audifanatic2510

I recently booked a couple of basic economy flights to EDI from JFK and from DUB to LGA on AA, not realizing it had no checked bags. A fellow travelhacker suggested I change my Frequent Flyer number to Qatar via the following method. Since he has Platinum status with Qatar, changing the number should, in theory get me free checked bags. But it seems like Finnair closed part of the loophole, it won't let me use a Qatar FF#, but it will let me use my his AA Gold#, which should also give me free bags. But the change doesn't seem to be hitting AA or BA's site. One interesting thing though is when I try to book a seat through the Finnair site, it'll let me choose my seat from LHR-EDI for $10 rather than $35 doing it direct through AA or BA. But it won't let me choose my seats for any other segment. And the checked bags bit is still a mystery.

Wondering if there's any other hacks out there that may help out here before I stoop down and apply for an AA card (the annual fee is still cheaper than checking luggage to the UK).

My flight in particular is:

To:
9/6/2018
AA 6212 (JFK -> LHR)
BA 1442 (LHR->EDI)

Return:
9/16/2018
AA 725 (DUB -> CLT)
AA 2068 (CLT -> LGA)

serfty

Maybe best asked on the AA forum, although any *O status could assist for AA flights (Ruby get 1 free bag).

audifanatic2510

Good point, I cross-posted this in the AA forum