HELP! Luggage allowance for two non-linked tickets DFW to LHR to SIN

To all you travel Gurus. I need help. I live in Singapore but frequently go to the US with my family and end up buying lots of US goodies to bring back. I have a family of 4 and would like to bring back 8 bags (2 bags per person). My trip to US this year goes through London and to save money I bought 2 separate tickets. 1 on Qantas from SIN-LHR and second round trip on AA from LHR to DFW. I found out on Qantas site that both AA and Qantas allow only 1 bag each for each trip but Qantas allows 2 bags if the itinerary shows US. On AA, it's unclear what they would do.

ON way back from DFW to LHR, I'm worried that AA will charge me 4 extra bags. I'm also worried that Qantas will charge me for 4 extra bags from LHR to SIN (I'm staying in London for 4 days on way back).

How can I "LINK" the 2 itineraries so it shows a single itinerary. It should be clear the airlines that I'm ending my trip in the US and starting in SIN, which should allow me to have 4 bags each. But I don't know how greedy these airlines would get in this situation.

I'm hoping the following helps me somehow
1) I'm a lifetime gold member on AA (but my family members have no status)
2) both airlines are one world

Any thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

"How can I "LINK" the 2 itineraries so it shows a single itinerary. It should be clear the airlines that I'm ending my trip in the US and starting in SIN, which should allow me to have 4 bags each. But I don't know how greedy these airlines would get in this situation."

I meant 2 bags each (total 8 bags).

Linking won't necessarily help with baggage as they are on separate PNR's.

I really don't know as it's a real YMMV - your best bet is to stick to the lowest allowance available for the entire trip. (Of course, that's not what you want to read.)

My experience is: separate tickets (especially with a stopover between them) give you only the respective baggage allowance. If you can check baggage thru often the first carrier does not really care about the baggage allowance for the second and you can get by not paying for the second, but in your case you need to check in again.

The baggage allowance is tied to the ticket, not to the reservation.

I see very little chance of you not getting charged for at least 3 extra bags (your GLD status might give you 2, but AA may not grant you it since you are transferring to a QF FLT). Both your AA E-TKT and your QF E-TKT shows 1 piece, which is the only thing the check-in agents see. In addition, since you bought separate TKTs, airlines (even if with in the same alliance) has no obligation to give you anything extra bacause you are continuing on to another FLT. In fact, even if you had bought only one TKT, the bag allowance remains 1 piece, as 2 pieces is only applied in QF's case to QF's own FLT to the U. S.

thanks serfty, unterwegs and ernestnywang...Ernestnywang, I see your example you have a 2nd checked bag fee of SGD76.00...is this what I would have to pay per extra bag?if that's the case, that's not so horrible. I checked on the QF site and it shows about $90 AUD for prepaid baggage, which is it?

PS, I called the AA desk and confirmed that I can get 5 bags from DFW to LHR (because of my status). My status does not seem to apply to QF so looks like only 4 bags from LHR to SIN...but another friend told me that if the QF agent sees that I originated from the US, they may waive all my bags up to 8. Anyone disagree?

Well...if you booked everything in 1 TKT 76SGD would be the price. However, since you booked it separately, AA theoretically could ask you for 76SGD plus whatever the amount QF charges, although in reality I doubt if this will be the case.

On a second thought, are all 4 of you booked in the same PNR? If so, you may get away with it. According to http://www.aa.com/i18n/utility/baggageExceptions.jsp, PAX booked on the same booking with a GLD will have the GLD bag allowance extended to them.

unfortunately not, my wife and 2 kids are on separate PNR from me (we booked & travelled separately on outbound but return together). The agent did mention exact thing to me.

QF agent will see the allowance that the QF booking has and QF is getting pretty good at charging the appropriate excess fees; if they did not, then it would be rather unfair on those that prepay for excess at the discounted rate

What you have on a completely unrelated booking will have no relevence. Expect to be charged for all bags over the Qantas allowance of 1 per person; if you do get charged for less, think of it as a bonu

I thought OP would only have excess bags on the way back, but OP did not make it quite clear. If OP only has excess bags on the way back, I believe AA will charge the excess fee and tag the bag to SIN. AA should also be able to issue QF's BP (if the agent knows how to do it, which OP should try to push).