GOL benefits for AA status members are applied inconsistently and seem to be trending worse over time. There are earlier reports on FT of people getting free checked bag (even though that wasn't an officially documented benefit), but that was not true in my experience in October 2023 at GIG. You also should not expect lounge access, at least when flying domestically. One of the documented benefits is free Conforto+ seats, but it isn't possible to select them online, and today when I called, the rep told me my fare class doesn't give me access to those seats. (This is a domestic flight booked as AA award.) I insisted, and after consulting a supervisor, he relented. Overall, I'm very underwhelmed by the GOL partnership.
So I did end up booking a miles flight from Sao Paulo to Rio and I did get my comfort seat and a free bag... but if I tried to do two free bags it would make pay online for EACH of them until I cleared and reset. Bizarre. Was nervous I'd have to pay at the airport but all went well.
Originally Posted by
Zacnlinc
In Rio now and trying to navigate this GOL website is annoying!
It will not accept the letters in my AA#. So I’m paying for baggage and seats just to get the experience over and done.
Will wait until Monday when at airport to get refunds issued.
That... sucks. It's not like they use different characters than we do, maybe some extra funky symbols on some letters. I did fly GOL without issue but to be fair, I booked it with AA using miles and then did my seats on GOL. If there's a way to turn on a VPN to at least get the GOL website to think you're in the USA, maybe that will help? Anyways, sounds like whats done is done.