What is a codeshare flight?
A codeshare flight is one aircraft sold under two or more airline codes. You buy a ticket from one carrier, but a different airline actually operates the flight, so the cabin, crew and service are theirs rather than the one on your booking.
Codeshare flight explained
Airlines do this to sell routes they do not fly themselves. A carrier can offer a hundred destinations while operating aircraft to thirty, filling the gaps with partner metal under its own flight number. Alliances such as Star Alliance, SkyTeam and oneworld exist largely to make that arrangement work smoothly across members.
The confusion for passengers is real and it costs people money. The booking says one airline, the boarding gate says another, and the business class you thought you had bought may be a completely different product. Two carriers in the same alliance can fly cabins a generation apart, so a codeshare booked on reputation alone is a gamble.
The rule to remember is that the operating carrier decides everything you experience. Their seat, their catering, their lounge, their baggage allowance and their on board service apply. The marketing carrier decides the flight number, the frequent flyer earning and, usually, who you call when something goes wrong.
Every booking must disclose the operating carrier, and it is normally shown as a line reading operated by beneath the flight. That line is worth more attention than the airline logo above it, particularly on a premium ticket where the gap between the two products can be several thousand dollars in value.
More on codeshare flight
Look for the line reading operated by beneath the flight details. Disclosure is required, but it is easy to miss because the marketing airline's name and logo appear more prominently.
The operating carrier's. Their seat, catering, lounge, baggage rules and service apply regardless of whose code is on the ticket. Two airlines in the same alliance can fly cabins a generation apart.
To sell destinations they do not fly. It lets a carrier offer a far wider network than its own fleet reaches, which is a large part of why the global alliances exist.
Generally the airline you bought the ticket from, since they hold the contract. Anything happening at the airport or on board is handled by the operating carrier.
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