SFO checkin agent - non-001 ticket means no elite bag benefits
Mar 22, 2022, 2:11 pm
#31
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Mar 22, 2022, 2:17 pm
#32
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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.
Mar 22, 2022, 2:31 pm
#33
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And given the possible timelines for getting the refund, coupled with needing to submit my travel expense voucher ASAP, I've decided to not deal with getting the refund from AA but just put the expense on the voucher and get reimbursed. The hassle of trying to give money BACK to the govt after I get a refund is not something I really want to deal with. I will notify our travel office of the experience, and recommend separate ticketing in the future if multiple airlines are involved, and also let them fight for the $35 if they choose to do so (not likely).
Mar 22, 2022, 2:37 pm
#34
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$35 is not that much money; I would probably do what he is doing as well.
Mar 22, 2022, 2:42 pm
#35
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Having to fill out the expense report before he knows the result of the refund request puts the OP in a bad spot. If he doesn't expense it and then doesn't get the refund he is out $35. If he expenses it and then gets the refund his options are to try to give the money back to the government (which is likely a hassle) or just keep the money, which is likely illegal.
$35 is not that much money; I would probably do what he is doing as well.
$35 is not that much money; I would probably do what he is doing as well.
Mar 22, 2022, 4:56 pm
#36
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If a refund were to post to a government-issued credit card, would it still be a hassle for the OP? Presumably he would only use a government card for government expenses. The only thing the government would reimburse him for are expenses not charged to the government card, and those would not be affected by a refund of a baggage fee that had been charged to the card
Mar 22, 2022, 5:35 pm
#37
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Agree 100%. The govt here will spend $1,000 to track down $35. Not worth it now that I think about it.
Mar 22, 2022, 8:39 pm
#38
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I can't speak to the government, but this would NOT be a problem on a corporate card and expense report. You expense the $35 as a baggage fee (or whatever the appropriate category is), and it gets paid to the corporate card. Next month, after the refund has been issued, you put in -$35 for baggage fee, and it's deducted from what gets disbursed to the credit card company. Easy peasy.
Mar 22, 2022, 8:45 pm
#39
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His booking was on an AA flight number and he was on an AA plane.
Mar 22, 2022, 8:50 pm
#40
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The $35 refund would be a separate item on the credit card.
Mar 22, 2022, 9:55 pm
#41
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Mar 23, 2022, 10:36 am
#42
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Having to fill out the expense report before he knows the result of the refund request puts the OP in a bad spot. If he doesn't expense it and then doesn't get the refund he is out $35. If he expenses it and then gets the refund his options are to try to give the money back to the government (which is likely a hassle) or just keep the money, which is likely illegal.
$35 is not that much money; I would probably do what he is doing as well.
$35 is not that much money; I would probably do what he is doing as well.
If a refund were to post to a government-issued credit card, would it still be a hassle for the OP? Presumably he would only use a government card for government expenses. The only thing the government would reimburse him for are expenses not charged to the government card, and those would not be affected by a refund of a baggage fee that had been charged to the card
In my case, yes I have a govt credit card, only to be used for expenses incurred while traveling (hotel, rental car, meals, fuel, etc. But airfare is billed and paid directly between carrier and agency, I have no involvement in that) However, I pay the bill personally after getting reimbursement from the agency (we are responsible for the CC bill; failure to pay it after being reimbursed can mean disciplinary action, credit score impact, etc.). So functionally it's not really different than if I used a personal card.
Yes, the refund would go back to that govt card, and sit there as a credit, except that after a while the credit balance gets mailed to me as a check, and I don't know of any easy way to give that money back to the govt without a bunch of additional paperwork.
So as I said before, simply not.worth.the.hassle. If I spend more than 30 min dealing with this, it has already cost the govt more than $35.
(and posting on FT is on my personal time, before anybody asks!
)
Mar 23, 2022, 10:43 am
#43
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what was the flight out of SFO? It wasn’t one of those crazy Skywest flights that have both. An AA and a UA # is it?
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.
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.
Mar 23, 2022, 4:32 pm
#44
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Why would a work related trip rely on personal airline elite status to cover the bag fees? The travel agent should have made the reservation using a proper booking class including bags.
Mar 23, 2022, 4:58 pm
#45
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Such a booking class would very likely have cost significantly more than the $35 charged for one checked bag.