Got two in ATL the other day (2 pax, 1 bag per, 1 cert per). With the layout of that airport, it's practically a sure thing. AS uses Gate D3, which is all the way at one end of D. We were in First, walk fast, caught the train right away, and got to the bag claim in 15 minutes. No way can they offload bags and get them all the way there in 20 minutes. First bag was out at 25 minutes, ours came out towards the end at 35 (after the carseats). We had a delayed inbound and only made the connection because we were delayed as well. With such a long wait, we secured the certs before the bags even starting coming out. My companion joked that with this airport layout, they should just take a stack and hand them out on every flight. They were not amused.
Originally Posted by
jrl767
I got my first guarantee from DL last week at DCA: the baggage service agent handed me a card with a URL; shortly after I hit "Submit" the screen changed to show "Verified," and the mileage appeared in my account overnight
DL has the tracking info tied to to the record, so it's a quick validation. They know. AS has the data, but it's not tied together (at least not anywhere the customer can see it)