<p>Need advice on how to pay for checking a bag for a credit-cardless teenager on the other coast.</p>
<p>16 year old D2 is attending a youth group convention in Boston this week. When we checked her into her outbound flight we paid for the outbound luggage charge, and figured that we could prepay her return luggage online. Turns out that American Airlines doesn’t support that. </p>
<p>So now we’re scratching our heads. They don’t accept cash, so her borrowing $25 from a friend won’t work. None of her friends have credit cards. The bag is way too big to play the “oh, I didn’t realize this was too big to be my carryon” trick. We’re trying to see if one of the group leaders will be able to pay the charge (and then we’ll pay them back), but D2 is not on the same flight as the adults so we can’t know for sure if that will work. Any ideas?</p>
<p>And how utterly stupid that the airline doesn’t let you do this! No way to purchase coupons or vouchers for luggage, so that’s out. The ticket was booked with credit card points so no options there. Ugh, ugh, ugh.</p>
<p>Is she or you planning to check her in for the return flight online? You should be able to check baggage that way with the credit card that paid for the baggage on the flight out. If you do it, just don’t print the boarding pass and have her do that at the airport departing flights desk or kiosk or if she has a smartphone, you can send the pass to her phone. Worst case scenario is she walks up to the check in counter and says, help me, I don’t know what to do.</p>
<p>Or, call American and ask how she is supposed to pay for the bag on the return.</p>
<p>Are you doing online check in for her return flight? If so, you can pay the luggage fee then. She can print the boarding pass at the airport or have it emailed to her smartphone.</p>
<p>I have prepaid for my daughter’s checked luggage on American Airlines before. But, it was a day or so before the flight. It may not have been supported for you if it was too far out from the flight.</p>
<p>I think either try it online a couple of days before hand or go ahead and call and see if you can pay over the phone.</p>
<p>Good suggestions, thanks much, but no solution yet. Can’t pay for it when she checks in online. We tried that. My ninja traveller coworker is in shock that didn’t work, but he flies United. We were on hold with American forever…finally gave up. </p>
<p>The kids at the convention don’t go outside the hotel so she can’t easily go to a store to get a prepaid credit card. We’ll see if the staff members suggest that (asked D2 to talk to them and emailed them about the situation–I’m sure they’ve seen this before), or if they can pay for her (their flight is also on AA but leaves slightly earlier so they will all be at the counter beforehand).</p>
<p>bajamm, her flight is tomorrow night. Couldn’t get through on the phone to American, and now that I think about it I’m betting they’d charge an additional agent assistance fee for asking an agent to do the work, even though we can’t pay online.</p>
<p>However, I did get in touch with one of the group leaders and she’ll be able to pay for her luggage fees. I’m going to store up the other suggestions in the mental idea bank–thanks SO much, all!</p>
<p>Why can’t you pay when you check her in online? I’ve flown American and it wasn’t an issue. Are you sure you are doing that correctly? Either that their site is down for some reason for accepting payments. Doesn’t she have a debit card? She can use that at the airport.</p>
<p>It’s probably too early to check in on-line, which is why you can’t pay for the checked bag yet. Less than 24 hours before your D’s flight, do on-line check in for her, pay for checked bag on your credit card, and have D print boarding pass at the airport. I do this for my mother all the time, including on American Airlines.</p>
<p>The problem’s been solved as mentioned earlier, but to clear up some questions:</p>
<p>Debit card: she doesn’t have one yet.*</p>
<p>Using just one bag: anyone who thinks that a sixteen year old girl going to huge convention for a week with several hundred of her closest friends during the winter is going to be able to pack for said event in one small carry-on bag** doesn’t know many sixteen year old girls. If you are able to manage to get your sixteen year old girls to manage this kind of packing feat then I know at least two parents who’d be willing to hire you to do so for $25 a pop. :)</p>
<p>Prepaying online: Glad to hear others have been able to do this for AA, and I am half-tempted to send you D2’s flight info so you can have a go at it. Her flight is in 21 hours, she’s been checked in, she’s been emailed her boarding pass. No option to pay for checked baggage, so either I am incredibly dense or, as hard as it might be to believe, AA might actually not have the option enabled for some reason beyond my ken. The only option that is presented upon checking in for paying for checked baggage is to have it delivered to our home, which would be serious $$$. We’d have done that if there were absolutely no other option, but the problem was solved, so I don’t have to splash out for direct shipping.</p>
<p>As I said above the problem’s been solved, so I return you to your regularly scheduled programming. :)</p>
<p>*Should she have one? Sure. There hasn’t been a need for it yet, and this was a trip where she was going to be under adult supervision at either end of a direct flight, so we had no worries. </p>
<p>**The great irony here is that many of these friends are people she met during a lengthy summer program for which she needed to confine her packing to–wait for it–one checked bag. :D</p>
<p>American Airlines and most every major airline accepts cash at the ticket counter as there is somewhat of a legal requirement that they do so.* It is perfectly acceptable to select 0 checked bags at online check-in and then pay to check-in a bag at the airport.</p>
<p>*You can also buy tickets with cash at the airport. There is usually an additional fee to do so and the agent may have to search around for a cash drawer, but airlines do accept cash. I’ve also seen agents refund passengers in cash for cancelled flights upon request.</p>
<p>You can almost always pay luggage charges during online and often during mobile check-in.</p>
<p>As far as one-bagging it goes, it is pretty hard to convince others to do it, even by example. It is also pretty hard to convince others by example to use a backpack (more room, less weight against weight restrictions at some airlines, easier to squish into carry-on spaces that are just slightly too small) instead of a wheeled bag.</p>
<p>My kids are pros at one carry-on bag & have been pretty much their whole lives. They went for 4 weeks to Taiwan, each with only ONE carry-on bag and yes, they did so when they were 16. D is always fashionably dressed and manages–this Christmas, they even managed to get gifts & other things into their ONE carry-on bag.</p>
<p>Glad you worked it out, OP. Would you mind sharing, so others might be able to employ the same means if needed?</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, whenever I can’t do something on the website that I need to accomplish, I have called the toll-free tech support number for whatever airline, including United, American & others. Have explained what the problem was and have gotten it taken care of AT NO CHARGE, even if it involved purchasing a ticket, adding my M+ number, or whatever else I was having difficulty with.</p>
<p>Well, our DD is 17 so maybe that extra year helps but she managed a week with one carry-on quite nicely. I had her pack, then had her take out 1/2 of what she packed because I know she won’t need it or wear it. Her packing included a full length formal too.</p>
<p>At 13, DD was limited to a single carry-on roller bag for a 3.5 week family trip to Italy. After her initial shock, she embraced the challenge, and it stood her in good stead when she took the same bag at 7 years later for 5 weeks of Eurailpass travel.</p>
If you are able to manage to get your sixteen year old girls to manage this kind of packing feat then I know at least two parents who’d be willing to hire you to do so for $25 a pop. :)</p>![http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-supAzvKhtrA/T-IPuX7t1OI/AAAAAAAAAWY/TjmMcLtHghI/s1600/sfo_balikbayan_context.jpeg]checked](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-supAzvKhtrA/T-IPuX7t1OI/AAAAAAAAAWY/TjmMcLtHghI/s1600/sfo_balikbayan_context.jpeg%5Dchecked){kind=link}
