eponymous_coward

Credit card only gives you one checked bag. OW Sapphire gives you two. If you're showing two it's because your OW Sapphire is showing on AS's systems.

ashill

How you bought the ticket is irrelevant. The AS credit card gives you checked bag fee waivers if the AS frequent flyer number associated with the credit card is in the reservation at check in.

CAtraveker

Hope you’re right about my AA status giving me 2 free luggage. It’s always been that way with One World partners BUT today’s AS agent and her “team” insisted that I would have to choose between seat upgrade or free luggage. This is important to us because we have a couple of flights to Mexico and we’re bringing golf clubs along with luggage. And, we just bought 10 $500 certificates for $449 each through Costco. Our backup plan, at least for a few flights, would be to use our AMEX card to pay for luggage if we get charged and get reimbursed up to $250/year.

meechyathere

She and her "team" are completely wrong. As long as your AA FF number is in the res, they will let you check in two bags free at the counter. The "pick your benefit" part is made-up.

AndyKehn

Who cares about what some misinformed agents said. It's sad that us consumers know more about the intricacies of AS program than the help. Sorry you were fed lies by these lazy agents.

eponymous_coward

The post immediately above you explains. Your AS number that’s linked with the credit card isn’t in the reservation any more, so you no longer get the free bag from the credit card, but instead you get two from your AA status as well as the seat upgrade. Likely the phone rep didn’t know about the free bags when talking about “one or the other”.

eponymous_coward

So: a data point on OW schedule changes and being accommodated:

Initial award booking: SEA-LHR-LJU on BA using AS miles. I am an MVPG.
SEA-LHR is cancelled for that date, it was nearly impossible to find ex-US to LHR that allows me to connect to LJU same day
(the objective is to actually get to Europe, Slovenia is allowing Americans in with vaccination papers)
Finally found something, ORD-LHR-LJU, timing isn't great on ORD-LHR, especially since apparently there are no BA lounges in ORD at the moment (PP might let me into the AF lounge though). But asked a friendly partner desk rep to open space on SEA-ORD, since that was missing.
I got told it would happen, and they'd work this out with BA. SEA-ORD in coach (oh well, exit row aisle please)

This morning woke up to SEA-ORD in F (yay), the AS side of the PNR said ORD-LHR was in coach (wait, wut, OH NO YOU DI'INT... wait, hold on, coach but ticketed in C, maybe this isn't so bad)... checked BA PNR, picked out a nice A350 Club Suites seat in J (whew). LHR-LJU still in J with my seat assignment.

So all told... a good result.

UAPremierExec

If you check-in and get boarding group 7, you need to call American; ask them to remove your MP number, save the reservation, and re-add it.

your boarding pass should then update to group 2.

WarringDanimal

An interesting inconsistency in the European earnings chart. AA/AY/BA/IB codeshare on many of the TATL flights. AY is the only carrier where AS gives 50% for O class (standard cheap economy) rather than 25%.

I'm looking at a set of AA flights in Basic Economy to Italy which ring up as B, which is not on the AS earnings chart. I can buy the same tickets through AY in O class, but the flight numbers are in the 4000/5000 series and the AS site states only flights from 1-2000 are eligible for earnings. Neither AA or BA have eligible flight ranges and IB's is 0001-9999. Odd that AY has that restriction unlike its other European partners.

So I can buy through AA and hope the award chart gets updated (unlikely), buy through AY and hope for the best (also unlikely), or buy a worse flight that's $35 more through BA and lock-in the minimal O earnings. It's only 3,000 or so miles at 25% so might just buy through AY and hope for the best. Buying through AY also makes the flights changeable rather than AA which has locked in it's basic economy tickets with no changes.

BOSdubair

Just called on a similar issue but different, unlucky result. AS miles, only SFO - SEA is on AS, otherwise AA. MVPG.
Original itin: SFO - SEA - ORD (stopover) - FCO
Rerouted: SFO - SEA - ORD (stopover) - DFW - FCO
Requesting: SFO - DFW - FCO (elimination of stopovoer)

Agent couldn't find award availability with AA for SFO - DFW (nb: on alaska's website, I cannot find any AA award availability on this route?). AS from SFO - SEA - DFW wouldn't allow me to make my DFW - FCO connection.

Back to the drawing board.

econ

Tough to find award space on SFO-DFW. How about SJC-DFW?

The afternoon DFW-FCO departure time limits the same day connecting options, otherwise I’d suggest SFO-LAX/PHX-DFW which could have more award availability.

Or SFO-DAL on AS which would also probably require overnight stay.

eponymous_coward

AS is going to have a better shot of forcing open inventory you need if there's an Eskimo on the tail of that plane, instead of part a US flag. (My AS SEA-ORD flight had no saver inventory, thus they had to force this open. Getting A forced open was a nice touch.)

BA had not figured out how to reconstitute my itinerary at all, just a naked LHR-LJU segment. There was realistically no way to get me there on my original dates without someone doing something, once my nonstop SEA-LHR bit the dust.

BOSdubair

Great advice here! Thanks! Will check out alternative routing / availability when I've a moment.

Might make this an excuse to visit/overnight with a friend near Dallas, Tejas.

TEDisgone

I have a couple of odd occurrences to report on booking a British Airways ticket with my Alaska Mileage Plan number.

A few days ago I booked CDG-LHR-SEA-PDX return (in Business) on the BA website and used my AS number. I'm 75K so I was curious to see what happens when I try to select seats on both BA segments. I had no trouble selecting seats (for free, as an OWE) on all four BA segments - seat selection on my AS segments was not available, as expected. Ticket paid, PNR issued, but I get an error message that my seat selection was not accepted (or something like that). I didn't worry about it too much since the trip is next Spring so I went over to the Alaska site to rebook a couple of award bookings now that I have firm* paid plans. Among my list of trips was the one I had just booked on BA, with my Alaska PNR but...all the BA segments were showing "Coach"! So I logged back into the BA site to see what was happening but it says I'm in both Club Europe and Club World, respectively. So then I see that the CDG-LHR segments do have my original seat selections but the LHR-SEA flights do not and errors out when I try to select them again. (It's possible it's just a glitch for this segment because nowhere during the booking process did it say what type of aircraft is "BA49" - it's scheduled to be a 787-10 - so this might be a flight that gets swapped with other 787 variants, maybe?)



Today I go to my Alaska trips to reschedule something else and notice that BA booking is no longer listed... I didn't think to take a screenshot but I swear it wasn't my imagination!

I'll call in to BA at some point soon to get the other PNR and see if they can manually select a seat for the 781 segment.


* Fingers crossed and all that.

VSLover

The Alaska website does not seem to be clear or i cant find it but as a owe in first i was charged for a 61lb bag which is fine on BA and AA….dies alaska not allow heavy bags for owe?