Int'l codeshare flight?

AmericanInOz

I am booking a Virgin flight through the Delta website (because I want the Virgin flight for the international portion, and will fly Delta domestically in the US)

Anyone ever do this? It seems so weird to me that although I'm booking with Delta, when I fly TO the US I will be checking in with Virgin, but when I fly back I check in with Delta - because that's who I first each of the first flight legs with

(I'm flying from Australia to the US)

seems like a bit of a mess really, but I want to make sure we get full Delta points, but I don't want to fly a Delta plane internationally, also it's a LOT cheaper to book the exact same flight through the Delta website.....

babs568

I only have experience with codeshare award tix.  I had aa miles and had to book with an aa agent over the phone, but had three qantas legs and two aa legs.  On my way out of DFW, I checked in at AA and they checked my bags to BNE, even though I was switching to qantas on the LAX-BNE flight.  AA even printed my LAX-BNE boarding pass (but couldn't print the BNE-SYD boarding pass and we did recheck our bags at BNE).  On the way back, we checked in at qantas for AKL to LAX (I don't even think there's an aa check-in at AKL) and they were able to print out LAX-DFW tickets which were aa (this was kind of cool, because there was no boarding zone, so we boarded with group 1).

None of our flights were actual codeshare.  It was oneworld travel on different carriers.

Just make sure you know where your bags are going. 

ooolalalolo

It's fine. You check in with the operating carrier. No worries.

GilliC

I do this all the time. I can't recall the last time I made an international trip that was all on the same airline. Sometimes they're codeshares, and sometimes they're even numbered on a completely different airline, but since they're partners, I'll end up flying one leg on each.

Most of the time, things go smoothly, and it's no different than if you were flying the same airline the entire route. However, here are all the things I can think of that might come up: 

Yes, you will always check in with the airline who operates your first flight. Note that you'll be subject to their baggage policy, so keep that in mind if they have different allowances.

It's always a good idea to confirm that your bags will be tagged to your final destination. This is the case 90% of the time (you'll still have to pick them up to clear US customs before your domestic connection, but they should be tagged to the final airport so you don't have to go to an agent and re-check them), but I have had a few cases where I needed to stop off at my connection point and give them my claim slips so they could update the tracking system for the other airline. Again, this is extremely rare, but it does happen.

Check to see if you have all your boarding passes after check-in. Usually partners will issue each other's boarding passes, but there are exceptions depending on airline/airport/flight. If you don't have the onward boarding pass, you'll need to go to a service counter during your connection to pick it up. If you're outside security (e.g. after clearing customs in the US), you'll have to go to the check-in counters to do this. If you do have your boarding pass, you might want to ask at the gate if you need to do anything. Once in a blue moon, I've had a partner airline want to reissue my boarding pass, or if you're connecting to an international flight (esp to the US) they might want to confirm your visa or clear additional security checks.

Lastly, regarding the Delta points - Find the fare class for the Virgin flight, and look on the Delta SkyMiles site for details on partner airline credit. You should be able to see whether you'll be earning points or not. About a month after your trip, check your account to confirm the miles were credited. Partner airline miles often slip through the cracks, and I've had to make requests for missing partner miles more often than I can count. For this reason - Hold on to your boarding passes! Do not throw them away, because you will need them if you have to file a missing mileage request. Oh, and even if you provide it with the booking, confirm at check-in that they have your frequent flyer numbers in the system. Sometimes they don't get added automatically. 

grosnl19

It is totally normal, don't worry about it.  The reason they do it is because the other airlines are partners and their flights are offered on delta's website.  I think Delta's partners are called "sky team", American's is "one world" and United's is "star alliance".

I just booked a KLM/Delta flight from BCN to ORD on Delta's website.

 

frlcb

GilliC:

Lastly, regarding the Delta points - Find the fare class for the Virgin flight, and look on the Delta SkyMiles site for details on partner airline credit. You should be able to see whether you'll be earning points or not. About a month after your trip, check your account to confirm the miles were credited. Partner airline miles often slip through the cracks, and I've had to make requests for missing partner miles more often than I can count. For this reason - Hold on to your boarding passes! Do not throw them away, because you will need them if you have to file a missing mileage request. Oh, and even if you provide it with the booking, confirm at check-in that they have your frequent flyer numbers in the system. Sometimes they don't get added automatically. 

Double, triple, quadruple this. We were screwed out of thousands of points on a trip to Asia on Korean Air because it was the wrong fare class, and even with our boarding passes they wouldn't give us the points.  

emilyinchile

Yes I've done it.

No I don't think it's weird.