sexykitten7

My understanding is you can only attach 1 FFN per PNR. If you try to add another one it will delete the 1st. If that's true, that might explain why your benefits did not populate.

guv1976

From the OP:

"My UA and AA FF numbers were in the reservation, and the flights/seats/etc showed up correctly in both UA and AA apps, including E+ and MCE seating, correct boarding groups per my status and upgrade lists."

Eastbay1K

A TA can easily add multiple FFNs to a PNR. (Apollo example from the help screen - >MP*UA1234567*DL12345)

I'd suggest that the OP's travel department contact the AA sales rep to send out a training memo. The only likely thing that would happen by plating on the wrong carrier (and the system wouldn't automatically do that,and I don't remember the last decade that I actually saw a physical plate-issued ticket) is a debit memo back to the issuing agency.

TravelerMSY

I love how we still call it plating even though all those metal validation plates are in museums now. I’ve got a PanAm one on my desk.

guv1976

And do you have a manual credit-card imprinter with a "Do not build up anvil" sticker on it?

Maxwell Smart

Wow, I've been away from my computer since wrote the post till just now, had no idea my post would generate so many replies! I wrote it fast and now I realize I omitted one factor (which I don't believe is relevant, but may explain why it's one ticket). This was ticketed by my government travel office, they were govt fares in both directions. And I just had one additional thought- on my outbound I had a flight delay on the first segment which would have blown my connection in DEN, so I was re-routed via IAH (still on UA) from my departure point, wonder if the associated re-ticketing did something untoward?

And the SFO agent's words were something like "Oh, you're on a codeshare, you have a United ticket, so I'll have to charge you for the bag, the fee isn't waived."

Regardless, the consensus seems to be that the agent was wrong.

FlyerBeek

As an occasional government traveler myself, I highly recommend you request split ticketing in the future. It's easy for CWT/SATO to simply issue two separate tickets for the same cost without requiring any additional approvals and helps to avoid all sorts of issues with the operating carrier (this being one of them).

-FlyerBeek

USFlyerUS

Ah! That might be it. The fare rules for government tickets are generally very loose, in my experience. That might be why the CTA was able to put both flights onto UA ticket stock.

ovacikar

If this was a government work trip, you should claim it as an expense nonetheless.

formeraa

This is the correct answer. If I were the OP, I would insist that my corporate travel agent resolve this matter. It is their job to resolve these types of isses.

formeraa

The re-routing is a CRUCIAL part of this story. Yes, it is 99% likely that the ticket was messed up when you were re-routed. Many agents simply don't know how to do this correctly and sometimes lose/scramble the return portion of the trip (even if it is on the same airline). Note to the OP: If you have a re-route and you are returning on a DIFFERENT airline, it is a great idea to notify your travel agency immediately. Tell them what happened and ask them specifically to check the reservation to make sure it looks good. This may or may not resolve the problem, but a good travel agent can spot a problem and get it fixed quickly.

ijgordon

It does not seem that there was anything wrong with the underlying reservation, so I dispute your contention that this was a crucial part of the story.

USFlyerUS

At this point, rather than guess any further, I recommend OP contact AA, succinctly detail that he was charged for his first bag, provide the record locator, and see what AA says. I would also leave out all the discussion about what happened, discussions with the check-in agent, speculation here (including my own speculation), etc. Just state he was charged when he doesn't believe he should have been, and let the AA rep look for him/herself anew.

VegasGambler

I don't think that's necessary. Just go to prefunds and request the refund.

Maxwell Smart

Re-route was handled by the travel agent who did it while in communication with UA; I simply called the TA, they took care of the rest.