THECASEISALTERED

I made a multi-city booking via Opodo: HeathrowParis-Helsinki on Air France and Tallinn-AmsterdamLondon City on KLM. During the booking process I was advised that “you can add checked baggage once the booking is confirmed”. So I booked at a good fare and then proceeded to add and pay for baggage. The screen showed an error and told me to call customer service to book it. It was here that my problems started. Opodo said Air France was blocking the booking for baggage and that I needed to call the airline. Air France said that as these were codeshare flights, I could not pay for baggage online or over the phone and would have to do it at the airport.

As a travel coordinator for more than 15 years, I have never heard of this and advised Air France that codeshares were meant to offer seamless travel. I made a written complaint that I was booked on flights with AF and KL codes thus it shouldn’t make any difference. I have yet to hear back. I wonder if the reason I can’t pay for baggage online is because it’s more expensive to do so at the airport.

Keith Carter, Buckhurst Hill, Essex

AIR FRANCE REPLIES:

We regret to hear that Mr Carter had a frustrating experience. While we have codeshare agreements with partner airlines, our systems are not always synchronised and, unfortunately, we sometimes encounter situations such as Mr Carter’s, when he travelled on a codeshare flight [Paris-Helsinki] with our partner Finnair. This meant we were unable to add baggage after the time of booking. Mr Carter was then correctly advised by Air France that he would only be able to add on baggage at the airport.