Originally Posted by emcampbe

UA is notoriously bad about posting correct bag info. when partner airlines are involved. However, AC is no slouch in bad policy/comms itself.

As you mentioned this was an award, meaning the flight you checked in for would have been AC-operated and marketed, meaning their bag fees would have been applied, assuming you flew them first. As an additional point here, IME, AC Transborder flights booked with UA miles roughly 2 years ago used to get a free bag, but no longer do. They have updated some things.

in order to really know what happened here, need additional information. What was your full itinerary and who operated which flights? Were any of your bags oversize or overweight, which would add additional amounts to fees charged. Without the info, no one can tell you whether the charge was correct or not.

You are supposed to be able to rely on the information UA provided you. If they displayed erroneous fees, they should absolutely make you whole, via a DOT complaint if they won’t do it on their own. If AC charged you the incorrect amounts, you should start with them, moving to a DOT complaint and/or CC dispute if they will not make you whole.

Originally Posted by cfischer

$200 seems extreme for AC bag charges. Was that a regular 50 lb bag?

Originally Posted by mikew99

This is the important part. OP, check your email for the eTicket Itinerary and Receipt. It should have a section labelled "Baggage allowance and charges for this itinerary," under which you can find the 1st and 2nd bag charges, along with the applicable dimensions.

DOT rules state that airlines must give "correct, specific baggage allowance and fee information on e-ticket confirmations sufficient for consumers to determine the allowances and fees that apply to their travel, including travel on code-share and interline itineraries.... [T]he baggage allowances and fees that apply at the beginning of an itinerary must apply throughout...[and] must take into account the fees that apply to that itinerary."

If the above explanation doesn't yield results, then a DOT complaint should.