Originally Posted by DCEsquire

Thanks in advance. Apologies if there is a current thread on the topic. I only fly AA once or twice a year and we have a relatively (under 1) year old child. I'm looking for some clarification about AA's policies regarding children. After our experience I checked the website but it doesn't really answer my question.

When we flew from DCA-ALB we checked our luggage curbside. I had previously called AA to register our lapchild. We checked in fine and AA announced preboarding. No issues. We checked 5 bags. They charged us for one.

On the return flight we checked in at the ticket counter. They asked us all sorts of questions. Baby's name, birthdate, who's holding the baby? Huh? They also charged us 85 bucks for luggage. When we approached the gate, I asked for and received a tag for the stroller we were gate checking. They never announced preboarding for infants and when we asked the gate agent she said AA doesn't preboard people traveling with kids.

I know the website says you need to ask for it and it seems like "maybe" they will oblige but maybe not...

Is there any rhyme or reason to this on AA and what was with all of the questions and the difference in baggage fees inbound vs. outbound?

I mostly fly UA and while people like to gripe about the airline on FT, I'm a huge fan of their policies regarding kids and preboarding.