I had my hand baggage checked and weighted at JFK. I was OW Rudy/AA Gold, and went to a regular economy counter because the business check-in had 2 people waiting. The agent was extremely thorough and didn't let it go until the "hand bag" was 8 kgs on the dot. It's ridiculous, as I was traveling JFK-HEL-BKK, with 14 hours layover in BKK, with 8 kgs of checked luggage, 2-3 of which was the suitcase itself. The agent is one of their veterans at JFK, as I have seen her at JFK on a few occasions afterwards, and she is always running around helping others.