Will airlines allow flyers on board if they’re not on the passenger list?

Simon Calder answers your questions on third-party flight tickets, French airport strikes and visiting Disneyland

Qantas ‘code shares’ with South American airlines, given it is a lightly served route (Getty)

Q I am a Brit travelling the world. Last October I asked Booking.com to book me a flight from Santiago in Chile to Sydney, Australia, for this coming Friday 7 April 2023. The flight was booked with the Chilean airline Latam but will be a code share flight operated by Qantas. I wanted to go online to “manage my booking” but Latam tells me that I have to contact Qantas. I did just that, but Qantas told me I am not on the passenger list. They and Latam told me to contact Booking.com. Which I did and was told I am booked on the flight. I was not convinced and talked again recently to Latam – who sent me an e-ticket. But Qantas says I am not on the passenger list. Do you think I will be able to fly?

Name withheld

A Routes from South America to Australasia are lightly served (and expensive). It is no surprise that Qantas “code shares” with Latam – the latter can take an allocation of seats, and market them as its own. Sometimes they may be cheaper than those offered by the Australian airline, and therefore a shrewd traveller will choose to book Latam flight LA807 rather than Qantas flight QF27 – even though they are one and the same plane.