Eric Albert

In January I booked our vacation legs. Comfortable, albeit long layovers felt good. AA has moved two of our legs ahead 30 min with a very tight connection in ORD. (All award miles). I've come up with a few options for rebooking but would appreciate your advice. The AL123 flight is on a separate PNR so no chance of change without fees. I guess the real question is where do I want to be tight on time, ORD or SEA? Checked bags will need to be re-checked in SEA; ORD can be a parking lot. 40 min to make a flight in ORD seems like a gamble. Option 2 (if there is room) has no padding. Finding 4 seats can be challenging.

Thanks for your advice!

Old Itinerary
Date Origin Destination Flight # Dept Arr
7/20/17 PIT ORD AA4733 5:26:00 AM 6:15:00 AM
ORD SEA AA1377 9:55:00 AM 12:28:00 PM
SEA FAI AL123 2:05:00 PM 4:52:00 PM


New Itinerary
Date Origin Destination Flight # Dept Arr
7/20/17 PIT ORD AA2903 6:00:00 AM 6:30:00 AM
ORD SEA AA2554 7:10:00 AM 9:39:00 AM
SEA FAI AL123 2:05:00 PM 4:52:00 PM


Alternate Itinerary 1
Date Origin Destination Flight # Dept Arr
7/20/17 PIT ORD AA2903 6:00:00 AM 6:30:00 AM
ORD SEA AA1239 10:30:00 AM 1:00:00 PM
SEA FAI AL123 2:05:00 PM 4:52:00 PM


Alternate Itinerary 2
Date Origin Destination Flight # Dept Arr
7/20/17 PIT ORD AA2903 8:31:00 AM 9:10:00 AM
ORD SEA AA1239 10:30:00 AM 1:00:00 PM
SEA FAI AL123 2:05:00 PM 4:52:00 PM

cblaisd

You posted in the "Suggestion Box" forum which is a venue for FlyerTalk's Community Director to receive suggestions and entertain discussions related to the structure and workings of FlyerTalk.

Therefore, I am going to move your thread to the AA forum where it can get the helpful attention of the kind and wise regulars there.

cblaisd
Co-Moderator, The Suggestion Box forum

3Cforme

I would leave what you have alone, frankly.

There are lots of ways to get from ORD to SEA at 7:10 in the morning on AS or AA metal on a summer Monday.

There are several ways on AS metal to get from SEA to FAI after 2:05PM that afternoon.

You have lots of time in SEA to collect and recheck bags.

JJeffrey

Yea, both alternates 1 & 2 only leave 1:05 in SEA to grab your bags and re-check in with AS. I generally have a pretty high risk tolerance when it comes to separate tickets and stuff like this, but even I wouldn't risk this, especially with 4 of you.

As 3Cforme said above, I would leave it as-is as well. A 40 min connection at ORD is certainly tight but doable, especially as you're arriving very early in the morning when delays should be minimal.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

My bigger concern would be a misconnect with the bags in ORD. Can you travel with carry on only? Would you be willing to fly to ORD the night before and overnight on your $$ (assuming AA is willing to accommodate you with an exception for a stopover).

LtKernelPanic

Apologies for piggy-backing off the OPs thread (mods please split off or let em know if I should repost it) but I've run into a similar problem for a trip in August -- one that AA has yet to actually notify me of. I happened to check my reservation and saw the change.

Original booking:

SUX-DFW: AA 3526 3:15 pm - 5:30 pm
DFW-PHX AA 2435 10:20 pm - 10:50 pm

New itinerary :

SUX-DFW: AA 3529 2:50 pm - 5:00 pm
DFW-PHX AA 1896 5:40 pm - 6:10 pm

This is going to be problematic for a two reasons.

1. The connection barely meets the MCT and I'll almost certainly have to change terminals since my flight to DFW is on Eagle (Envoy) and the flight to PHX is mainline.

2. I specifically took the late flight because the friend I'm visiting works until 11 pm. While I usually try to avoid long layovers I specially chose this one so I could have time to eat some dinner, stretch my legs between flights, and arrive so he could pick me up after work.


Looking on AA.com it looks like the original flight was replaced by another (AA 889) departing/arriving at the same times as my original flight. If I call AA would they switch me back to the flight at my original time or one with a less tight connection if I can arrange to get to his place earlier? I have no status with AA if that matters.

3Cforme

Minimum Connect Times loaded to ticket distribution systems take into account terminal changes, baggage handovers between operating carriers, and whatnot. Forty minutes certainly isn't generous at DFW but it is doable.

Again, AA offers more flights after your ticketed departure. If the date I checked is relevant, there are three more AA flights DFW-PHX that evening.