Beetlesauce

Not sure if this should be on the Iberia or British Airways forum.

Recently flew London to Barcelona on IB coded basic economy flight I purchased on Iberia's website. Flight was operated by BA so I had to check in with BA. I'm Oneworld Sapphire (AA Platinum). I had one checked luggage. Thought OW sapphire was allowed one free checked luggage on basic economy flights in addition to one carry on. At the airport in London, BA refused to allow my checked luggage without paying for it (almost $80). Back and forth ensued with agent then a supervisor arrogantly saying luggage does not fly without payment. I called Iberia and they said as OW Sapphire, I was entitled to one free luggage. Because I needed to meet up with friends in Barcelona and did not want to miss flight, I reluctantly paid the baggage fee with notion I'll request a refund later. Note, I had just arrived 3 hrs earlier on a BOS to LHR IB coded BA operated basic economy flight and did NOT pay for my checked luggage as a OW sapphire. Even my return from Madrid to Boston was also IB basic economy and I did not pay my checked luggage fees as well. The LHR to BCN was a separately purchased one way ticket.

So, on arrival in Barcelona from London, my luggage did not arrive. Stood in a long almost 3 hr long line to file a report for lost luggage. When I got to front of line, they said my luggage had been found and put on next flight from London that actually just arrived as I stood in line.

Now I'm back in the US from vacation, who (and how) do I make a claim to demand a refund of my $79 baggage fee? Iberia or BA? What other compensation am I entitled to, if any?

Mwenenzi

BA have your money, so they are the only ones who will/may refund it.
Did you get your baggage at the 3hrs?

AA forum basic economy thread-->https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html

Some people in the BA forum seem very knowledgeable on these fares

Yllanes

If the flight is operated or marketed by BA you do not get any free checked baggage with status on a Basic fare. With IB or AA you do, but not with BA (there are reports of agents allowing a free bag or even two at outstations, like it seems happened to you in BOS, but the rule is that you have to pay).

UKdiver

Beetlesauce

BA has my money but it's Iberia that handed me a PIR (property irregularity report) claim number at the airport. I guess that's just for the delayed luggage so I may have to file a separate lost luggage claim with Iberia.

Yes, I got my luggage after waiting almost 3 hrs in line. There was plenty of lost luggages on various flights that day hence the long lines.

Beetlesauce

Flight was marketed by Iberia and purchased on Iberia's website and ticketed by Iberia. All IB except it was flown by oneworld partner BA and BA refused to honor Iberia oneworld baggage allowance.

My beef with them at LHR airport was that I'd just flown BOS to LHR on IB marketed and BA operated basic economy flight and agent never even questioned or required a luggage fee as I was OW sapphire. Then in London, they demanded a fee.

nancypants

craigthemif

Unfortunately you are mistaken. Operating carrier policies ALWAYS apply and BA very definitely and clearly do not give Oneworld elites a free bag on Basic fares. (you got lucky once)

Moreover, I'm not even sure that IB publish the fact that they give OW elites a free checked bag on Basic fares. However FTers have figured this out over time. So the fact that IB marketed and ticketed the flight shouldn't have led you to believe you'd get a checked bag either.

Prospero

There are two governing bodies applicable here:

The US DOT mandates that the marketing carrier’s checked baggage policy applies to flights that originate or end in the USA.

Elsewhere, IATA rules apply, which state the rules belonging to the operating carrier applies.

Beetlesauce

Thanks. This is probably the best explanation and reason. I wasn't charged any luggage fees from BOS to LHR on Iberia. I wasn't charged any luggage fees from MAD to BOS on Iberia. Both basic economy flights.

But I was charged luggage fees from LHR to BCN on Iberia. Also basic economy. I certainly would have paid the luggage fees at booking time if I knew this as the fees are much less than at the airport.

Often1

The US DOT rule is that the allowance for the marketing carrier of the first segment applies to all segments of the same ticket. But, the DOT rule does not apply to waivers such as for status. Waivers, if there is one, are operating carrier dependent segment-by-segment.

In this case, the operating carrier of LHR-BCN was BA and thus BA's rules apply and OP does not get a bag waiver. He was properly charged. It may be that he was improperly not charged at BOS and OP is free to bring that BA's attention and send in some money. Or he could just leave it alone.

The delayed bag is an entirely separate issue and has nothing to do with the bag fee. The report should have been made to BA as the last delivering carrier (and it would almost certainly have taken no more than 10-15 minutes had OP done so), , but if IB took it, that is within IB's discretion. Presumably OP did not have any interim expenses for necessities during the 3 hours his bag was delayed, but if he did, those would be reimburseable by BA. He apparently had no such expenses, thus nothing to submit.

OP needs to put this behind him and be thankful that he was not charged a fee at BOS as well.

Beetlesauce

Yeah, right, I'll send BA some money for not charging me luggage. My decision to book a basic economy flight as a OW sapphire and expect bag waiver was based on similar experiences on this and other forums. Flying is not an exact science. Others have reported flying BA operated BE flights and gotten bag waivers. Depends a lot on who you encounter.

And you may think it's okay but being forced to pay for luggage then having that luggage lost and then standing in a 3 hr long line after flying from California to Boston to London to Barcelona is not my idea of fun. Hey, I've had AA lose my luggage for almost 4 weeks before and have had other delayed luggage situations of 1 to 3 days so this is not my first rodeo. If you don't attempt to complain and try and get some compensation or refund then you will not get any compensation or refund. Heck, on my previous trip I got 15,000 miles from AA because I complained that they canceled a flight and put me on United who then tried to charge me for luggage and also put me in a middle seat. As AA plat I was not paying for luggage and had preselected my AA seat as well. Leave it alone? No, I got 15K miles for saying something. We'll see what evolves from my current complaint to BA/Iberia.

You said I should be glad I was not charged in BOS? I wasn't charged either in MAD. Neither even brought up fee.

Btw, regarding the report, BA and Iberia share the same lost luggage space at BCN. Only reason I concluded it was Iberia report is parts of it was in Spanish and the stamp was Iberia. Again, to be clear, I bought an Iberia ticket on Iberia website. All this codeshare partnerships is nothing but inconsistency and a crapshoot and headache many times.

tobsw

You won't be able to get back the $80 you spent on BA luggage fees. BA clearly publishes that OWS and OWE are not entitled to free luggage on Basic Economy. You got lucky in BOS.

Unlike IB, where you are entitled to it. That's why the did not charge anything on your MAD-BOS sector.

As a side note, Iberia Airport Services offers ground services (check-in, ramp services, handling, etc) to many airlines, including Iberia, British Airways, Vueling, American Airlines, LEVEL, Qatar, Emirates, Norwegian, Air Europa,... at different stations.

Beetlesauce

Yes, I've done more reading on the BA fees and do not expect to get a refund. I've read on many other forums and blogs where people did not pay fees. Lucky? Like I said, depends on whom you get at the gate. The gate agent at check in in LHR actually told me he wanted to override but system would not let him. He then called for an operations mgr who turned out to be condescending and arrogant. And I was on the phone with Iberia at the exact same time telling me I did not need to pay luggage fees.

My complaint submission is more for the delayed baggage whether it is BA or Iberia. They gave me a file number and I'm filing it. You do you and I do me. I've been given checks, vouchers and mileage credit for lost or delayed luggage before. Nothing happens if you do nothing.