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.