FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,515
As others have said, my experience is that it is much harder now than it used to be. There are exceptions but I have a feeling that it is much more difficult for gate agents and transfer desk agents to justify suspending the rules than it used to be. As brunos mentioned, with ticketing, the rules are applied fairly rigidly. By the way, I have seen the exact same evolution with other airlines such as BA and LX so it is not only AF.