Baggage Considerations

Owned by Vanni Sanvincenti
Last updated: 12 Jul 2023 by Jakub Bielecki (Deactivated)
2 min read

In order to process and determine the free baggage allowances for the interline itinerary the following aspects and considerations are recommended:

  1. Identify the Baggage Determining Carrier (BDC)

The Retailer is responsible for applying relevant governmental regulations (e.g. US DOT, CTA) or industry resolutions (e.g. IATA Tariff Composite Resolution 302) in determining the carrier whose baggage rules apply and resulting applicable disclosure requirements when constructing an Offer. This carrier is also known as the Baggage Determining Carrier (BDC).

Based on the relevant regulation/resolution that would apply to the itinerary, if the Retailer is the BDC it will then apply its own baggage allowance and charges to the Offer.
Alternatively, if the Retailer is not the BDC, it will identify which Supplier is the BDC, and apply the correct baggage allowances and charges.

  1. Determine the free baggage allowance

The correct allowances are determined by either:

  • Using the information already known to the Retailer (e.g. an internal database)

  • Querying a published baggage information source, which may or may not be a central data repository of baggage data.

  • Exchanging this information in the shopping request and response messages

Note
If an itinerary has more than one BDC (e.g. if a Resolution 302 based itinerary features a stopover), for each possible Supplier that may be the BDC the Retailer will need to query its source of baggage information and apply each of the correct baggage allowances and charges for the relevant portion of the Offer (e.g. the first Supplier allowance and charges to the first sector, and second Supplier to the second sector).

  1. Communicate the free baggage allowance to the Customer and Supplier(s) part of the itinerary

It is assumed that the Baggage Determining Carrier’s checked baggage allowance and charges are applied and communicated to the Customer by the Retailer as part of the Offer, and that this information is also communicated to any carrier participating in the interline itinerary as part of the order creation request

Each carrier participating in an Offer, including the Retailer, must provide carry-on allowance and embargo data for all Operating Carriers involved in the Offer, and this information needs to be returned to the Customer in the shopping response per carrier.

Note
The aspects around the processing and handling of baggage additional charges are not part of this Implementation Guide and these will be included in the future releases.