Wow, a lot of stuff here I never thought about ...
Does the Group 1 boarding privilege only go to the primary cardholder and anyone on her or his PNR ... or do Barclays and Citi convey to AA any information on AUs? (To ask this question is to answer it: How could they, since when you add an AU no one asks you for their AAdvantage number.) So I guess AUs traveling without primary cardholder don't get this benefit ... or a checked bag. If anyone can tell me I'm wrong, I'll be pleased to be wrong. Thanks in advance.