When I flew from Tokyo/Narita to Penang, via Kuala Lumpur using Japan Airlines (JL) and a code share flight operated by Malaysian Airlines for the leg to Penang, there was some interesting experience on my luggage allowance with my One World Sapphire status. Here is some quick notes.
Disclaimer: This article was originally written in Japanese and machine translated to English, as I considered this article as living tip for those Japanese living in Malaysia/Penang. As translation was not proof read except the excerpt, please use this article for your reference only. However, I would be happy to translate this article properly, so if there is any needs please let me know by comment filed.
Calling JAL office prior to the travel
Contents
Since I had forgotten a lot of the ins and outs of international travel due to the Corona disaster, and since it had been almost two and a half years since I had temporarily returned to Japan, and since I had been a JGC Premier for a while before Corona, the baggage rules were a bit fuzzy this time, so I contacted JAL’s call center and others before leaving Japan just to be sure.
I remember that I had to pay an additional 10,000 yen for Malaysia Airlines operated flights (Kuala Lumpur and Penang), but after waiting for a while, the call center answered that the Sapphire piece allowance was applied to Malaysia Airlines operated flights, so I could bring 3 pieces of sapphire in addition to the normal 23kg x 2 pieces for JL flight number. After waiting for a while, the call center staff confirmed that the sapphire piece allowance was applicable to Malaysia Airlines operated flights, so I could bring 3 pieces of sapphire in addition to the usual 2 pieces of 23kg in economy class. I was surprised to find out that the number of sapphires was different from what I had remembered, so I decided to inquire about it and shipped one sapphire in advance and brought two sapphires to the airport.
https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/ja/inter/boarding/codeshare/jgc_list.html
Encounter at the Check-in
So, at the counter, I was working on the check-in process in the direction of checking in three pieces, but the attendant informed me that there would be an additional charge for the extra piece. Well, I had a feeling that it would be so, so I just made a really light comment, saying, “Yes, but I was told in advance by the call center that it was within the preferential allowance.
The staff member called me on the spot to confirm and apologized, so I said nothing more and went to the payment counter without further ado.
If there is an additional charge, you will have to pay it at a separate counter, not at the check-in counter, and your boarding pass will not be issued until payment is completed. If you have excess baggage, please arrive at the airport as early as possible.
At the Payment Desk
Personally, I was in the “10,000 yen is right” mode when I called the check-in counter to confirm my reservation, so I followed the instructions. They told me that they had checked the information at the check-in counter, and that they were sorry for the delay, even though they had already confirmed the information by phone.
Therefore, I had intended to pay 10,000 yen and call it a day.
A few days after came back to Penang
One day a few days after I returned to Malaysia, I received a call from an unknown Japanese cell phone number while I was working, and when I thought who it was, it was (probably) the female attendant who had assisted me at the check-in counter that day.
Then, oh my! They then told me that they had rechecked the rules again, and as a result, the call center’s guidance was correct, and the additional 10,000 yen fee was unnecessary! They called us to tell us their bank account so we could refund the money!
I was honestly surprised that I received such a firm post-confirmation, even though the case was completely closed when the package had already been safely delivered to Penang, and I did not write any comments on the survey or complaint afterwards!
So a few weeks later, we had 10,000 yen safely transferred to our bank (sorry for the messy erasure).
I was really surprised and grateful that you responded so well to my complaint that I had only checked a little bit! I will continue to use this section, so this confirmation really helped me a lot! Thank you JAL for your continued support!
