What is it?
The Baggage Check-In On Demand API is used to check bags in for a flight.
Features
Baggage Check-In On Demand supports the issuance of standard or special bags, and provides the option to link a bag to a valid baggage ancillary. The issued bag tag is printed via a dedicated host bag tag printer, and contains:
- Passenger information
- Baggage routing
- Bag tag number
- Issuing agent information
Build and Print Bag Tags
This API supports the generatation of baggage tag details as a data feed, so that passengers can build/print their own bag tags.
Why use it?
Where there are travelers, there are bags to be checked in. With advancements in airport technology, the baggage check-in process is not only limited to travel agent-facing applications, but also through baggage drop kiosk applications. Because of this, there is now a need to check bags in and print bag tags from a remote location, and then later receive the baggage. Baggage Check-In On Demand helps airline carriers accomplish these tasks by providing the ability to check baggage in and print bag tags remotely and support biometric baggage check-in.
How it works
Request
Baggage Check In On Demand checks in standard bags or Ancillary (AE) linked bags. Bags can be issued for a maximum of 9 passengers in a single API call:
-
Send the required traveler information, along with their baggage request information:
- Passenger last name
PassengerId
OR
- Passenger last name
- PNR Locator and
NameAssociationId
OR
uniquePassengerId
- biometric baggage check-in
-
Issue up to ten (10) bag tags per passenger in your request.
Response
A successful response from Baggage Check In On Demand will contain generic bag tag print data, which can be consumed by the point of sale (POS) system to print the bag tag.
Important! If any of the required mandatory parameters are missing in the request, the API will return a validation error.
Baggage Weight
Baggage Check In On Demand supports both the weight and unit of measure of the bag:
-
Bag weights are saved with the unit defined in the Airport (ASA) table irrespective of the unit of measure (
KG
orLB
) passed in the request. -
If a traveler already has bags, and Baggage Check In On Demand adds a new bag, the new weight is added to the existing weight and the updated weight will be returned as the total baggage weight.
-
Baggage Check In On Demand does not support subtracting from the baggage weight for a passenger.
-
You can define the baggage type (heavy, priority, limited release, etc.) and the corresponding numeric reason code for the baggage type (as defined in the Baggage Tag Type Table).
Bag Tags
Up to ten (10) bag tags can be issued per passenger in your request:
-
Baggage Check In On Demand issues bag tags for the current flight date, or may issue for the next day's flight if the flight departure is within 6 hours. However, if the Advanced Baggage Check-In indicator (
ADBAG
) in the ASA is set asYes
, bag tags may be issued one day prior to flight departure. -
If a destination is not provided in the request, the bag will be issued to the final destination (if there is an
OB
edit). Otherwise, if the bag's destination is provided, the baggage will be short-tagged to the desired destination. -
When bag tags are issued by Baggage Check In On Demand, all relevant BSM messages are sent out and the PNR is updated with baggage details.
-
Bag tags are printed via the dedicated host printer.
-
A maximum of four baggage routes are issued/printed on the on-demand bag tags.
Security Limitations
-
Baggage Check In On Demand functions are restricted when performed on a traveler who is on a watchlist.
-
Security restrictions for bag tags are determined by indicators in the Airport File by airline and airport. Once the
SC
edit code is set, there are no restrictions for bag tag issuance.
How to use
Check-in single or multiple bags for passengers by completing the required parameters below:
- Under
baggageRouteList
, specify the passenger's route (single or multiple segments) along with the airline code, flight number, departure city, and departure date. - Enter all passenger details, along with baggage information like the type of bag, bag weight, if free baggage is allowed, etc. Enter one of the combinations below:
- either
lastName
andpassengerId
- or
lastName
andpnrLocator
- or
uniquePassengerId
- either
Note: If the homePrintedBagTag
boolean is activated by the carrier, passengers can print their bag tags.
- Select a print format option (
BagTagData
/ZplBagTagData
).
Note: In the case of excess baggage, the checkExcessBaggageAllowance
boolean must be set to true
.