Delta's Through-Checked Baggage Policy
Delta will check a passenger’s baggage between the origin and destination airports that are issued on a single or conjuncted* ticket exclusively. When issued on one ticket, Delta will also continue to check baggage through to the ticketed destination for interline itineraries. If a second ticket is presented for travel, Delta will only check the bag to the destination of the Delta ticket(s). Baggage may be claimed at the Delta-ticketed destination, and then re-checked by the customer with the downline carrier for the next flight.
* A single ticket also means a conjuncted (i.e., conjunctive) ticket. Conjuncted tickets are sequential in number on same ticket stock. It is not possible to conjunct tickets from different airlines.
Exceptions
In cases as noted below, when more than one ticket is presented, Delta will continue to through-check baggage from the origin to the destination.
- An entire journey (itinerary) consisting of Delta-marketed / Delta-operated flights
- SkyMiles Award plus a ticket with Delta-marketed / Delta-operated flights
- Delta ticket plus a ticket that includes one of the following Delta partner airlines, as long as the flight is "operated" by that airline:
- Aeromexico (AM)
- Air France (AF)
- China Eastern (MU)
- ITA Airways (AZ)
- KLM (KL)
- Korean Air (KE)
- LATAM (LA)
- Virgin Atlantic (VS)
- WestJet (WS)
- Delta ticket plus a:
- SkyTeam Round the World ticket
- Connection to a Delta charter flight
Travel Agency Information
Delta recommends creating a single ticket instead of split ticketing as a general best practice to ensure that Delta will be able to check baggage to a passenger’s final destination.
If a travel agent issues a multiple-ticket itinerary, the issuing agency must:
- Inform the passenger to claim and recheck baggage if a passenger’s itinerary is issued on multiple tickets.
- Ensure that the itinerary booked allows passengers sufficient time to claim and recheck baggage. Please note: When separate tickets are issued, it may result in misconnects. Minimum connection times (MCT) in a GDS apply only when an itinerary is sold as a connection, not when flights are sold by flight segment.
- Inform the passenger that Delta is not responsible for missed connections including flight irregularities or delays that result in a missed connection to a flight that is ticketed separately.
Single-ticket and Multi-ticket Examples
Single ticket example:
- Ticket 1 - ATL-LAX on a Delta flight connecting to another airline operating LAX-NRT.
Delta Policy: Delta will check the baggage from ATL to LAX to NRT.
Multi-ticket example:
- Ticket 1 – ATL-LAX on a Delta flight
- Ticket 2 – LAX-NRT on a different airline
Delta policy: Delta will check the baggage for the ATL to LAX flight only. Upon the flight’s arrival at LAX, the passenger will then need to collect the baggage at the Delta baggage claim and then proceed to check it with the down-line carrier for the next flight LAX to NRT.