Changing airlines at SFO
 

I booked a flight from MCO Orlando to MNL Manila via SFO. I am o n Virgin America to SFO where I switch to China Air. The web site says I may have transport my luggage from one terminal to the other but when I called Virgin they said they would transfer it. I can't get a straight answer from my travel agent ! Also Virgin says they will not charge a baggage fee if it is tagged thru to Manila ! Anyone have a clue to my dilemma ?

Not sure your dilemma. The airline you are flying says they will transfer your bags, which is common practice. They are the ones who will be handling your bag, not your TA.

The VA website says they are partners with China Airlines, further reinforcing the VA info.

http://www.virginamerica.com/travel/...-partners.html

It took me 6 seconds to find this info on the internet. Maybe you could introduce your TA to this newfangled thing called google.

The only dilemma is what your TA is doing with the fees charged.

Either it will happen or it won't.

SFO is a pretty easy airport to get around in. There's a simple link for folks to get from one terminal to the others.

http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/atsfo/

I just flew out of the the International Terminal 3 weeks ago. It's been totally remodeled and easy to use.

VAmerica lands in Terminal 2, and China departs in the International Terminal.

If you can't find the link from above, here is the details of each terminal.

http://www.flysfo.com/web/page/as_airportmaps.htm

So what you need to do is at MCO checkin make sure:

1. the VA agent knows your final destination is MNL and has your connecting flight info.
2. verify that your baggage tag does indeed say MNL.

If 1 and 2 are true then you are good to go. There's really nothing else you can do between now and checkin.

If you want, you can still checkin on line with VA beforehand, and just take care of the baggage tagging at the airport. Do not rely on a kiosk to walk you through the baggage tag process.

Thanks guys ! Your comments were very helpful , my wife shouldn;t have too many problems switching , she was afraid she would have to drag 100 lbs of bags on escalators or airtrains .