A Travelers Trick

Often times we book flights on airlines that sell tickets under code share agreements with other airlines. Case in point my first of three "Lufthansa" flights to Prague at the start of the trip back in May was on United to Houston, while my two continuation flights were on Lufthansa. Check in on either airline, using the passenger name record (PNR) or what we usually refer to as our record locator, didn't work, and what's more, after some digging around and a call to Lufthansa it was discovered that there actually was a different PNR for the United leg of the flight even though that wasn't in any of the original flight information. 

But checking in wasn't prohibited. It was just not possible using the information that was on the itinerary. What did work was the electronic ticket number and therein lies the key to checking in and more.

Tomorrow I am flying to Paris, so naturally the ticket was purchased on Air France, but it ends up that the flight is really an Austrian Airlines flight. The check-in reminder alert that arrived by email over night from AirFrance advised that automatic check in wasn't possible, and even going through the process on their web site, ended up with the same result.

That was when I remembered the e-Ticket technique and went over to Austrian Air's web site.  As soon as that information was entered, and a vital piece of information it is, my world changed. Not only was the check-in process now available, it was offering seat selection, the opportunity to purchase additional baggage and what's more, a pre-departure upgrade option to business class. SCORE. I grabbed the business class seat, paid the upgrade fare of 139 euros, which when combined with the original fare was still a bargain (and a relief) and I'm on my way, checked-in and ticketed.

Here's the bottom line. Codeshares as they are called, especially on international flights are more common now than ever before. Knowing your way around the codeshare system will make your life easier, stress free and likely give you some perks you didn't know about. The key is to know that your electronic ticket number is not your PNR and that's the key to unlocking your flight options on the airline your actually flying on.

Comments

[Jim Courtney]

Last summer I used Aeroplan points for our trip to Europe. We flew United out of Toronto to Heathrow via Newark. When I went to check in I called Aeroplan to find out why I could not check in on Air Canada's site, they gave me a record locator for use on United's site for check in. When I checked in I learned about a class of seat that provides extra leg room for $100 each. Being 6'4" I need every bit of leg room available; this was well worth it. Towards the end of the 7-hour flight I could comfortably read the chapter in Commander Chris Hadfield''s book about his landing in Kazakhstan from the Space Station as we were making tha last hour of our landing approach into Heathrow.

One more hint: we had to change to our Heathrow flight on United from a previously reserved flight on Lufthansa to Amsterdam to attend a memorial service near Bath for a life long friend. We got a $560 refund because United does not have fuel surcharges and Lufthansa does. That covered our change fee and our flight from Gatwick to Amsterdam.