BlindPilot

Flying on AA BE tickets, JFK- LHR segment got free checked in luggages (2). On the way back, EDI-LHR-JFK, when checking in, we were told since we bought tickets without luggage, the free extra luggage does not apply. We had to buy one luggage to get the 2nd one free. Cost me £45. Is this correct? And if so, does this apply to all OW partners?

donotblink

British Airways chose not to include checked bags for elites on their flights. This is not true for other OneWold carriers (including Iberia)

seawolf

Which airline issued the ticket and what is the allowance listed on the ticket receipt?

BlindPilot

Bought from AA. It is BE ticket. Traveler is EP.

seawolf

Look at the ticket email and see if they mention anything about baggage allowance.

Was JFK-LHR an AA flight# or BA flight#? What about the rest of the fights?

AA either coded the ticket as 0 free bags and waived fees at check-in due to OW status or it built in the OW elite baggage allowance onto the ticket receipt. If the later you may have grounds to get bag fees back. If the former, then passenger was likely charged correctly.

bgasser

Curious what an EP is flying on a BE ticket. The lack of seat selection, luggage, or in app upgrade offers seems a turnoff for myself.

FlyingEgghead

Are you up to date on how elite benefits are extended to BE?

guv1976

That's great when you're flying on AA metal; unfortunately, the OP is returning from Europe on BA metal.

Mwenenzi

Look the graphics in the first few posts of-->Guide to AJB Basic Economy fares
Can be complicated.

FlyingEgghead

Yes, but bgasser didn't seem to be referring just to that corner case (baggage fees charged by first-segment operating carrier), but rather to a general notion that when "an EP is flying on a BE ticket" it is a "turnoff" due to "lack of seat selection...or...upgrade offers". That was the situation for years, until October 2020 when AA extended all elite benefits to BE.
OP has not addressed this key question. When I (as EXP) purchased a similar BE ticket this year with the first return segment operated by BA, my receipt indicated no charge for 1st and 2nd checked bag. Indeed I was not charged by AA or BA at check-in, although the BA agent was confused at first and started to say I didn't get a bag before reversing themselves. So I can definitely believe that OP may have been wrongly charged.

razzaba

I had a similar issue with cabin baggage on TAP this week. Booked an AA flight in J, xxx-PHL-LIS and then an onward flight (still booked thru AA, same rez) on TAP in Y.

They made me pay €70 at the gate to check an “overweight” 9kg roll aboard… their limit s is apparently 8kg. Wouldn’t even let me take out 1kg to place into my mostly empty backpack. Tagged it, told me to leave it planeside (after a bus) and of course I promptly ripped it off and used the 50% empty overhead space on the flight, after also being told that it was “too big” by another gate agent. I’m convinced they are trying to be a ULCC and not a mainline.

This is a bag I’ve packed with essentially the same stuff on 30+ airlines over the past 5 years and have never had an issue.

I was just curious since I booked thru AA on one ticket if the AA rules should have applied, instead of TAP for the weight limit.

seawolf

Is city XXX in the US and both transatlantic and TP flights on a single reservation? If so, the transatlantic segment allowance would carry across to TP. Check your ticket receipt to see if states how many bags free and up to how many lbs.

Dave Noble

No- the hand luggage restrictions of the operating carrier always apply. Whether or not you have used it lots of times with AA doesn't matter

As it says at https://www.flytap.com/en-us/baggage/hand-baggage , limit is 8kg and max size is 55x40x20cm and that if you turn up at the gate with hand luggage that exceeds this, there will be a EUR70 fee

Since you turned up with 9kg, then the airline was quite correct to charge for it. proper enforcement of hand luggage allowance tends towards there being space available for passengers' hand luggage and I find a good thing

That only applies to checked luggage

dvs7310

Overhead bins are space limited not weight (to a reasonable degree). Airlines that enforce by weight and not size have always been a major point of contention for me. If I chose to carry on a small bag of rocks that weighs 12kg but takes up 1/3 the space of someone else's 3kg rollaboard full of feathers, doesn't quite makes sense to me. Obviously that's a ridiculous example, but you get the point.

Thankfully most airlines aren't that anal about it, I've had many times where there were things in my carry on that aren't even allowed to be checked in, but would go overweight of official policies. My laptop alone is 4kg without a case (yes gaming laptop), then I have 2 lithium power banks, another kg there, drone and multiple lithium batteries, cameras and multiple lithium batteries, etc. They don't take a lot of space, all fit neatly into my backpack but certainly add up in weight, I think most of the time fully loaded I'm near 12kg.

razzaba

I was simply pointing out how ridiculous it was that no other airline I’ve flown (and it’s been a lot) has had such crazy restrictions. I didn’t know TAP’s rule til I was at the gate (yeah I know that’s my responsibility), since I checked in for the LIS-FNC segment with AA the day before, and didn’t need to go to ticketing upon arrival at LIS.

Had I been flying Wizz or RyanAir or easyJet etc maybe I would’ve thought about such a restriction, but not when flying a mainline operator. Seeing an employee weave through the line at the gate with a portable scale to weigh everyone’s hand baggage seemed very Mickey Mouse to me.

Then of course at FNC this morning flying back to LIS, no one said a word and I boarded with the same bag.