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I am in a tricky situation and did not find an suitable answer online yet, so hopefully somebody here can help me. Next week I will fly from Austria to Thailand/Bangkok (BKK) with OS (Austrian Airlines). In Bangkok I will continue my journey to Chiang Mai (CNX) with a domestic flight. To keep it simple, I would like to check-through my luggage from Austria directly to CNX. But here it gets tricky: I booked the domestic flight on "Thai Airways International" webpage, so the domestic flight has the flight number TGxxxx. Luggage check-through should be possible here, because Austrian Airlines and Thai Airways are both participants of Star Alliance. But now I discovered, that my flight from BKK-CNX is operated by Thai Smile, the pocket discounter of Thai Airways, so my domestic flight is a code-shared flight. As far as I know, Austrian Airlines does not have an agreement with Thai Smile to check-through my luggage. Am I still able to check-through my luggage to CNX, because I do have a TG-flight number? Also, do I need to online check in at Thai Airways or Thai Smile? (I read already that one should check-in at the flight operators webpage which would be Thai Smile, but all the data I have from my booking suits for Thai Airways webpage and not Thai Smile webpage)

Thank you very much for your replies. Best regards, Stefan

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    Through check-in on separate tickets is not always possible, even if they are from the same airline or alliance or there are interlining or code share agreements. Some airlines will do it very easily, others will never do it, and in many other cases it depends who (and how) you ask. Thai Smile is a “Star Alliance connecting partner” with LH/OS/LX, so they do offer through check-in for flights on a single booking (see thaismileair.com/en/star-alliance-cp ). You should probably try to call OS to see if they can join the bookings. Fees may apply.
    – jcaron
    Commented Feb 15, 2023 at 13:21
  • Hi jcaron, thank you very much for your answer. Somehow I didn't read that Thai Smile is also a Star Alliance connecting partner for OS. I think I will try the luggage check-through at the check-in counter at the airport then and will ask very nicely. At this point I should have my boarding pass for my domestic flight already and it might be easier to explain. I will post an update here how it worked out after my trip.
    – Stonecutter
    Commented Feb 16, 2023 at 6:23
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    You can try to get the bookings merged beforehand by calling them, but it will probably depend a lot on the fares on each of the flights.
    – jcaron
    Commented Feb 16, 2023 at 9:29

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The only way to find out, is to call the airline and ask them directly. It can be done, but the airline is not required to do it.

Even if the agent on the phone says "yes", it's still partially dependent on the mood and good-will of the check-in agent at the airport. It's a fair bit of work and requires experience that not all check-in agents have.

Last time we interlined on separate tickets, the agent had to call in a supervisor who (fortunately for us) had some extra time and turned this into a training session for the agent. It still took 20 minutes or so.

Hope for the best but plan for the worst: There is no harm in trying but make sure that your itinerary is viable even if you have to manually transfer your bags (including customs, security, check-in & drop-off, etc.)

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  • Hello Hilmar, thanks for your reply. I thought that, if two airlines have an agreement, they will always do it, so thanks for clarification. At the time of booking I thought already that the "worst" outcome would be leaving and entering the airport again, therefore my booked domestic flight starts around 3.5 hours after arriving in BKK, which should be sufficient (when no larger delays occur). Still I will ask very nicely and try to achieve the luggage check-through at my home airport.
    – Stonecutter
    Commented Feb 16, 2023 at 6:31

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