Hi,

I'm on a OW ticket with the following stopovers (as well as other stops):

MAD (3 day stopver) inbound on IB, outbound on IB
LIS (3 day stopver) inbound on IB, outbound on AY
OSL (3 day stopver) inbound on IB, outbound on BA

My luggage consist of the big bag (for my longer stops not listed here) and my liitle bag, (enough for 3 days).

Is it possible (or desirable) to try to check my big bag through to my next stop and just grab the little for the three day stopover. For example, I arrive in MAD with my little bag, my big bag sits with IB for three days and joins me on my next leg.

This idea is a bit appealing but seems a good way to lose luggage as well. It might be easier to simply use the airport luggage storage BUT I thought I'd asked for opinions.

Thanks....

Is this an AA reward OW ticket ?
Airlines do not offer free baggage storage.
You need to pick then up after each flight and recheck in 3 day later

It is a AA OW award (although I'm not sure why it would make a difference).

My thought is when does a connection turn into a stopover. For example if I was flying immediately onto LIS from MAD my luggage would be checked all the way through. Works for a 3 hour connection, a 6 hour connection....until how many hours.

Again, I'm more than likely to just check my big bag at the airport, I was just curious if anyone managed to convince a airline that a 72 hour period was really a "just a connection". Seems unlikely, then again so do lots of things involving travel.

Thanks

A connection is less than 24 hours, more than that is a stopover. There is no room for negotiation, this is a very standard rule which is enforced by all airline. It not only has implications for baggage, but also for taxes, fees and other things. However, some airports don't allow baggage through check for overnight connections so even if it only is an 8 hour connection through checking might not be possible. Most airports however allow this.

For a 3 day stopover there is zero chance of through checking bags.

Some airports have luggage storage facilities (for a fee).

Thanks for the responses. It is what I expected but thought it was worth asking if there were any loopholes/strategies.

Thanks again.

Questions about AA awards are best answered on the AA forum. 99% of questions on AA awards get moved to the AA forum

OK. But my questions wasn't AA specific but a general OW one.