American Airlines bag overweight fee for connection flight with Qatar Airways

Question

I was charged $500 ($250 for each baggage) by American Airlines as overweight baggage fee for my transit flight with Qatar Airways. The bag weights were 60lb and 69lb, and both were less than 62 inches in dimension. I was flying economy, which allows two free luggage. These are the only two I checked in.

My flight itinerary is RIC - ORD (AA), ORD - DOH (QR), DOH - RGN (QR). The advertised overweight fee is $65 on Qatar Air website, and $100 on American Air.

When I complained this to American Air, customer relations rep insisted the amount charged was correct without explaining me why. Was I charged correctly? Which policy was used in calculating the fee? Where else can I complain to get refund, if the charge was incorrect? I would appreciate your help/suggestions.

Answer 1

In almost all cases, the baggage rules of the first carrier on an itinerary are what apply. This is mostly for practical reasons since the first check-in agent is the only one to see them.

So, the fee schedule used would be that of American, not Qatar.

But, the only way to pay $500 for two bags is to pay both Oversize ($150) and Overweight ($100). So, if the agent determined both were overweight and overside, $500 sounds right. They should be able to tell you exactly what baggage fees were applied on your PNR. You should have also gotten a receipt at the counter.

Unfortunately, contesting this will be very hard, if even possible since you essentially agreed to the fees when checking in. If the bags were <62in, that was the time to measure them.

This pattern applies not only to weight restrictions, but over all fees and benefits as well. For example, if you have Frequent Flyer status on the first carrier, but not on the second, your will still get you bags checked though free.