that expensive, usually.– Rui F RibeiroApr 7, 2018 at 20:15
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2 Answers
You are going to have to be careful here - firstly, you must talk to your airline, and not simply abandon the ticket for the last leg, as doing so may result in any return flights being cancelled.
Secondly, only the airline can comment on transferring your luggage to fly under your friend's ownership, unless they check that luggage in as their own from the beginning. Airlines are very hot on not allowing luggage to fly separately to its owner, especially if that separation occurs because of an action or inaction of the owner.
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I think the safest option would be to just store my bags in Vancouver with someone who can pick them up, come back from Toronto to Vancouver, take bag the bags and move to Kelowna. Apr 7, 2018 at 15:27
Here is how the airline rules said that should be handled:
- Split the reservation into two separate ones.
- Execute a change on your reservation that removes the leg you won't take. This will incur a change fee (yes, you need to pay extra for not taking a flight you already have paid for). If you don't do that, they will cancel any return flight (google "Hidden City Ticketing" for more info).
- Check all your luggage in on your roommate's reservation. If that exceeds his/her allowance you need to pay extra for the excess luggage. You can't transfer your baggage allowance to your roommate.
As you can see, airline rules are written primarily to optimize revenue for the airline, i.e. squeeze as much money out of you as they can. If this is a real emergency, you can try to contact them and explain your situation. The agents have a fair amount of leeway to waive fees and charges, but it's very unpredictable.
DO NOT DO THE FOLLOWING: Check your bag all the way through to Kelowna and not board in Vancouver. There is a bag with your name on the flight and if you don't show up, they have to unload it from the plane, which is expensive and incurs a delay for the whole flight.
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Wait, don't you have to re-check your bags when entering Canada for the first time?– JonathanReez ♦Apr 7, 2018 at 18:54
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If we do have to recheck, I can just take my bags with me and not take the Kelowna flight. That works for me perfectly too. I tried changing the ticket and cancelling but they are charging me more money than the ticket itself. I can get a new ticket in that amount too and there's no point spending so much. Also, I would not miss the flight before notifying WestJet everything first. I just called them and they said they think that my bags will reach Kelowna in this condition Apr 7, 2018 at 19:11
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Maybe the roommate ought, as well, to be able to answer "Yes" to the question, "Did you pack your bags yourself?"– ChrisWApr 8, 2018 at 11:35