AA Slashes Oversized-Bag Fees By 80% for Some Sports Equipment, Music Gear
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Skiers, surfers and musicians rejoice: American Airlines just made it a lot cheaper to check certain sports equipment and musical instruments. Effective today, May 21, American Airlines will treat oversized luggage the same as standard baggage for many sports and mcusic equipment.
This change drastically cuts the cost to check items such as surfboards, skies and snowboards -- which cost $150 to check prior to today. This change matches -- and surpasses -- a move that United made in October 2018 to treat surfboards, wakeboards and paddleboards as standard checked bags for flights that start or end in California. Delta still charges $150 for surfboards and other sports equipment.
Note that the sports equipment or musical instruments will still need to weigh less than 50 lbs and the length, width and height must measure less than 126 inches (320 cm). If the equipment meets the requirements, standard bag fees starting at $30 per bag apply. The $150 fee will still apply if the bag weighs between 51-70 lbs -- except for first and business class passengers, Executive Platinum and oneworld Emerald members who can check bags up to 70 lbs at no extra cost.
There are some sports equipment which require "special handling requirements" and will continue to incur a $150 fee such as antlers, hang gliders, scuba tanks and kite/windsurfing items.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/337382317
Specific equipment that American Airlines now lists as costing the same as standard checked bag fees includes:
- Archery
- Baseball bats
- Bicycles
- Bowling
- Camping equipment
- Curling equipment
- Fencing equipment
- Fishing
- Golf clubs
- Hockey, cricket and lacrosse equipment
- Javelin and pole vault
- Oars and paddles
- Parachutes
- Scuba gear without tanks
- Shooting equipment
- Skateboards
- Skies and snowboards
- Watersports boards
- Tennis, badminton, squash or raquetball
This is even more welcome news to American Airlines elites, Oneworld elites and credit card holders that can now use their baggage allowance toward checking sports equipment and musical instruments for free. And, as noted above, Executive Platinum and oneworld Emerald elites get waived overweight bag fees, meaning they can check sporting equipment or musical instrument bags up to 70 lbs at no extra cost.
Cards that offer a free checked bag on domestic itineraries includes:
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
- Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard
The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum card and CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Top offers from our partners
How we chose these cards
TPG featured card
Rewards
| 6X | 6x points at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program. |
| 4X | 4x points for purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping. |
| 2X | 2x points on all other eligible purchases. |
Intro offer
Annual Fee
Recommended Credit
Why We Chose It
The Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex is a stacked card with a rewards rate that will help you earn bonus points on everyday and business-related purchases. You'll earn 15 elite night credits each calendar year, and receive automatic Gold elite status. Finally, the free night award certificate with a redemption level of 35,000 points or less can get you hundreds of dollars in potential value each year.Pros
- 6x points on eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program
- 4x points at restaurants worldwide, U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and U.S. shipping
- 2x points on all other eligible purchases
- Earn a free-night award each card renewal month (up to 35,000 points)
- Receive 15 elite night credits to jump-start status
- Transfer Marriott points to 40+ airlines
Cons
- Airline points transfer ratios are poor
- Must spend $60,000 in a year for second free-night award
- Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points after spending $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months of Card Membership. Offer expires 11/2/22.
- 6x points at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program.
- 4x points for purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping.
- 2x points on all other eligible purchases.
- Receive a 7% discount off standard rates for reservations of standard guest rooms at hotels that participate in the Marriott Bonvoy program when you book directly. Terms and Conditions Apply.
- Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card renewal month. Plus, earn an additional Free Night Award after you spend $60K in purchases on your Card in a calendar year. Awards can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points) at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees.
- Enjoy Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status with your Card.
- Terms apply.
- See Rates & Fees
Rewards Rate
| 6X | 6x points at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program. |
| 4X | 4x points for purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping. |
| 2X | 2x points on all other eligible purchases. |
Intro Offer
Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points after spending $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months of Card Membership. Offer expires 11/2/22.Earn 100,000 points75,000 pointsAnnual Fee
$125Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO© Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.670-850Excellent/Good
Why We Chose It
The Marriott Bonvoy Business Amex is a stacked card with a rewards rate that will help you earn bonus points on everyday and business-related purchases. You'll earn 15 elite night credits each calendar year, and receive automatic Gold elite status. Finally, the free night award certificate with a redemption level of 35,000 points or less can get you hundreds of dollars in potential value each year.Pros
- 6x points on eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy program
- 4x points at restaurants worldwide, U.S. gas stations, wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and U.S. shipping
- 2x points on all other eligible purchases
- Earn a free-night award each card renewal month (up to 35,000 points)
- Receive 15 elite night credits to jump-start status
- Transfer Marriott points to 40+ airlines
Cons
- Airline points transfer ratios are poor
- Must spend $60,000 in a year for second free-night award
- Limited Time Offer: Earn 100,000 Bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points after spending $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 3 months of Card Membership. Offer expires 11/2/22.
- 6x points at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program.
- 4x points for purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping.
- 2x points on all other eligible purchases.
- Receive a 7% discount off standard rates for reservations of standard guest rooms at hotels that participate in the Marriott Bonvoy program when you book directly. Terms and Conditions Apply.
- Receive 1 Free Night Award every year after your Card renewal month. Plus, earn an additional Free Night Award after you spend $60K in purchases on your Card in a calendar year. Awards can be used for one night (redemption level at or under 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy® points) at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees.
- Enjoy Complimentary Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite Status with your Card.
- Terms apply.
- See Rates & Fees