AA/BA separate tickets - transfer/bag check question
Dec 7, 2014, 6:20 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: Oneworld
Posts: 5
AA/BA separate tickets - transfer/bag check question
Hi everyone,
I am flying LAX-DFW-LHR on an AA ticket with combined AA/BA metal; then LHR-AMS on BA metal. I am flying on separate itineraries, as I found a remarkably affordable business class fare on AA for $2990 LAX-DFW-LHR and direct LHR-LAX on the way back. So I just bought a separate BA itinerary for $200 from LHR-AMS in coach, as that flight is so ridiculously short it's not worth the trouble. (I refuse to fly US metal as I heard a horror story about their biz class from PHL-AMS - it's a 757 and the seats are basically a slightly more roomy premium economy). I could not get the same biz class fare to Amsterdam on AA or BA metal even with the exact same routing. It actually went up to $14,000 with exactly the same routing which is ridiculous, but OK.
However I was told by the main reservations desk at AA that a new policy came into effect just this November stating that bags could not be checked all the way through on two separate itineraries, even if both were on Oneworld.
It's an 8 day trip so I can do my best to make do with my Tumi roller, though I would certainly prefer to check my bag if I can find a way around that new policy; and I want to make sure I can still check in at the transfer desk at LHR Terminal 5 ? And in Terminal 4 with AA on the way back? I've never used the transfer desks there before; I always have been ticketed straight through.
Any advice would be much appreciated. And I'm not sure if this should be posted in another forum but I thought it was sort of a Oneworld question.
I am flying LAX-DFW-LHR on an AA ticket with combined AA/BA metal; then LHR-AMS on BA metal. I am flying on separate itineraries, as I found a remarkably affordable business class fare on AA for $2990 LAX-DFW-LHR and direct LHR-LAX on the way back. So I just bought a separate BA itinerary for $200 from LHR-AMS in coach, as that flight is so ridiculously short it's not worth the trouble. (I refuse to fly US metal as I heard a horror story about their biz class from PHL-AMS - it's a 757 and the seats are basically a slightly more roomy premium economy). I could not get the same biz class fare to Amsterdam on AA or BA metal even with the exact same routing. It actually went up to $14,000 with exactly the same routing which is ridiculous, but OK.
However I was told by the main reservations desk at AA that a new policy came into effect just this November stating that bags could not be checked all the way through on two separate itineraries, even if both were on Oneworld.
It's an 8 day trip so I can do my best to make do with my Tumi roller, though I would certainly prefer to check my bag if I can find a way around that new policy; and I want to make sure I can still check in at the transfer desk at LHR Terminal 5 ? And in Terminal 4 with AA on the way back? I've never used the transfer desks there before; I always have been ticketed straight through.
Any advice would be much appreciated. And I'm not sure if this should be posted in another forum but I thought it was sort of a Oneworld question.
Dec 7, 2014, 7:02 pm
#2
Join Date: May 2003
Programs: OW Emerald
Posts: 1,452
See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...e-tickets.html
Dec 8, 2014, 10:20 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: LAX
Posts: 3,639
Except that in practice, check-through will be at the whim of the agent you check in with.
I'm not saying you will or should be denied, just warning that an agent may not know the rule, his supervisor may have given him specific albeit incorrect instructions to the contrary, he doesn't know which buttons to press to get the job done, etc.
I'm just suggesting that if check-through is important to you, you might best be prepared to argue the point. It's said there's a statement on the OW web site giving that check-through policy (as correctly stated by jridge - I haven't looked, but there's supposedly a very positive statement that check-through to another OW carrier even on a separate ticket will be accommodated) and I'd carry a printout of it.
(For your heads-up, there are current discussions in the BA thread about painfully long lines getting through security at LHR T5, even for FastTrack pax. Just one more thing to make flying less fun than it used to be.
)
I'm not saying you will or should be denied, just warning that an agent may not know the rule, his supervisor may have given him specific albeit incorrect instructions to the contrary, he doesn't know which buttons to press to get the job done, etc.
I'm just suggesting that if check-through is important to you, you might best be prepared to argue the point. It's said there's a statement on the OW web site giving that check-through policy (as correctly stated by jridge - I haven't looked, but there's supposedly a very positive statement that check-through to another OW carrier even on a separate ticket will be accommodated) and I'd carry a printout of it.
(For your heads-up, there are current discussions in the BA thread about painfully long lines getting through security at LHR T5, even for FastTrack pax. Just one more thing to make flying less fun than it used to be.
)
Dec 8, 2014, 6:32 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: Oneworld
Posts: 5
thanks for the heads up.... I will track down a OneWorld policy statement and make sure to print it out. If I find the link I will post it here. I'll be checking in with the business class/elite status desk at LAX and they are usually (somewhat) pleasant.
And in case there is a problem, my layover at LHR is 2 1/2 hours so, I guess getting my bag and coming back in won't be the end of the world. (Just really annoying.)
I actually had a fairly painless transfer at T5 this summer on the similar LAX-LHR-BRU itinerary. The only thing that still bothers me is changing from AA to BA and taking those ridiculous buses.
And in case there is a problem, my layover at LHR is 2 1/2 hours so, I guess getting my bag and coming back in won't be the end of the world. (Just really annoying.)
I actually had a fairly painless transfer at T5 this summer on the similar LAX-LHR-BRU itinerary. The only thing that still bothers me is changing from AA to BA and taking those ridiculous buses.
Dec 9, 2014, 12:17 pm
#6
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: NYC
Programs: AS MVP Gold, BA Silver, AA Gold, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 1,619
If the bag does get checked through, I'd also advise requesting confirmation from the gate agent at LHR T5 that your bag successfully made the transfer to the BRU-bound plane. By confirmation, I mean positive confirmation (i.e. "your bag is being/has been loaded onto the plane just now"), as opposed to negative confirmation (i.e. "I would have been notified if any bag had gone missing").
[My recent AA to BA bag transfer misconnect at JFK (despite all being on one PNR and a 2.5 hour connection time) has lead me to believe that the two airlines do not have robust interline baggage systems between themselves --- and it is therefore incumbent on the passengers to take extra steps to help them out.]
[My recent AA to BA bag transfer misconnect at JFK (despite all being on one PNR and a 2.5 hour connection time) has lead me to believe that the two airlines do not have robust interline baggage systems between themselves --- and it is therefore incumbent on the passengers to take extra steps to help them out.]