Unaware of separate ticketing baggage policy, I paid the price. Don’t like it!
Jan 17, 2019, 7:15 pm
#17
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,586
My suggestion is to take a step back and look at what you are saying
You chose to make 2 separate bookings
With 2 separate bookings, it is policy to not check the bags through
Rather than bu a ticket from BA, you could have contacted AA and rebooked your LAX-LHR ticket to be LAX-GVA via LHR ; if you had done this and paid any fare difference/change fee that may have been applicable, you would have had the benefit of through check
Playing the I have super status and in 1st class , DYKWIA and expecting them to bow down - it is good that the agents held to policy rather than give in to tantrums
Why would AA really care that you missed another flight any more than someone who may have been late for dinner due to the delay?
You chose to make separate bookings - I suspect that it was a calculated decision and then failed to allow enough time between flights and somehow this is AA's fault and you deserve compensation?
You received exactly the correct amount of compensation
Next time either (a) allow more time or (b) dont book separate tickets
Whether you like the policy for baggage check through, it is what it is and the agents acted completely in line with policy
You are lucky that AA does have a policy to rebook a missed onward flight to a OW carrier - with another carrier in same sitiuation, you could well have had to buy a new ticket from BA for missing the flight to get on the next
You chose to make 2 separate bookings
With 2 separate bookings, it is policy to not check the bags through
Rather than bu a ticket from BA, you could have contacted AA and rebooked your LAX-LHR ticket to be LAX-GVA via LHR ; if you had done this and paid any fare difference/change fee that may have been applicable, you would have had the benefit of through check
Playing the I have super status and in 1st class , DYKWIA and expecting them to bow down - it is good that the agents held to policy rather than give in to tantrums
Why would AA really care that you missed another flight any more than someone who may have been late for dinner due to the delay?
You chose to make separate bookings - I suspect that it was a calculated decision and then failed to allow enough time between flights and somehow this is AA's fault and you deserve compensation?
You received exactly the correct amount of compensation
Next time either (a) allow more time or (b) dont book separate tickets
Whether you like the policy for baggage check through, it is what it is and the agents acted completely in line with policy
You are lucky that AA does have a policy to rebook a missed onward flight to a OW carrier - with another carrier in same sitiuation, you could well have had to buy a new ticket from BA for missing the flight to get on the next
Jan 17, 2019, 7:19 pm
#18
Join Date: Aug 2015
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Indeed it can be confusing and annoying that AA protects pax on two separate tickets which meet valid MCT requirements as if they were the same ticket but yet baggage for those two tickets cannot be through-checked.
Jan 17, 2019, 7:29 pm
#19
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: stl
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Posts: 3,079
The OP is an EP on AA and a 1k on UA on a first class ticket and maybe he has better things to do than read flyertalk and the fine print on his ticket. These rules are so consumer unfriendly and illogical that the normal person ( not one of us) doesn't even think it could possibly be a problem. You shouldn't have to be a lawyer to buy an airplane ticket or two.
Jan 17, 2019, 7:29 pm
#20
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Recently flew AA 108/109 LAX-LHR in first class. Was originally going to be a London trip. At the last minute due to great snow conditions in Europe, I added a BA flight to GVA. The records were NOT bundled. why did you think they would be? you had separate tickets on separate airlines booked at separate times At Flagship check-in, I was told that because I had two separate PNR's they would not check my bags to my final destination. I asked why, then after nobody gave me an answer, I asked how they could not check my bags because AA policy isn't to check through on separate tickets (BTW it is also BAs) played the Ex Plat, FC paying customer card all to no avail. Of course, we were late to LHR and I had to scramble from T3-T5 and missed my flight due to a short connection. on separate tickets you didn't have a connection I did calculate that had my luggage been tagged to GVA, I would have made my flight. AA did not care!. how late were you? of course AA didn't care because you weren't on a connection due to having separate tickets so had no responsibility to you.
I think that is poor customer service it might very well be but it is also a clear AA policy I wrote to AA customer care and four emails back and forth and all I am able to get out of AA is we value you. Thanks for your business when what I wanted was my two expiring SWU's being credited to my account for 2019. I think that is fair compensation you might think that but AA obviously think something different. They did nothing wrong so why would they compensate you?. I earned them and I just didn't have to use them. I"m not asking for money or miles. I'm about to post these on other social media outlets. Does anyone have any other suggestions please? yes suck it up. if you think the comments here are harsh they will be worse on other outlets
thank you in advance.
I think that is poor customer service it might very well be but it is also a clear AA policy I wrote to AA customer care and four emails back and forth and all I am able to get out of AA is we value you. Thanks for your business when what I wanted was my two expiring SWU's being credited to my account for 2019. I think that is fair compensation you might think that but AA obviously think something different. They did nothing wrong so why would they compensate you?. I earned them and I just didn't have to use them. I"m not asking for money or miles. I'm about to post these on other social media outlets. Does anyone have any other suggestions please? yes suck it up. if you think the comments here are harsh they will be worse on other outlets
thank you in advance.
Jan 17, 2019, 7:33 pm
#21
Join Date: Sep 2000
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The OP is an EP on AA and a 1k on UA on a first class ticket and maybe he has better things to do than read flyertalk and the fine print on his ticket. These rules are so consumer unfriendly and illogical that the normal person ( not one of us) doesn't even think it could possibly be a problem. You shouldn't have to be a lawyer to buy an airplane ticket or two.
Jan 17, 2019, 8:06 pm
#22
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Palestine, TX
Posts: 73
So much Stockholm Syndrome in this thread...Is there any other industry in which businesses treat the majority of their customers as adversaries who should be taken advantage of at every opportunity?
It's ridiculous...
It's ridiculous...
Jan 17, 2019, 8:26 pm
#23
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DEN
Programs: AA EXP, AA Million Miles, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,586
I resent this policy so much. Out of my home base, the flight to/from a hub from which the transatlantic flight departs can add up to 2K to a biz class RT. I continue to take my chances by adding lengthy layovers on the outbound when using two separate PNRs with checked luggage.
But, objectively, we can understand why the airline doesn't want to encourage this behavior. Hence policies that discourage it.
Again - not a single person in this thread has said that the policy itself is good. Or supported the policy.
But, it is the customer's responsibility to know the policies that apply to your purchase (and this one has been well publicized). Complaining and expecting compensation when AA follows this published policy is absurd. It's akin to complaining about the airline not caring about customers when they charge a change fee on a discount fare.
And see above - customers can 'take advantage' of the airline too.
The OP is an EP on AA and a 1k on UA on a first class ticket and maybe he has better things to do than read flyertalk and the fine print on his ticket. These rules are so consumer unfriendly and illogical that the normal person ( not one of us) doesn't even think it could possibly be a problem. You shouldn't have to be a lawyer to buy an airplane ticket or two.
So you get to the counter for check-in. Agent tells you the policy. You learn for the future. You don't go DYKWIA and ask for compensation.
Jan 17, 2019, 9:34 pm
#25
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,231
Oy! This thread has turned into a broken record.
My issue - how is a typical traveler to know what AA's policy is regarding this? And forget about your overstated self-importance of FlyerTalk and whether he should have seen the master thread on this or not (note, OP has posted on FT once a week on average for the last 10 years). The only links (in the Wiki at least) are to AA agency pages, not generally find-able by the public to my knowledge.
If I go to AA.com and click Travel Information -> Bags, there's a section down below under Checked Bags that says "From charges to weight and size, here's everything about our checked bag policy." (Emphasis added).
Well, maybe I'm reading too quickly, but I don't see anything about AA's policy on checking through bags. Now, BA does have a section on "Checking in Baggage for Connecting Flights" but it's really AA's policy that would be in question here.
So put me in the minority, but I feel OP has a legitimate gripe about AA's lack of disclosure of its policies. Which seems to be a pattern, when you consider, for example, how difficult AA makes it to find/read/understand fare rules.
My issue - how is a typical traveler to know what AA's policy is regarding this? And forget about your overstated self-importance of FlyerTalk and whether he should have seen the master thread on this or not (note, OP has posted on FT once a week on average for the last 10 years). The only links (in the Wiki at least) are to AA agency pages, not generally find-able by the public to my knowledge.
If I go to AA.com and click Travel Information -> Bags, there's a section down below under Checked Bags that says "From charges to weight and size, here's everything about our checked bag policy." (Emphasis added).
Well, maybe I'm reading too quickly, but I don't see anything about AA's policy on checking through bags. Now, BA does have a section on "Checking in Baggage for Connecting Flights" but it's really AA's policy that would be in question here.
So put me in the minority, but I feel OP has a legitimate gripe about AA's lack of disclosure of its policies. Which seems to be a pattern, when you consider, for example, how difficult AA makes it to find/read/understand fare rules.
Jan 17, 2019, 9:35 pm
#26
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If I understand correctly, the policy is there so that each airline can collect all applicable baggage fees. Not defending the OP, who is being unreasonable, but couldn't AA figure out a way to charge the second OW airline's baggage fees (if any) at initial check-in? The policy is an unnecessarily heavy-handed solution to a problem that could be solved a different way. Not clear which class the OP was booked in on BA, but if it was a premium class the OP presumably would not owe baggage fees anyway---the system should at least allow exceptions in such cases.
Jan 17, 2019, 9:45 pm
#27
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Jan 17, 2019, 10:28 pm
#28
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Jan 17, 2019, 11:27 pm
#29
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 6,338
Oy! This thread has turned into a broken record.
My issue - how is a typical traveler to know what AA's policy is regarding this? And forget about your overstated self-importance of FlyerTalk and whether he should have seen the master thread on this or not (note, OP has posted on FT once a week on average for the last 10 years). The only links (in the Wiki at least) are to AA agency pages, not generally find-able by the public to my knowledge.
If I go to AA.com and click Travel Information -> Bags, there's a section down below under Checked Bags that says "From charges to weight and size, here's everything about our checked bag policy." (Emphasis added).
Well, maybe I'm reading too quickly, but I don't see anything about AA's policy on checking through bags. Now, BA does have a section on "Checking in Baggage for Connecting Flights" but it's really AA's policy that would be in question here.
So put me in the minority, but I feel OP has a legitimate gripe about AA's lack of disclosure of its policies. Which seems to be a pattern, when you consider, for example, how difficult AA makes it to find/read/understand fare rules.
My issue - how is a typical traveler to know what AA's policy is regarding this? And forget about your overstated self-importance of FlyerTalk and whether he should have seen the master thread on this or not (note, OP has posted on FT once a week on average for the last 10 years). The only links (in the Wiki at least) are to AA agency pages, not generally find-able by the public to my knowledge.
If I go to AA.com and click Travel Information -> Bags, there's a section down below under Checked Bags that says "From charges to weight and size, here's everything about our checked bag policy." (Emphasis added).
Well, maybe I'm reading too quickly, but I don't see anything about AA's policy on checking through bags. Now, BA does have a section on "Checking in Baggage for Connecting Flights" but it's really AA's policy that would be in question here.
So put me in the minority, but I feel OP has a legitimate gripe about AA's lack of disclosure of its policies. Which seems to be a pattern, when you consider, for example, how difficult AA makes it to find/read/understand fare rules.
Last edited by trooper; Jan 17, 2019 at 11:38 pm
Jan 18, 2019, 12:26 am
#30
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Denver CO
Posts: 3,682
The question I ask is why OP-or anyone-would pay cash for an F ticket LAX-LHR on AA?
AA can stick to their policy and OP can take his large pile of cash to an airline with a better product (and likely a better baggage policy),
AA can stick to their policy and OP can take his large pile of cash to an airline with a better product (and likely a better baggage policy),