American Airlines "16 flights a day London to New York"

[WHBM]

Extensive electronic billboard ad campaign across London for American Airlines, boldly announcing they have 16 flights a day to New York.

This is a bit of a mystery because I actually thought their number of flights a day on the route was three.

Now you may say that they have a marketing agreement with BA, who have far more presence on the route and, when you add the two together, you do indeed get 16. And for all I know there may be a little strapline at the bottom somehow saying this, although as these ads turn over every 10 seconds you never quite get there before it's gone. But it's not as if American are the main player in the agreement either. And the 16 flights includes services like the one from London City, where, I assure you, there is not a single mention of American Airlines anywhere in the airport - maybe you get a mumble from the flight attendant in the boarding briefing, and that's it.

[LandIT]

not a single mention of American Airlines anywhere in the airport - maybe you get a mumble from the flight attendant in the boarding briefing

If one is American, "Ya gotta say ya have lotsa flights, all ya can legitimately claim alliance with." I'm sure AA claim all the frequency they can from their BA partnership in OneWorld.

I'm certain the wonderfully spoken and politically correct BA flight attendants welcome all the OneWorld flyers - even Aussies - on board all the BA flights, even those from London City! All those AA miles add up ya know, for all the qualifying flights!

[Skipness One Echo]

It's LHR-NYC (JFK/EWR) on the BA/AA JV = 16.

[ExXB]

Code share aka 'lie to your customers'

[WHBM]

There are comparable print ads, where the content flips seamlessly backwards and forwards between what AA offers and what the JV offers. Thus they claim 16 flights a day (total JV input, AA being very much in the minority) but then say there is laptop power at every seat in the plane (true for the AA's 777-300ERs on this run, which are all new, but not true on the BA 747s and older 777s, which are the bulk of the 16).

[Metro man]

If it's a codeshare then it's sold under their flight number so technically they could count it as one of their flights.

I was near a boarding gate the other day and saw nine different airline flight numbers listed for the one departure.

[ExXB]

MetroMan - I'd give you that if AA agreed to apply their own terms and conditions to any flight booked as AA. But, if you read the fine print, if it's BA metal, BA rules apply.

This is despite the fact that the US DOT has directed the US airlines to make it clear to their customers what the actual terms and conditions are, rather than just referring to their JV partner's rules (without even an internet link).

Caveat Emptor!

If AA proposes flights on someone else's metal, I recommend you buy from the code-share partner. If things go pear shaped you may be looked after, if you are only code share, well - you are only code share.

[Metro man]

Good points, also the fare may be cheaper on the code share partner. Air India had a Bangkok - Singapore flight which was considerably cheaper than Singapore Airlines even though it was a code share on an SQ aircraft.

Check the baggage rules as well to avoid any nasty surprises at check in. Also check for FF mileage accrual particularly status miles.

[crewmeal]

So if I booked a Kenya Airways flight from CDG to BHX would the baggage allowance be better then FlyBe? Looking at the arrivals board for BHX this morning the first CDG flight has 7 code shares. To the uninitiated it would seem that the airport is busy at 08.25.

[ExXB]

crewmeal,

Baggage rules are complex and (intentionally) confusing.

Some general rules though;

If you have a connecting flight, such as NBO-KQ-CDG-KQ(BE metal)-BHX your bags will be checked through from origin and the originating airlines' baggage rule would apply. However be careful with outsized or overweight pieces. The second airline's rules may preclude your bags being loaded at the connecting point. But you have no way of knowing that.

If, for whatever reason, you bags are not checked through (i.e. a two day stopover at Paris) then the baggage rules of each operating airline will apply on their sectors. KQ should tell you what BE's rules are (after all it's a KQ coded flight) but they don't. At best they will tell you to go find out yourself.

You probably will not find a better deal by booking with a 'marketing' carrier different from the 'operating' carrier. Almost always the marketing carrier defers to the operating carrier.

It's also unlikely that KQ will sell you a ticket from CDG to BHX. While they can offer this flight as a KQ flight to passengers connecting to their Kenya flights they do not have the traffic rights to sell it as a stand-alone journey. (thread drift)

[Metro man]

Using the above Air India flight as an example, as a member of Air India's FFP I would get an extra 10kg baggage allowance simply for being in the program regardless of status level. Air India have check in counters at BKK and if I went there to get my boarding pass, would I get the extra kgs ?

If I flew business class Air India give 200% of the miles if credit to their program, but SQ would only give 125% into theirs.

If I booked through Air India I could still credit my SQ mileage account but the miles would be ordinary ones and not count towards attaining or maintaining a higher status.

There are only two things you can be sure of:
1. The rules keep changing.
2. The rules favour the airlines.