Juanefny

45 mins in Abq. That's what caused my issues as I already had checked in.

stdatwmu

Yep, agreed. This caught me unexpectedly back in early May. Never did receive any communication from AA (and missed this thread!) about it.

Got to the check-in desk at DAY about 40 minutes prior to the flight. I was (very rare for me) checking a bag and they simply couldn't do it as the computer will not allow it.

In Dayton in particular, that's way more than enough time to actually get the bag onto the plane and for me to get thru security and to the gate.

Anyway, it led to a rebooking... the very friendly agent ended up having to book me on a new itinerary (and routing) the following morning.

ThreeJulietTango

45 minutes for domestic flights and 60 minutes for international flights systemwide, with the exception of CCS (D-90), DUB (D-75), EZE (D-75), MAR (D-90), and STT (D-90).

echyde

Where does AA list the baggage cutoff time for their flights?

All I can find is a recommendation to arrive 45 minutes before your flight.

I don't check bags very often, but I have a long trip to SFO, so I had a big to check. My wife and daughter were flying out an hour later than me to a separate destination on a separate carrier, so I helped them get checked in and helped with their bags.

I was already checked in online. I went over to the AA counter to drop off my bag. Flight was to depart at 3:40pm. I arrived at the counter at 3PM, waited for a minute while the agent looked at her computer, and then tried to check my bag. I was told the baggage cutoff for a checked bag is 45 minutes.

I cannot find this anywhere on the website. I was flying out of BHM. AA only had one other departure within about 45 minutes, no security line, and maybe 1 other flight departing at all around my departure time. The agent told me the 45 minute limit was hard coded and it could not be overriden.

She told me I could go buy a smaller bag and carry it on. I did so as literally 10ft away is a store that sells luggage. I wasn't thinking. When I get back 3 minutes later she said... Oh that won't work you can't have two carry-ons. Why that didn't dawn on me I don't know.

When did AA change from 30 minutes at small airports to 45 minutes? As stated I rarely check a bag, but I did so earlier this year at about 35 out with no issue.

There is absolutely nothing on their website mentioning any kind of cutoff for checked bags. I called the Plat desk to ask them and they couldn't find anything. Lost my upgrade from BHM-DFW and DFW-SFO. To add insult to injury, although I was rebooked, I got caught up in the CLT weather mess today. Left 5 hours late. Missed my SFO connection (upgrade amazingly cleared for it, too).

I'm not blaming AA, but I *literally* cannot find anything on their website pertaining to a cutoff. Non-AA websites all still say 30 minutes. Delta is 30 minutes. There is nothing in the contract of carriage. How is a person supposed to know the cutoff???

echyde

I checked the original email from AA.

The link to the contract of carriage is:
https://www.aa.com/pubcontent/en_US/customerService/customerCommitment/conditionsOfCarriage.jsp

Link from my email is broken. Googling for the contract of carriage gives me this:

https://www.aa.com/intl/es/footer_en/conditionsOfCarriage.jsp

It says a 30 minute cutoff time.

xliioper

That's from the Spain AA website and it appears to be out of date. Here is the first link I get when googling (which gives me the US website) --
https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-ser...f-carriage.jsp
"In most locations, you must be checked in:
At least 45 minutes before scheduled departure, for flights within the United States
At least 60 minutes before scheduled departure, for flights to or from airports outside of the United States"

Here's an existing FT thread on topic (the change happened back in March) --

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...ch-2016-a.html

echyde

As stated, I was already checked in online. That wasn't the issue. The cutoff for checked bags is the question and there is absolutely nothing that addresses it. The Plat desk actually told me to file a complaint and said they are telling everyone to do that because it is *not* listed anywhere online. They can't even find anything.

JonNYC

This post in the thread linked to lists the cut-offs for checked bags:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/26816497-post78.html

bworrell

This is very annoying. For airports where getting to the airport and through security is super fast, I've often taken advantage of the 30 minute cutoff.. SLC is one example.

echyde

Yes, but where does AA does disclose this in the CoC or anywhere else on their website? It is very easy to compare cached copies of the website and the CoC. AA used to have explicit information on the baggage cutoff time. The previous CoCs and baggage pages specifically said you needed to have your bags checked in 30 minutes before. Now it doesn't say anything whatsoever.

The "check in" portion says you should be checked in 45 minutes before. I was. The "acceptance of baggage" portion does not say anything at all about a time. The previous version did. If American was changing policy then change the 30 minutes to 45 on the baggage page and in the CoC. Why remove that part of the section completely???

JonNYC

That's for AA to answer. Which I doubt they will. Just one of dozens of examples of policies the we know of here on FT that aren't on AA.com nor common knowledge. Maybe there's some legal/other reason(s) why they don't publish the info, no idea.

FWAAA

Recently, AA removed the minimum baggage check-in time page that had specific check-in limits for dozens of cities from aa.com; dunno why that happened.

carnivaltime

I know its 45min mainly because I fly AA a lot and was told that there is a 45min cutoff time for checked baggage

echyde

Thanks. I did write into CS and immediately got a reply after only a few hours. They linked me to the CoC and said it contains "detailed information" on the baggage cutoff time. Which it most certainly does not.

In the grand scheme of things this is not a hill I want to die on, but it is emblematic of the program you, yourself, just mentioned. AA has dozens of policies that are not clearly described or communicated in any way.

I've heard all the excuses:

The merger, lots of new employees, IT challenges, culture change, etc. It all goes back to one thing: you have an obligation to act in good faith with contracts and your customers. If you purposely don't disclose information, rely on its dissemination through opaque channels, and do not attempt to fix issues once they are raised - that is not acting in good faith.

milesandmoremiles

You all can say, "AA doesn't make this clear", "AA is so bad", etc. etc. But it doesn't change the fact that checking luggage is part of the check in process and its quite clear on the website that the check in process has to be completed at least 45 minutes prior to departure. Just because you have checked in online doesn't exempt you from check in time requirements.

Don't blame the airline for not getting to the ticket counter in enough time.