Alitalia and British Airways baggage Agreement?

Question

Hi;

I have to fly with two different tickets to Heathrow with BA and continuing to Rome with Alitalia (different reservation).

Do the airlines have a baggage agreement or do I have to recheck my luggage?

Thanks for all your help!

Stefano

Answer 1

If you are on two separate tickets/reservations you will likely need to claim and recheck luggage as airlines will generally only interline baggage on the same itinerary/reservation.  One of the other pitfalls of ticketing this way is that in the event of a misconnect your options are a lot more limited.  This will also mean clearing customs and immigration into the UK and very likely a terminal change.  

If you are traveling from the US, be aware that your baggage allowance will shrink significantly for the intra-Europe flight since you won't be on the same itinerary.  To avoid excess baggage fees I'd suggest checking Alitalia's web site to check their allowances.

Good luck!