Luggage transfer between unrelated airlines

I think it's better if I tell a short example:

I plan on going from country A to country B, and I find out that it is cheaper if I pass by country X. However, the flights from A to X and then from X to B have to be booked separately with unrelated airlines 1 and 2.

Is it usually possible to ask airline 1 to automatically transfer my luggage on arrival to city X, to the plane managed by airline 2?

Or do I have to grab my luggage myself and go through customs and airport-security?

Best Answer

Speaking from personal experience, I would strongly warn against this.

I had once a ticket from Raleigh, NC to JFK with American Airlines, where, 2 and a half hours later I was to change over to Air France and continue on to Stuttgart via Paris.

The lady at the check-in in Raleigh happily recorded all my flight numbers so I wouldn't have to pick up the luggage in JFK (where I also had to change terminals).

I'm not 100% sure, where exactly things went wrong (see footnote below[1]), but I arrived in Stuttgart, whereas my bag didn't. Since I was coming back from a 3-week business trip and leaving for another week-long trip the next day, it was most unpleasant to end up with only two sets of clean underwear.

The bag was, nonetheless, delivered a couple of days later to my employer's address.

[1] - Perhaps 2.5 hours was too short to transfer the bag between terminals and airline in JFK. On the other hand, the flight to Paris went behind schedule and I had to wait until the next flight to Stuttgart in CDG. Amusingly, the last time I flew via Paris (this time from Stuttgart to Moscow, on a single ticket with Air France), my bag also got lost. So it's hard to decide, what was the real problem, the change in airline or the shortcoming of Air France and/or the nature of CDG.

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Do airlines transfer baggage to other airlines?

What Happens to Luggage on Connecting Flights with the Same Airline? Unless the connecting flight takes place in a country that requires all passengers to go through Immigration and Customs, checked baggage will automatically be transferred to the next flight.

Do I have to pick up my luggage on a connecting flight with different airlines?

If your bag is tagged to your next or final destination, you may need to pick up your bags and place them on the connection drop-off belt. If it is not tagged to your next or final destination, then you will definitely need to pick up your bags and check them in for your next flight.

How To Claim For Damaged Baggage and Get New Baggage from Airline | Damage Property Report

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Images: Kelly, Ketut Subiyanto, Gustavo Fring, Kelly