Record Locator? Try KAFKA1

I’m pretty sure the record locator is K-A-F-K-A-1.

Upon checking in at Orlando International Airport, my bag got tagged all the way through to Kansai (KIX) but American Airlines was only able to issue my ticket to LAX. They were unable to issue my boarding pass from LAX to KIX because despite being a code share flight, it is operated by Japanese Airlines and the ticketing agent said I’d have to speak to the gate agent who met the flight in LA.

Cut to five hours later and we arrive “early” into LAX… yet due to aircraft occupying various gates and blocking alleyways, we sat on the tarmac just off the gates for 45 minutes thus arriving into the gate 5 minutes AFTER our schedule arrival time.

Cut to the gate agents meeting the flight — they can’t issue the boarding passes, I’ll need to speak to somebody at Tom Bradley.

Cut to my attempt to get help at the Admiral’s Club wherein three (3) different CSRs told me three different things. Ultimately they tell me because it’s a JAL flight and the code share flight number for American is “fake” (?!), I need to see somebody over at JAL. When I said I didn’t understand how my bag could get checked all the way through to KIX but I couldn’t the agent said that’s because American and JAL have an agreement on baggage services; when I asked about an agreement on PASSENGERS they seemed confused on why I would question this.

Cut to a five and a half minute hallway walk to Tom Bradley and my arrival at the OneWorld lounge. The CSR agent there says they can only issue tickets for Tokyo and I’ll have to go to the ticketing checkin desk outside security to check in as no one flies to KIX. I show them my printed out PDF ticket itinerary and she says, “Oh! You fly to Osaka not Kyoto!” Actually, they’re the SAME airport.

In order to check in we need to wait for the JAL representative to come on shift which is apparently at 10 AM Pacific Time.

Meanwhile, to help navigate the byzantine bureaucracy, there’s always room for more mimosas: