Hand baggage only fare, paid for 1 bag - shouldn't I get 1 free as OWE?
 

Unless I am mistaken, the fee I have prepaid to check a bag is at least equivalent to the difference between the normal and hand baggage only fare. So, shouldn't I be getting my One World Emerald allowance of one additional bag? The online check-in computer doesn't think so.

I'm afraid I believe it not to be the case.

If you bought an HBO fare, it remains an HBO fare even if you subsequently bought checked baggage allowance, and as a result, the 'disqualification' from getting an OWE extra baggage benefit remains.

The only way to have qualified for the OWE extra bag is to reprice the fare into another fare bucket or POUG to CE.

Thanks very much. I do expect to be allowed 32 kg, in which case I should be OK.

For future reference: There are two of us travelling, and we only anticipated needing to check one bag. The only way i could figure out of doing that without making two separate reservations was to buy two hand baggage only fares and pay extra for one bag. Could I have done it differently?

I think it depends on the fare difference between the HBO and non-HBO fare.

If the fare difference was only £10 each and one bag was £30 (for instance) for instance, you'd have been better off both booking the non-HBO in the first place.

So you booked an HBO fare originally, but now you need to haul 32kg of luggage ?

That's quite a difference - what changed ?

I've got various PDFs and Speedbird stuff on HBO. It does say in there that the oneworld benefit of free bags does not apply, so the extra free bag seems NOT included. However I cannot see anything about whether it's 23 or 32 kgs. My feeling is that it is 32 kgs but I've got no evidence on that. So, it would be good to find out what happens here, though of course it may be equally unclear to the check in agent.......

In that situation it would be best to travel on separate tickets, one HBO, one conventional, albeit with a potential downside for advance seating if the flight was full. Or for one of you to get a RFS Avios booking perhaps.

See the other current thread about BA silver buying a HBO and then paying for the extra bag. You get only 1 and I believe it is only 23kg

BA got itself a waiver of sort from Oneworld when it comes to the extra baggage benefit policy for Oneworld Emeralds.

Technically, Oneworld allows BA to charge Oneworld Emeralds for any and all
checked bags on BA HBO fares -- that means paying even for one checked bag (regardless of weight) and having to pay overweight fees if the bag is greater than standard size and weight (23kg or less). In practice, there is variability in what happens with the HBO checked bag fees for bag exceeding 23kg varies but being no more than 32kg.

I had exactly this frustrating experience yesterday. The overweight fee is indeed waived but the second bag is no longer free, even once a first bag has been added (at greater cost than the fare difference to the normal fare).

I find this an odd commercial decision by BA - paying £20 for the first bag rather than £10 fare difference I don't really mind too much, but not allowing the second bag to Gold/Silver feels punitive.

Where BA's IT systems really fall down compared to the LCC crowd is in the adding of a second bag online. My client booked HBO and then added a bag for £20... at OLCI I attempted to add another (for £40) however this was not possible without refunding the original £20 bag, which in itself is not possible without the payment card number. Ryanair can handle this easily.

To sum up - client should have paid £10 more at time of booking for normal fare.

Instead: £20 first bag online plus £65 second bag at airport - £85 which is more than the cost of the ticket!

Moral of story: always book your own travel...

I bought the HBO fare (and a ridiculously expensive one at that) because I wanted the one single booking (travelling together with a non-status member on BA on a separate record is a PITA when it comes to seat assignments, not to mention any flight irregularities or indeed OpUps) and I anticipated needing only to check one bag.

I have printed out the following from BA.com and intend to flight my corner if needed:

Executive Club Gold and Silver members and oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members receive additional checked-baggage benefits when flying on British Airways flights.

Executive Club Gold and oneworld Emerald members

An additional free checked bag in any class of travel for the cardholder and any customer travelling on the same booking (excludes hand-baggage only fares and group rate bookings).
A weight allowance of 32kg (71lb) per checked bag in any class of travel for the cardholder only.

But surely if BA's intention is to stop pax booking HBO fares then purchasing a luggage allowance as generous as a standard ticket but at lower overall cost, then it is perfectly logical. (I appreciate that was not the intent here.)

I suspect BA have learnt a lesson from AUPs and POUGs, where what started as a method of enticing new business became for many a method of buying premium cabin tickets on the cheap - something they now seem to be trying to cut out.

Moral of story is surely book the right fare in the first place.

This is where you should be careful booking a flight with online TA's like Expedia. I bought a flight to DUB with them last year and it turned out to be a HBO fare which Expedia failed to notify me of. I got a refund of the extra charge for 1 bag from them, but they refused to cover the second bag that I would have been entitled to had it been a non HBO fare.

To close the loop, the good Menzies Aviation lady who checked me in didn't bat an eyelid over the weight of my bag, attached a priority tag to it, and sent it on its way.

Gold and Silver card holders who are using HBO fares and pay for additional baggage are entitled to max weight of 32kg per paid bag. I checked this with GC service desk, who then verified with Customer Services prior to a recent trip.

BTW, the bag we checked in was 28kg

The overall cost is not lower... typical saving for HBO on domestics is £10, whereas the cost to add one bag is £20. This makes the overall cost higher but the benefits lower.