Originally Posted by
Often1
The agent was entirely correct. I presume that OP booked JFK-BOM with a connection at LHR rather than a stopover.
In that instance, without supervisory approval, the agent would have had a good deal of explaining to do as short-checking bags is not permitted. The reason for the short-check does not matter as BA's position is that you are a BOM passenger who happens to be changing aircraft at LHR.
Needless to say, the underlying sensitivity is the uptick in hidden city ticketing fraud (known politely here as xEU). A supervisor looking at this ticket would presume that OP would not have booked this ticket to somehow defraud BA.
Without wishing to take this thread entirely OT, and I note that you are based in the States where rules are different, but dropping the final leg of an ex-EU journey is absolutely not fraudulent in any way. Nor is it a breach of contract. In fact, it doesn't even break the BAEC's own rules, which BA has wide discretion to write as it sees fit.