Interline baggage agreements are arrangements between airlines that allow checked bags to be transferred from one flight to another, even when you’re flying on more than one carrier. In the best-case scenario, you check your bag once at your origin airport and don’t see it again until you reach your final destination.
That kind of convenience can make a huge difference when you’re piecing together an itinerary with points and miles. After all, finding the perfect award ticket from your home airport to your destination on the exact dates you want is rare enough that, when it happens, you should probably go buy a lottery ticket too.
More often, travelers end up booking what’s known as a positioning flight — a separate flight that gets you to the airport where your main itinerary begins, or home again after it ends.
That’s where interline baggage rules start to matter.
If the airline operating your positioning flight won’t check your bags through to your next ticket, you may have to land, go to baggage claim, pick up your luggage, head back to the check-in counter, re-check your bags, and then go back through security. At a large airport like JFK, LAX or O’Hare, that can also mean dragging your luggage onto a train or shuttle just to get to the correct terminal.
Update for 2026: We reviewed these interline baggage policies again in March 2026. The overall picture hasn’t changed much. If you’re flying on separate tickets, United and Delta are still the most likely to offer some flexibility, while most other U.S. airlines continue to require you to collect and re-check your bags.
Here’s a simplified look at the interline baggage rules for the major U.S. carriers.
Note: You’ll see the term PNR in some airline policies. That stands for Passenger Name Record — the six-character confirmation code tied to your reservation. You can sometimes have multiple flights under one PNR, even on different airlines. The issue here is what happens when you’re flying on separate tickets with different PNRs.
Bold text is used to emphasize the rules for separate tickets.
Delta
Delta will accept checked bags between the ticketed origin and destination airports when travel is issued on a single ticket.
If a separate ticket is presented for travel, Delta will check the bag only to the destination of the Delta ticket. Bags must be claimed at the Delta-ticketed destination and re-checked by the customer with the next operating carrier.
Exceptions
When more than one ticket is presented, Delta will continue to through-check bags from the origin to the destination in the following situations:
- Delta ticket plus a ticket that includes flights operated by one of these Delta partner airlines:
- Aeromexico
- Air France
- China Eastern
- KLM
- Korean Air
- LATAM
- Virgin Atlantic
- WestJet
- Delta ticket plus a Delta charter flight
- An airline not listed above for active-duty military members traveling on orders
United
If you have a separate ticket on another carrier, you must claim your bags at the destination of the first ticketed itinerary and check them again with the other carrier to your final destination.
Baggage may be checked through to the final destination if the separate ticketed itinerary includes flights operated by a Star Alliance member airline.
Reports from travelers also suggest United may not interline bags when the United portion of the trip is booked as Basic Economy.
Alaska
Travel that includes multiple airlines or tickets
If you’re traveling on more than one airline, your baggage fees and rules may be determined by the other airline. Please check your ticket, or call Alaska Airlines Reservations to help determine which airline rules and fees apply to your journey.
If your travel includes more than one ticket, each ticket is considered a separate journey. Baggage will only be checked to the final destination on the first ticket. Please allow enough time to collect your baggage and re-check in with the next airline. Checked baggage will not be transferred on to your next flight that’s on a separate ticket. Baggage fees for each carrier may apply.
American
When separate tickets are issued in separate PNRs, a customer’s baggage will be checked only to the final destination on the American Airlines ticket.
If a second ticket is presented for travel on another airline, customers are responsible for claiming their baggage and re-checking it with the next carrier.
This may involve exiting the secure area to claim and re-check baggage. International connections may also require clearing customs before re-checking bags with the next airline.
Southwest
Southwest Airlines does not transfer checked bags to other airlines.
If you’re connecting from a Southwest flight to another airline on a separate ticket, you’ll need to retrieve your luggage at baggage claim and then check it again with the next carrier.
This has long been Southwest’s policy, as the airline does not maintain interline baggage agreements with other carriers.
JetBlue
JetBlue will check baggage through to the final destination when flights are booked on the same reservation.
If you are traveling on separate tickets, you will need to collect your bags at baggage claim and re-check them with the next airline.
JetBlue does maintain interline agreements with some partner airlines, but baggage transfers generally require all flights to be on the same reservation.
Hawaiian
We understand that sometimes you have to book different portions of your journey on different airlines using separate tickets. When this happens, we cannot ensure there will be enough time to transfer your bags to your next flight.
If you’re booked on separate tickets with another airline connecting to Hawaiian Airlines, you must collect your bags at the connection airport and re-check them with a Hawaiian Airlines agent.
At that time, baggage fees may apply.
Spirit
Spirit does not transfer checked bags to other airlines.
If you’re connecting to another airline on a separate ticket, you’ll need to retrieve your luggage at baggage claim and check it again with the next carrier.
Spirit does not maintain interline baggage agreements with other airlines.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to checking bags through on separate tickets, your options are fairly limited. Among the major U.S. airlines, Delta and United are still the only carriers that may check bags all the way to your final destination when flights are booked on separate reservations—and even then, it’s usually limited to certain partner airlines.
Most airlines treat separate tickets as completely separate trips, which means you should expect to claim your bags at the end of the first itinerary, then head back to the check-in counter and start the process again with the next airline. Those days when an agent could check your bag almost anywhere, as long as you had a ticket, are mostly gone.
That’s why baggage policies can matter when choosing a positioning flight. I booked Delta to JFK to connect to our Virgin Atlantic flight to London because Delta could check our bags all the way through, and I once chose United from San Francisco to Orlando when connecting from Singapore Airlines for the same reason. If you’re flying on separate tickets, picking the right airline could save you a lot of time—and a second trip through security.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
