Maximum luggage allowance on AA...

[kpc]

The following passengers will be allowed a 1st and/or 2nd checked bag at no additional charge provided it falls within the size and weight limitations. These free checked bag allowances apply on flights operated by American Airlines, American Eagle, and AmericanConnection®. On codeshare flights operated by other carriers, the baggage allowance and charges of the operating carrier may apply.

• For customers traveling to or from destinations in Brazil, Chile and Peru
• Customers who purchase full-fare tickets in Economy Class
• Customers who purchase Business or First Class tickets
• Active U.S. Military personnel traveling on orders or personal travel
• Active U.S. Military dependents traveling on orders
• American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum®, AAdvantage Platinum® or AAdvantage Gold® members
• Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K, MVP Gold and MVP members
• oneworld Alliance Emerald, Sapphire or Ruby members
  
• Customers flying on the same reservation as an American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum, AAdvantage Platinum or AAdvantage Gold member or oneworld Alliance Emerald, Sapphire or Ruby member regardless of frequent flier status or fare type (not applicable to group bookings)
• First and Business Class MileSAAver® Awards
• First, Business and Economy Class AAnytime® Awards
• First and Business Class upgrades confirmed prior to check in

I'm sure the answer is contained above somewhere but want to double check...

5 pax on one PNR travelling between LAX and SFO on AA in discount economy (Q class, i think).1 pax QF WP (OWE) and one pax QF PS (OWR). other 3 pax have no status. What is the maximum number of bags that we can check in for free? 5 or 6 (is OWE allowed 2 bags?). What is the maximum weight of each bag...23 or 32kg?
Thanks


PS: my interpretation would be a maximum of 5 checked bags @23kgs (maximum)

 

[madrooster]

Having one pax with OWR or higher on the same PNR is enough to get each pax on the same PNR 2 x 23kg each. For 5 pax that is 10 x 23kg total limit. This is the published benefit (albeit not very clearly published).

However since the Feb changes for OWEs I have seen evidence of just the OWE pax being allowed 3 x 32kg, with the other pax on the PNR being allowed 2 x 23kg. This would give you 3 x 32kg + 8 x 23kg total.

 

[kpc]

...10 x 23kg total limit or....3 x 32kg + 8 x 23kg total

Thanks. Don't really need to quibble over checked luggage then as we won't get any where near those amounts less we want to hire a truck to / from LAX / SFO!

 

[Storyteller]

Agree with Madrooster. You will be allowed either 10 or 11 bags.

And don't forget to request your free inflight snack & beverage as a OWE. Only you though. The rest of your group will have to make do with the basic snack & beverage. Quick flight & can't recall if I was aware of this least time I did SFO LAX. If there is a menu on board, you can choose anything. On longer flights I get the cheese platter, or tapas. Plus adult beverage.

 

[sarvowinner]

Sorry for resurrecting this thread. We have an awards flight booked from Toronto to JFK tomorrow on AA using QF points. According to the Qantas website, we have no baggage allowance. I phoned Qantas today to verify and they also told me we have no allowance. I asked about elite status and again I was told no go. I then found the same allowance information posted by the OP. I had to call Qantas again to get AA flight locator code and again asked. She said they alway tell passengers there is no luggage allowance and she knew this upset Platinum members (Not sure why it wouldn't upset Gold members ) She said she doubted I would get away with paying for it at the Airport. Has anyone had any recent experience with baggage?

 

[amaroo]

Can't see why you wouldn't get free luggage allowance.

The kindest thing one can say about QFF website site is it's unreliable .... We have CX J award flights coming up and the website states we have zero allowance....hogwash.

Can't explain why the agent said what she said

 

[straitman]

Sorry for resurrecting this thread. We have an awards flight booked from Toronto to JFK tomorrow on AA using QF points. According to the Qantas website, we have no baggage allowance. I phoned Qantas today to verify and they also told me we have no allowance. I asked about elite status and again I was told no go. I then found the same allowance information posted by the OP. I had to call Qantas again to get AA flight locator code and again asked. She said they alway tell passengers there is no luggage allowance and she knew this upset Platinum members (Not sure why it wouldn't upset Gold members ) She said she doubted I would get away with paying for it at the Airport. Has anyone had any recent experience with baggage?

It seems the Qantas site just cannot get this right.

I have a booking on AA using AA points and a booking on Qantas using AA points coming up. Both are in J & F and according to the Qantas web site we have zero baggage allowance.

One booking does however have an added comment of "Please review the following items

• Please visit Baggage policy for more information"

 

[anat0l]

I always ignore what any MMB system tells me is the baggage allowance and defer directly to the published limits on the website of the operating carrier (or MSC as necessary). I wouldn't trust any airline to determine the correct allowance on their MMB system when it involves other airlines, and frankly I hardly know an airline with a MMB system that has always been accurate in that department.

So in this case assuming you only have AA flights on this booking, then check the AA website for your allowances. If you have oneworld status, you will be entitled to at least one bag free of charge.

I don't know how AA publish their baggage allowances, but perhaps for certain Economy fares, there really is no baggage allowance. Status membership doesn't change this, you technically still need to purchase a bag but the fee is simply waived. A technicality but so be it.

 

[anat0l]

We have CX J award flights coming up and the website states we have zero allowance....hogwash.

Can't explain why the agent said what she said

When you say it has 'zero allowance', does this mean it actually says you have no allowance, or is it simply blank?

The agent likely said what they did because they were reading the system just like the customer was. Not sure if they can see any different on the underlying e-ticket detail, which is why I'm curious to know how do airlines (like AA) publish the baggage allowance details to the booking system. Let alone how does this work across different GDS systems (e.g. Amadeus for QF vs Sabre for AA).

Had the agent gone to the AA website, they would have found the answer.

 

[straitman]

I always ignore what any MMB system tells me is the baggage allowance and defer directly to the published limits on the website of the operating carrier (or MSC as necessary). I wouldn't trust any airline to determine the correct allowance on their MMB system when it involves other airlines, and frankly I hardly know an airline with a MMB system that has always been accurate in that department.

So in this case assuming you only have AA flights on this booking, then check the AA website for your allowances. If you have oneworld status, you will be entitled to at least one bag free of charge.

I don't know how AA publish their baggage allowances, but perhaps for certain Economy fares, there really is no baggage allowance. Status membership doesn't change this, you technically still need to purchase a bag but the fee is simply waived. A technicality but so be it.

Agreed.

From experience with AA it is a good idea to carry a printed copy of any allowance that is even slightly different to their standard amounts. It could save you a lot of arguments at checkin.

 

[sammy]

The rules in post one prompt another question: What about bags for passengers on a domestic leg of an international ticket?
We have always been able to check bags in for free in the past, so I am taken aback by those rules!
There are four of us in Y flying SYD>DFW>MIA>MBJ>JFK>LAX>SYD on One AA ticket so that's a lot of bags to pay for.
Or am I misinterpreting?

 

[anat0l]

The rules in post one prompt another question: What about bags for passengers on a domestic leg of an international ticket?
We have always been able to check bags in for free in the past, so I am taken aback by those rules!
There are four of us in Y flying SYD>DFW>MIA>MBJ>JFK>LAX>SYD on One AA ticket so that's a lot of bags to pay for.
Or am I misinterpreting?

How many stopovers in that routing?

From SYD to the last point you claim your bags, you would get whatever allowance applicable on the SYD/DFW leg: AA rules if your ticket has an AA flight number on it, or QF rules if it's a QF flight number.

The return is similar: if you are routing all the way home with QF on LAX/SYD, then this leg will determine the baggage rules (depending on the marketing carrier).

Now it's not entirely certain to me, but if I read IATA 302 and the US DOT rules correctly, then the furthest point in your ticket is JFK, which means the outbound journey is defined as SYD all the way to JFK. The baggage rules, once determined for the outbound leg using MSC rules, apply to the entire journey. This means even if you had a stopover in MIA, claimed your bags, then checked in again, you would still be subject to the same rules allowed to you as that when you checked in at SYD.

Hopefully someone can correct or clarify what I said in the last paragraph.

 

[sammy]

We are stopping for days or weeks in each place. Every flight is a direct one, except for Montego Bay to New York where we change planes in Charlotte.
Every flight on the itinerary has AA flight numbers, although obviously not always AA metal.
So, if we were coming from Europe we would get included baggage allowance, but coming from Australia we can't?
Slightly off topic, but I have joined up to AA and am using this trip to do a status challenge. Can't convince the others, though. They are Qantas true believers and hubby over values his lifetime gold. When we were expats we all used to fly up the front lots, but I think it's time to start trying to get value for money.