Data point:

I purchased the following itinerary from united.com: ORD-HNL-OGG-HNL-ORD

At OGG, HA charged a $25 bag fee for the return, despite my UA itinerary explicitly stating $0 for the first bag.

I contacted HA for a refund (providing them with clear documentation), and was denied for the following reason: "The "first marketing carrier" policy applies to the actual baggage policy of the carrier and does not apply to the free baggage allowance offered to its' elite members."

I followed up the response with text from Regs 399.87 and 399.85 (the primary basis for my complaint), and additionally, disputed that UA's "actual baggage policy" is separate from their "free bag allowance". I believe that since UA's baggage policy is published and administered together with certain elite benefits, the elite benefits are not separable from the policy. If they are separable, then the top-down argument could be made that the "actual baggage policy" is to not charge, and fees begin and are increased for lesser- and non-elites.

I'm awaiting a response, and plan to file a DOT complaint if a full refund is not issued.

I am empathetic to HA's case, and my complaint is not on the basis of whether I believe it's conceptually right or wrong to charge the fee, but rather that it's against the rules. Does HA even have the capability to see what baggage fees are on an individual basis?