Thank you for replying so ... thoroughly. I'll retract my earlier remarks.

The DOT's 2009 order was expanded by a 2011 order.

Your Amadeus link doesn't work in Chrome or IE9; nor does the CX link (for me, anyway).

Working from an ATPCO interpretation of the 2011 order, one finds this, usefully:


What is the US DOT baggage disclosure rule?

On 25 April 2011, the US DOT issued a ruling regarding disclosure of a passenger’s baggage allowance and charges information. As part of that ruling, the DOT presented the following requirements for travel to, from, and within the United States:
• Airlines must publish any changes to their baggage policy on their Web sites, and these notices must stay posted for three months after the revision
• Airlines and travel agents must specify all baggage and special item charges at the time of the passenger fare quote
• Airlines and travel agents must also specify at the time of ticketing the carry-on allowance and/or charges, as well as the charge for the first and second checked bag
• Airlines must apply the baggage rules of the first airline selected as the Most Significant Carrier (MSC) throughout a passenger’s entire journey and the amount that passengers pay for checked bags and other items, such as a pet in hold, must not vary during their trip
This ruling becomes effective on 24 January 2012.


Thus every passenger ticket controlled by the DOT must specify the luggage and carry-on allowances and no further calls to AA or partner carriers, nor new FT threads on this order first or second bag charges, should really be necessary.