jordyn

Sure, but in a comparable situation (to a major partner), they definitely would.

AA won't even through-check on separate American tickets.

bse118

Huh?

I don't follow - bags through checked on separate itineraries would no be different from a positive passenger bag matching (where that is even required) standpoint as bags checked on any standard connection.

We aren't talking about people checking their bags on one flight and then flying themselves on a different flight.

shd9

If I were a paying first class pax, I would probably cancel my ticket, ask for a refund, and take my money elsewhere (to LH/LX maybe); AA F is not that competitive anyway. It is one thing to have a ridiculous policy, but having no person who cares about customers (we are talking about EXP paying for F who is unaware about this policy) and being able to override that restriction is really irritating. I would suggest OP snail mail a letter to AA Exec Dept to nicely complain about this situation and to see what they can offer

Antarius

what?

whether LAX-LHR-GVA is on 1 ticket or 2, how does that change anything? You can get off in LHR and not fly to GVA on one ticket too. The bag will end up getting pulled if you no show.

writetorich

By contiguously referring to the voucher as a "good will gesture" and in acknowledgement and appreciation of my of my long term business. I made a specific point of only saying that I realized that of course it was not "compensation".
Airlines ONLY pay compensation in two specific circumstances:
1-Involuntary denied boarding-- if you refuse the travel voucher offer -- and only to the minimum extent required by law.
2-when luggage is lost and only for the minimum required.
But I digress, I don't know why this post got 16 likes.It's not like you carried omn and were inappropriate, you merely expressed disappointment at AA not accommodating your request.

Why did you not use the EVIPS?
1- Because you usually fly paid F on three cabin and J on 2 cabin?
2-Family situation?
3- Altered travel pattern from norm? i.e. more domestic than usual?
4- family member/friend who you gifted the upgrade instrument and they did not clear?

If you feel strongly write a business letter on accrual paper to an AA executive and send it second day Fedex.
Don't tie in the the request to thee luggage check in

JDiver

What makes you think this was a fully refundable First ticket without change fees, rather than a ticket with significant change fees and refunding to a voucher good for future flights on AA? Or that the LH/LX Fare, now a full walk up fare or close to it, wouldn’t come with a significantly higher price? (Not to mention the LH and LX hard products are not a quantum improvement over AA at all)?

That is far from being accurate. Airlines vary over the planet on compensation policies, and AA extends compensation for other issues as well. And I’ve personally observed IDB compensation at relatively high levels according to the airkine’s need to accommodate passengers on oversold flights. (E.g. on an international flight, to pax on deeply discounted economy seating, $1,000, vouchers for taxi, hotel and meals, reaccommodation in Business class the following day.) Compensation for items purchased, up to and including a moderately priced suit, in cases if delayed baggage, etc.)

But it’s likely AA Will not offer any because a customer is miffed that they followed their policies on baggage transfers merely because the customer was ignorant of that policy.

Often1

Even if OP were flying US-CDG on DL and transferring to an AF ticket CDG-GVA, a situation where DL will check bags across tickets, if OP were to no show for his AF flight, his ticket would be cancelled and retain whatever value it retains under the AF fare rules for that ticket. That is likely $0.

Thus, the choice for OP would be to fly as ticketed and either fly without checked luggage or allow enough time to claim and recheck his bags on AA-BA or to fly DL-AF and have his bags checked through but his transfer not protected.

Or he could purchase a single ticket with a connection at LHR or CDG as he chooses.

All a way of saying that just like everything else, there are choices as to service level, hard and soft product and one must choose those which are important for the particular trip.

zozeppelin

Yep, this is the height of stupidity for elites who don't have checked bag fees. They are essentially adding burden to everyone: ticket counter agents, baggage handlers, TSA (baggage and person), and of course the customer (and other customs with the additional lines) ... all for what? I get they want to maximize revenue for a journey, but it is far from a foregone conclusion a customer will choose a single AA ticket over multiple AA tickets or competitive ticket(s).

If they do through check bags on a mixed itinerary, its really no burden for AA, because the last carrier is responsible to get the bags to the destination, so they're not even on the hook.

AA will even refuse to through check baggage on a long yet valid connection (<24 hrs). Thankfully there are airlines with great customer service such as CX that will literally retag your checked bags (while you sit in the US gateway lounge) such that you don't have to claim, store and recheck your bags in HKG for your overnight international to international connection.

The caveat is that if you can through check bags with separate tickets if they are in the same PNR. Which of course normal customers can't do, but travel agents can. That would be a nice website for someone to make.

Often1

AA can book multiple tickets into a single PNR. It will likely take a supervisor because front-line agents are not trained on this, but it can be done by phone.

For what it is worth, BA will not check bags across its own tickets either (other than when booked into a single PNR) even at LHR where it has a highly-integrated FLY system to coordinate the entire dance associated with check-in, connections, and conformance.

pmeye

Wait a minute. On a (two) LH/LX ticket(s) the OP wouldn't have had this problem at all in the first place. They would have had checked his baggage thru. Period. I consider this a huge improvement.

bse118

You're moving the goalposts, pmeye

The full thread of conversation the JDiver was referring to is above. It was in reference to a suggestion (based on an assumption of a refundable fare) that OP should have, upon being informed of the no through checked on separate tickets policy at the check-in desk, cancelled his AA ticket to LHR and purchased a last-minute through fare at LH/LX to GVA. Not separate tickets.

Had OP purchased a through fare on AA/BA (or changed his existing AA ticket to GVA) OP also wouldn't have had this problem in the first place.

ShortDog

Give away your expiring SWUs: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...8-edition.html

Happy

I am not sure sure about the AA versus BA F opinion. On top of that, OP has not had a single word on what his original ticket fare was. He just added the BA LHR-GVA segment to avoid the bad weather at London but he made the very poor decision of picking a short connection by his own admission. His LAX-LHR AA F ticket might very well be a deep discount paid ticket that it would cost him quite a bundle should he change it. Given he is an exp by his playing the DYKWIA card, if it is an award ticket he can easily change the destination without fee. Hence my assumption here is, his original ticket was a paid ticket with deep discount that would be significant cheaper than a BA F not on sale,

On top of that BA F is not any better comparing to AA F, as BA F is still flying the products that are more than a decade old in high density, plus the foods and services are very mixed, often to the worse side.

It is perfectly fine to have 2 separate tickets. We do that all the time. However anyone has any tiny bit of experience at LHR would know the MCT is minimum 90 min and the reality is often MUCH LONGER, especially when you need to go between terminals. I would venture to say, a 4 hours minimum buffer is needed for any transfer at LHR with separate tickets.
Picking a short connection is a fools game when you are on separate tickets - you dont have a connection by all means, except in your mind.
AA's policy of protecting the misconnect if the onward ticket is on OW carrier is actually a rather generous one already.

JDiver

Somewhat off topic, but I’ll have to disagree with a broad categorization of an inferior BA First product across the board. We’ve flown F on the A380, and IMO it’s a cut above BA 747 or 777 F.

UKtravelbear

Not sure where you got that MCT from (though I'd agree that on separate tickets 4 hours is a reasonable buffer)

MCT at LHR where is change in terminal is needed is 90 minutes as per the LHR connections planner and tens of thousands of people connect each day with little or no problems and often a lot quicker than that. A T5-T5 MCT is 60 minutes.

They also make it clear that on separate tickets you are not connecting and so MCTs don't apply.

IF the OP had been on a single ticket and his LAX flight was late then BA would soon rebook him onto a later GVA flight (there is literally one an hour in the afternoon / early evening) with no issues.

I'm still interested to know which GVA flight he was booked on that he felt he could have made if his bags had been checked through.