A few years back I flew to California on American when the weight limit was 70 pounds. They changed it while I was there and tried to impose the 50 pound limit. I argued "How could I take home 40 pounds less than I brought?" Since my itinerary showed my dates they laughed and waived the overcharge.

Airlines accept bags up to 100 lbs, $25 extra to 70lbs, another $25 to 100. for extra pieces it is usually $100 to $150 for up to 100 lbs. if you luggage is more than 62 linear inches their is also a charge. We bring about 500 lbs down twice a year. using different carriers. If your luggage is over 100 lbs it must go as cargo, which you can not arrange last minute. This is also true for animals, they and the carrier must not exceed 100 lbs, my poor pooch had to go on a diet and loose 8 lbs to come down.

$100us for an extra bag! I thought it was $50, but at check in, what could I do - pay.

Not all airlines.

Each time down, we leave Moab,Utah (with about 5% humidity) with bags that weigh right at 50 lbs: after a week of diving, with the gear never reaklly getting dry and everything else just assuming the humidity of Belize, we typically end up with about 10-15 lbs of overage, which ends up being hand luggage.

If you join PADI, the bag they give you with your membership works great!

American told me they charge $50 from 50lb-70lb, and simply prohibit bags heavier than that. They also said their policy/practice hasn't changed for several years. I have a feeling they're rewriting history as I've often travelled with them, I always have heavy bags, and never before have I had a surcharge. Oh, except once when I turned up with a bag weighing 80lb and another weighing 40lb. They weighed both, then they sent the lighter one down the conveyor before telling me they wouldn't carry the heavier one at all. I had to go all the way up to the head honcho AND pay $100 to get the bag taken at all. When I pointed out I could have redistributed the weight had they told me before processing the lighter one they just shrugged.

I honestly think American are consistently the worst airline I'm forced to travel with. Two or three years ago they totally destroyed a brand new and expensive bag by what had evidently been severe mishandling, and refused to accept any responsibility. If they weren't the only airline travelling between Miami and Belize I would never use them.

Crazy isnt it. This is what I did a few years ago when TACA kept changing regulations. I emailed them, acted like I did not understand the baggage requirements, I gave them my flight, date etc, the weight of my luggage and extra pieces, they emailed me back with exactly what I would be charged. I printed that out and had it on me in case of last minute price changes, or anything.

"American" aren't alone. My nephew and his GF flew from London to Andorra last winter, just for a long weekend break. It was a ski package marketed by BA. Routing was to fly to Barcelona, then be taken by minibus to Andorra.

On arrival at Barcelona their checked baggage was nowhere to be seen. The investigation that confirmed that the bags had never been on their aircraft took too long for the minibus driver, and he left without them. It was now well after dark, and they were left with little option but to spend the night in Barcelona - pleasant enough, but not what they wanted to do. They also had to take a taxi and 1.5 hours to buy some of the essentials that hadn't come with them. BA offered no help either with organisation or cost.

The following morning BA were very vague about where the luggage might be, and more significantly what my nephew should do about it, so he told them he was going to rent a car which would be charged to BA along with the costs already incurred. They almost laughed at him but he went ahead anyway, and the two of them did have two days on the snow (instead of the planned three).

Back in England he pursued his claim against BA, and they denied any responsibility beyond the IATA standard responsibility. So he said he would sue them for misrepresentation and fraud (they had marketed the ski package, which incidentally was upmarket and costly, not bargain basement). Only after he issued the writ did they realise he meant it, and they paid his claim in full.

His baggage turned up, undamaged and unopened, two months after the holiday had ended. It had apparently been sent to South America somewhere, and because no-one there knew what to do with it was just left in a storage room until a switched-on supervisor investigated.

I've read that BA have the worst record of any major carrier for losing baggage and this certainly bears that out. The big problem was their "couldn't care" attitude, which is precisely what I see in AA. Is this the way of the future, or is there anything we can do about it? It's become dramatically worse since 911, with "security" being cited as justification for every inefficiency and excess charge.

My special favorite with American is the part where you have to check in 2 hours before the flight BUT they have this interesting policy of opening the check-in desk only 1 hour before the early morning departure.

I don't much care for American either, but I've had a few nightmares with other carriers -- enough to make American look fairly good.
Avoid Aeropostal at all costs.

LOL! I just experienced this last month for the first time. They opened the check in desk at 4am but I had a 5:10am flight. I almost missed my flight as when it was my turn to check my bags it was already past boarding time. Then had to do security which was long in Phily! They had to hold it for others, we had to leave late!