Using two different airlines for a trip

If they are two separate itineraries, then yes. If on the same trip with different legs, no.

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If they are two separate itineraries, then yes. If on the same trip with different legs, no.

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That's incorrect. If the two airlines interline baggage, they can do the bag transfer even if on a separate itinerary.

Southwest doesn't interline baggage, however.

Yeah I wouldn't do this with bags, if you just carry on sure why not. Or stay a night in Seattle? Give yourself plenty of time like a day, a couple of hours is not enough.

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Yeah I wouldn't do this with bags, if you just carry on sure why not.

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Same here. Flying home from Honolulu, the hotel offered to check our bags for us. Hotel checkout was at 11AM, but our flight left at 9 PM. We were on Continental or United, and the last leg from Houston to BHM was a regional connector. They didn't have the capability to check bags all the way to BHM. Only with the major airlines. I would have had to claim them either in LAX or Houston, and recheck them. Only an hour layover in LAX, so that was a no go. And I had longer in Houston, but it would have been cutting it close. We just rented a car for the day and took our bags with us.

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s not that complicated when the systems interline. They do this daily without issue. You just provide your full itinerary when you check-in.

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Yeah except that Southwest doesn't co mingle with other airlines well at all. And he's going to Alaska, if he was going to say Hawaii where all you need is a t-shirt, swim trunks, and flops sure I'd risk your bags not arriving. But headed to Alaska, you may have $2000 of gear between jackets, boots, first layer, etc. Does Southwest fly to Alaska? If your issue is with southwest, then you have to coordinate them getting your bags to Alaskan airlines as they may not have a flight to where you are in Alaska.

On the way home, sure maybe why not. I'd never do it on the way there though. Just not worth the risk IMO. He's not really saving money either, he's just using points. I'd save my points for the next trip.

Or as I said, just fly a day early and use your savings on a hotel. If you have the time obviously.

I just did this to Europe and back FWIW. I carried on though. Again, no way with check on bags.

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If I book Southwest and then want to get on Alaska Air, will I have to get my bags at baggage claim in Seattle and go back through security? Is there a way to have bags transferred from Southwest to Alaska Air after arrival in Seattle. Any experiences doing this type of travel? Suggestions? I planned on allowing ample time between the flights as I know Alaska Air will not hold plane if Southwest is delayed.

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No, you will have to collect your luggage then head to the Alaska Air desk to get your new boarding pass and drop off bags again. Not a big deal and potentially worth the hassle / risk if you are saving a few hundred. But if the Southwest flight is delayed you will probably miss the next flight. Alaska Air will consider you a no-show since they will not know about your Southwest flight or it's delay. I would only try this if the layover is 3 hours or more, if the first flight is almost always on-time statistically, and if the savings are substantial.

I missed a flight from Frankfurt to Venice on Lufthansa because my New Orleans to Frankfurt flight on Condor was delayed. Lufthansa gave me a red-eye flight later that day but I got the feeling that they didn't have to since I was technically a no-show.