Questions and Answers

I just booked a basic economy flight from Austin, TX to London Heathrow, UK in October 2020. Booked on the AA site with AA codeshare flight numbers (6236/6237) but flights are actually operated by British Airways. I have AA Gold / Oneworld Ruby status.

Will I need to pay a fee to check a bag on these flights (per the BA basic economy rules) or will I get a free checked bag with the AA Gold / Oneworld Ruby status?

Thanks,

Scott

Hi Scott – You [I][B]should[/B][/I] get the benefit of your AA status if your ticket is an AA 001 number. But there was a recent post on FlyerTalk about BA charging for a bag on the return leg of a BE ticket.

[URL]https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage/2002266-charged-bag-fee-ba-ba-operated-aa-marketed-ticket.html[/URL]

I would think you should be OK, as technically it is an AA ticket, so you would fly by AA rules for checked bags. Hand luggage would be governed by the operating carrier, in your case BA.

Thanks for the feedback. Here’s the verbiage from the bottom of the confirmation email – saying both that there are no free checked bags and that the first checked bag fee is $0. Clear as mud.

“Baggage charges for your itinerary will be governed by American Airlines BAG ALLOWANCE -AUSLHR-[B]No free checked bags[/B]/ American Airlines BAG ALLOWANCE -LHRAUS-[B]No free checked bags[/B]/ American Airlines [B]1STCHECKED BAG FEE-AUSLHR-USD0.00[/B]/ American Airlines /UP TO 50 LB/23 KG AND UP TO 62 LINEAR IN/158 LINEAR CM [B]1STCHECKED BAG FEE-LHRAUS-USD0.00/[/B] American Airlines /UP TO 50 LB/23 KG AND UP TO 62 LINEAR IN/158 LINEAR CM 2NDCHECKED BAG FEE-AUSLHR-USD100.00/ American Airlines /UP TO 50 LB/23 KG AND UP TO 62 LINEAR IN/158 LINEAR CM** 2NDCHECKED BAG FEE-LHRAUS-USD100.00/ American Airlines /UP TO 50 LB/23 KG AND UP TO 62 LINEAR IN/158 LINEAR CM** **BAG FEES APPLY AT EACH CHECK IN LOCATION ADDITIONAL ALLOWANCES AND/OR DISCOUNTS MAY APPLY “

My read on this is that this is how they are handling your status. Booked ticket (BE) has no baggage allowed – thus the ‘no free checked bags’ verbiage. Gold status allows bag, so they reduce the fee to $0.00 to account for it. As you say – clear as mud.