Overview
Piece and Weight based baggage paradigms are supported in the Offer and Order messages with various capabilities to describe a bag, its associations and its attributes. The below guidance demonstrates how this is achieved today.
Baggage Concepts
There are 3 main restrictions to cover to represent a Bag: Weight, Dimension, Pieces. Each item, is optional, but if populated, represents a restriction.
Weight
Ability to support baggage expressed in weight , weight can be a range with Min and Max weight, and in Pounds or Kilograms. The Airline can return either Pounds or Kilograms, or both if they prefer. The Airline Has to specify a Max Weight, but no Min weight is required.
<BaggageAllowance> <BaggageAllowanceID>2</cns:BaggageAllowanceID> <DescText>23 Kgs Checked Baggage Allowance</cns:DescText> <TypeCode>Checked</cns:TypeCode> <WeightAllowance> <MaximumWeightMeasure>23</cns:MaximumWeightMeasure> <MinimumWeightMeasure>0.5</cns:MimumWeightMeasure> <WeightUnitOfMeasurement>KGM</cns:WeightUnitOfMeasurement> </WeightAllowance> </BaggageAllowance>
Piece and Weight
Ability to support baggage expressed in pieces with associated weight, in this example, a simple integer is used to express the amount of Bags are allowed at this weight.
<BaggageAllowance> <BaggageAllowanceID>2</BaggageAllowanceID> <DescText>1 x 23 Kgs Checked Baggage Allowance</DescText> <PieceAllowance> <TotalQty>1</TotalQty> </PieceAllowance> <TypeCode>Checked</TypeCode> <WeightAllowance> <MaximumWeightMeasure>23</MaximumWeightMeasure> <MimumWeightMeasure>0.5</MimumWeightMeasure> <WeightUnitOfMeasurement>KGM</WeightUnitOfMeasurement> </WeightAllowance> </BaggageAllowance>
Piece, Weight and Dimensions
Ability to support baggage expressed in pieces, weight, with associated Dimensions. The Airline can return the min, max, and linear representation of the dimensions in centimeters or inches, or both.
<BaggageAllowance> <BaggageAllowanceID>3</BaggageAllowanceID> <DescText>1 x 50Lbs (Size Restricted) Checked Baggage Allowance</DescText> <TypeCode>Checked</TypeCode> <MaximumDimensionAllowance> <HeightMeasure>60</HeightMeasure> <LengthMeasure>50</LengthMeasure> <LengthUnitOfMeasurement>FOT</LengthUnitOfMeasurement> <LinearMeasure>140</LinearMeasure> <WidthMeasure>40</WidthMeasure> </MaximumDimensionAllowance> <MaximumDimensionAllowance> <HeightMeasure>10</HeightMeasure> <LengthMeasure>10</LengthMeasure> <LengthUnitOfMeasurement>FOT</LengthUnitOfMeasurement> <LinearMeasure>30</LinearMeasure> <WidthMeasure>10</WidthMeasure> </MaximumDimensionAllowance> <PieceAllowance> <TotalQty>1</TotalQty> </PieceAllowance> <TypeCode>Checked</TypeCode> <WeightAllowance> <MaximumWeightMeasure>23</MaximumWeightMeasure> <MinimumWeightMeasure>0.5</MimumWeightMeasure> <WeightUnitOfMeasurement>KGM</WeightUnitOfMeasurement> </WeightAllowance> </BaggageAllowance>
No Baggage Allowance
Ability to explicitly mention that there is no baggage allowance included. The Airline will simply return a Baggage Allowance with 0 pieces.
<cns:BaggageAllowance> <cns:BaggageAllowanceID>1</cns:BaggageAllowanceID> <cns:DescText>No Included Checked Baggage</cns:DescText> <cns:SubTypeText>Bag</cns:SubTypeText> <cns:PieceAllowance> <cns:TotalQty>0</cns:TotalQty> </cns:PieceAllowance> </cns:BaggageAllowance>
Baggage Pooling
Ability for the baggage allowances to be pooled within the Order is supported through the Baggage Associations Type.
Pooled Example:
In the below example, each passenger will have 2 bags at 23Kgs Weight Allowance, but as they are both within the Baggage Association, they can pool their baggage allowance.
<cns:BaggageAssociations> <cns:BaggageAllowanceRefID>1</cns:BaggageAllowanceRefID> <cns:PaxRefID>Pax-1</cns:PaxRefID> <cns:PaxRefID>Pax-2</cns:PaxRefID> </cns:BaggageAssociations>
Non-Pooled Example:
In the below example, as each passenger has their own baggage association of 2 bags and 23Kgs weight allowance, they cannot pool their bags, so each passenger will get 23 kgs and a max of 2 bags.
<cns:BaggageAssociations> <cns:BaggageAllowanceRefID>1</cns:BaggageAllowanceRefID> <cns:PaxRefID>Pax-1</cns:PaxRefID> </cns:BaggageAssociations> <cns:BaggageAssociations> <cns:BaggageAllowanceRefID>2</cns:BaggageAllowanceRefID> <cns:PaxRefID>Pax-2</cns:PaxRefID> </cns:BaggageAssociations>
Baggage Allowance for the above examples:
<BaggageAllowance> <BaggageAllowanceID>1</BaggageAllowanceID> <DescText>23 Kgs Checked Baggage Allowance</DescText> <PieceAllowance> <TotalQty>2</TotalQty> </PieceAllowance> <TypeCode>Checked</TypeCode> <WeightAllowance> <MaximumWeightMeasure>23</MaximumWeightMeasure> <MinimumWeightMeasure>0.5</MimumWeightMeasure> <WeightUnitOfMeasurement>KGM</WeightUnitOfMeasurement> </WeightAllowance> </BaggageAllowance>
Extra Baggage Allowance
To add a nominal additional weight (for example, 10kgs) the airline can offer a 1kg bag in ServiceList for the Seller to choose a Qty of 10. The Airline will then return the Baggage Allowance as one 10kg Bag.
Example:
<BaggageAllowance> <BaggageAllowanceID>1</BaggageAllowanceID> <DescText>Extra 1 x 1Kg Checked Baggage Allowance</DescText> <PieceAllowance> <TotalQty>1</TotalQty> </PieceAllowance> <TypeCode>Checked</TypeCode> <WeightAllowance> <MaximumWeightMeasure>1</MaximumWeightMeasure> <WeightUnitOfMeasurement>KGM</WeightUnitOfMeasurement> </WeightAllowance> </BaggageAllowance>
Baggage Taxonomy
Baggage Type
A bag type may be further classified by detailed the location of the bag during the flight, please refer to Codeset Directory for more information.
Type | Description |
Carry on | Signifies that the Bag can be brought into the Cabin for storage. |
Carryon Overhead | Signifies that the Bag can be brought into the Cabin for storage in the overhead bins. |
Carryon Personal Item | Signifies that the Bag is a personal item. |
Checked | Signifies that the Bag will be stored in the belly of the aircraft. |
Baggage Characteristics
Additional Baggage Characteristics can be used to determine specific characteristics for the bag, for example, Fragile, Oversize etc.
Baggage Disclosures
Disclosing Baggage Information
Ability to attach baggage disclosure information is also possible using the BaggageDisclousureRefID.
Unsupported Capabilities
Some capabilities are not supported in the distribution messages to date, some are detailed below.
The ability to associate baggage to frequent flyer tiers for anonymous passengers, however the baggage can be associated to a passenger which would suggest that the airline can return tier related baggage information.