Starting Today: American Airlines Elites Score Free Checked Bags on Gol Flights

Gol is American’s exclusive codeshare partner in Brazil, and American is Gol’s exclusive codeshare partner in the U.S. members of each airline’s loyalty program receive miles when traveling on the other carrier. Members can redeem miles reciprocally. And there are status benefits, too.

Starting today, American’s Gold members and above receive free checked bags when flying Gol.

  • Gold: 1 free checked bag
  • Platinum: 2 free checked bags
  • Platinum Pro and higher:3 free checked bags

Each bag may be up to 50 pounds. One companion on the same reservation is entitled to a single complimentary checked bag as well.

Already American Airlines status members have received extra legroom seats and priority boarding when traveling with Gol.

Gol allows American to sell more connections for its Brazil services, and also to sell more local flights to its Brazilian customers – and two-thirds of American’s customers on South America routes are based there and not the U.S.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. This is, on the surface, great news for Brazil-based AA elites.

    Of course, with no easy or cost-effective way to add G3 sectors (award or revenue) onto AA tickets, this usefulness is limited.

    For example: including a short domestic leg with G3 on a US-Brazil itinerary from AA can add $800 to the price, when buying the sector on its own from G3 runs at most $100.

    The free bags (up to 23kg each) are cool, and will.maje buying separate tickets more viable.

    But the mismatch between AA allowance for EXP (32kg/bag) and G3 (only 23ks) in a way limits this usefulness also.

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