It’s not only the flights that are turbulent but the airline industry itself. Much of it is quite confusing to the everyday passenger. In our last blog, we looked at airline alliances and mergers and what they mean to you. Today we tackle the issue of code shares.
Code shares are one of the most confusing things for airline passengers. Simply put, a code share is when one airline sells seats on a partner’s flight and puts their own flight number on it. So you actually have one flight but with two different flight numbers. Yes, it is confusing!
In our last blog, we mentioned a scenario where a passenger tries to check in with American Airlines but is instead sent to British Airways. In that case, the flight is actually operated by British Airways but American sold the tickets and gave it an American flight number. The biggest issue for the traveler is knowing which airline to actually check in with.
The easiest way is to take note of who operates the flight. This typically will show on your itinerary or the agent will mention it to you. You can always ask your agent or the airline. Airlines usually want you to check in with the carrier actually operating the flight. Another way to know if it is a code share is to look at the flight number itself. Usually, if the flight number has four digits following the two letter airline abbreviation, it is a code share flight operated by a different airline. Airlines tend to use only three digits in their own flight numbers.
Code shares can cause confusion beyond just knowing which desk to go to. What happens if your flight is cancelled or there is a problem en route? Do you turn to the ticketing airline or the one you actually were flying on?
Technically, the airline that checks you in is responsible to get you to your final destination, regardless of whether the flight is a code share. Any refunds, however, come from the airline that ticketed you. This can create confusion between the two airlines and leave you stuck in the middle. It may mean a delay in getting that refund while the airlines sort it all out. There really isn’t anything the passenger can do about this, other than being persistent with the airlines to resolve your problem.
One of the advantages Ministry Travel clients have is that our specialists work aggressively on their behalf to try and solve these issues with the airlines. Instead of the passenger spending hours on hold with the carrier, we usually are able to cut through the red tape and bring resolution.
Alliances, code shares and mergers—common for airlines but confusing for passengers. As always, your Ministry Travel specialist is glad to help you sort through all of these so that you can make the best decision about your flight options.