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I wrote recently about how I managed to save ~50% off a Business Class redemption back from the USA. That redemption was undoubtedly a success and useful tip to share – but in the interests of transparency, there was a bit of a sting in the tail…

What’s the story?

Basically, I had to head home from Miami and wanted to use up some American AAdvantage Miles. Booking an AA itinerary ending in London would have required 112,000 miles, but I noticed that if I added a British Airways leg at the end from London to Vienna, the price went down to 57,500 miles.

That might sound strange, but actually makes sense in the era of ‘dynamic pricing’. The idea is that the number of miles required more closely mirrors how cash rates for less convenient, indirect, flights are routinely lower than the rates for something direct.

My schedule was flexible and I certainly didn’t hate the idea of potentially spending a bit of time in Vienna, so I booked the flights. Crucially though, I thought I had clicked on an option where the flight to Vienna was scheduled for the morning after I arrived in London. This would mean that I would have to pick up my suitcase at Heathrow and check it in again the next day if I wanted to go to Vienna. Therefore, if I decided I’d actually rather go home, I would already have my bags and could just skip the Vienna flight.

In the end, I got struck down by flu towards the end of my trip, so decided I’d much rather just head home – feeling slightly smug that I had planned things flexibly and would be able to just pick up my case and go.

At the baggage carousel at Heathrow, initially I wasn’t too concerned when my bag didn’t show up. Tired and ill, maybe I had misread the number or something?

A quick chat with the criminally upbeat American Airlines agent at the support desk sadly confirmed something rather less convenient had occurred… Somehow during the booking process it seems I had clicked on the wrong itinerary and actually selected a flight to Vienna for the same evening rather than the next day. This meant that my bag was now somewhere on its way from Terminal 3 to British Airways in Terminal 5. If I wanted it back, I had to get over to T5 asap and talk to BA.

Are you an idiot?

Well, obviously yes – but I maintain that this could potentially happen to other idiots too and is therefore worth sharing.

I think the issue was that I had focused too much on getting the ‘best’ flights for the legs I knew I would definitely be taking. The flight across the Atlantic was from Charlotte in the evening, which meant I had a lot of choice about times/aircraft type/airport to get there from the Miami area.

Concentrating too much on whether I’d rather have some time in the (very decent) AA Flagship Lounge at Miami Airport, or would prefer a proper long-haul equipped Business Class product for the domestic leg, caused me to take my eye off the ball. If you’ve ever done something similar, please let me know in the comments!

So, what do you do when you need to get your bag back at Heathrow?

Queue, mostly.

With British Airways at least (in Terminal 5), head to Arrivals and there is a help desk (and a phone, presumably for when the desk is closed) opposite Cafe Nero.

I think the timing was probably a bit unlucky because most people in the (large and very slow moving) queue were there due to issues with weather related cancellations the day before. I was queuing for over 3 hours, so hopefully it’s normally quicker.

When you get to the front of the queue, explain what has happened and provide any info (flight details, bag tracking number if you’ve got it, etc). The desk agents make some calls and once the bag has been located, you’ll be asked to sit and wait until someone can escort you through crew security. In my case, this took about another hour. You pick up your bag airside and then come back through into landside Arrivals.

Bottom line

I’ve been collecting and redeeming points/miles for many years and have booked scores of unusual itineraries. Usually things work out fine, but not always.

If you do want to take advantage of cheaper redemptions by tagging on an extra leg, please carefully check the details*.

*Unless you really like queuing.