We are flying on NW from the states to Edinburgh with a change of flights in Amsterdam to KLM. Whose luggage rules apply, NW? KLM? Both? Do we have to collect our luggage and go thru customs in Amsterdam? What about passport control?
Also, our daughters ticket says she is flying on KLM, but ours says NW, so to further complicate matters, whose rules apply?
The rules get applied at the first checkin point. And it may depend a little bit on who is checking you in.
NW and KLM should have the same luggage rules as they are both partners and NW handles KLMs US operations. Checked luggage will automatically be sent to your collecting flight. Customs and immigration will be in Edinburgh as the UK is not a Schengen country; when you land in Amsterdam all you have to do is walk to the gate of your connecting flight. If you don't have a boarding pass then you will have to go to a KLM transfer desk-should be near your gate. At Schipol Airport security checks are done at the gates; metal detectors and scanners.
If your luggage is checked through to EDinburgh w/o your collecting it in Amsterdam, there is no problem with different weight limits. However, if you collect it in Amsterdam and then re-check in, you are then subject to a different weight allowance. In general the weight allowances are lower on inter-European flights. I once flew NY/Heathrow/Paris transferring in London but my bag was checked straight through. No problem. But on my return I flew Paris/London where I was spending some time before flying back to NY. I was charged overweight as the allowance was lower between Paris/London.
Frank is close on this one, in fact anything further is just me being pedantic.
The weight allowance and rules of carriage are established on the first coupon of your flights. Those rules apply irrespective of who the carrier is, provided the flights all appear on the same booking. So if your front coupon says either 20Kg or 2P/C ( the most common set up ) that's what you get for the whole journey there and back.
