janetdoe

Published Minimum Connection Time (MCT) for AA-AA at LAX is 30 minutes if you are connecting in the same terminal (4-->4 or 6-->6) and 40 minutes if you are switching between terminals 4 and 6. Your 41-minute connection is "legal", as long as the schedule doesn't change by a couple of minutes in the wrong direction.

If the scheduled time between the two flights is greater than the MCT, AA will accommodate you on a later flight if you miss your connection, even if you are on separate tickets. (In reality, they will probably find a way to accommodate you even if the connection time is less than MCT - the same sort of courtesy they would extend via a "flat-tire rule" to any customer who misses their flight.)

You just have to consider what are your options if you miss the flight. Do you have the ability and knowledge to advocate for yourself if you get into a mess, and what is your backup plan and your worst-case scenario? For example, is there a later flight LAX-DFW-SJU or LAX-MIA-SJU that you could catch? Do those flights have plenty of seats still? How late can you arrive at SJU and still make your return flight SJU-PHL-LAX?

I believe your "worst case" is: you miss the flight; stuck overnight in LAX subject to AA's whim whether or not they will cover your hotel (hint: they absolutely won't if it's weather-related; and even if it's clearly their fault from a mechanical, separate tickets might make it difficult to get anyone at LAX to understand/care about your situation; I've missed a midnight connection at LAX and I can assure you that the A-team doesn't work that shift.) then you end up having to declare trip-in-vain for a refund of your MR ticket because there is no way to re-route and get home in time for work/school/real life. Thus you have wasted miles and time to fly to LAX for no benefit, and had to pay for a hotel out-of-pocket. <shrug>

That said, it is a legal connection and I agree with @sbm12 and @BThumme, I would personally book it for the upside potential of rebooking in Y and/or getting ORC. Also watch carefully for schedule changes that would shrink the connection below MCT, book with a credit card that has trip delay insurance, and consider a BHTP policy to double down on your bet.

corncob

You would book it (and I might) but would you recommend someone of their first MR doing it, especially if they aren't familiar with LAX and comfortable fighting for hotel accommodations, ORC, and trip-in-vain?

For experienced MR'ers, there's a huge upside of maybe being able to get ORC, trip-in-vain, etc without having to fly the whole route. For someone that isn't comfortable in those situations, it could end up very poorly several ways.

Worst case scenario: OP gets lost in LAX and missed the connection with on-time flights. AA isn't at fault and the midnight crew at LAX has no sympathy. OP likely pays for their own hotel, sleeps for MAYBE 3 of the 6 hour "delay", takes the rest of the flights, and gets home 12-24 hours late.

There is zero cost savings for taking the late connection flight, and a time savings of only 30-90 minutes. That's a lot of risk for the hope of ORC or being rebooked into full-fare Y. Especially with the OP's flight through PHL likely getting into SJU early afternoon in time for the same-day turn. If the OP has to wait until 5-6am to take the replacement flight from LAX, the earliest he gets there is 8pm, which means he's also staying the night in SJU or fighting for trip-in-vain. A helluva gamble for your first MR.

Regardless, OP already posted that he took the safe bet. Perhaps all this discussion has piqued his interest enough that he'll gamble a bit on his next MR

maskedmesothorium

I'm really not sure if this is possible. I did this exact thing a couple months ago due to an AA 777 going mechanical overnight. AA was insistent that it would be impossible to get ORC if I never made it to my destination. I would have been entitled to ORC if they had rebooked me on a different routing that netted me less miles, provided I still made the trip. I was advised to just request a refund on the prefunds.aa.com site, which was granted.

DalAA21

Yes definitely picked my interest. I wasn't aware that I could potentially seek for such compensation if flight was delayed and basically say that it was a trip in vain and return to DFW with original flight credited. Is there similar stories to this where I could read more on this matter ? For a first MR, wanted to play safe and am kinda nervous/excited to see how it goes this WE. Thanks again !

DalAA21

Wells it seems even though I Schulde my flight earlier (leaving at 7.35 originally) we had 3 hour delay which will miss my connection. I' this case, can I fight for trip in vain, would I be entitled? Thanks for help

corncob

You can't do this. Read the replies again, carefully. If you claim trip-in-vain, you can a refund and don't get original routing credit (ORC). ORC is for when you miss a flight because AA/weather messes something up, and you get sent DFW-LAX instead of DFW-JFK-LAX. You could then request ORC for DFW-JFK-LAX instead of just being credited DFW-LAX.

Then means that you MIGHT have had an opportunity to go LAX-MIA-SJU or LAX-DFW-SJU and still get credited for LAX-PHL-SJU. There are other variations of that, but it's basically the same theory.

The compensation you MIGHT get if the flight is delayed is a free hotel room, and then if you decide to not declare trip-in-vain (for a refund and no miles credit) you continue on your journey and your MR takes another ~12+ hours. In that case, you MIGHT get rebooked into Y and earn more miles on the new flights. OR, you might get stuck on the last middle seat in the back of Y for LAX-PHL or lose upgrades if you have status and got one... It's a big gamble, for not much gain in this case. And there's definitely downsides (time, inconvenience, discomfort, etc).

corncob

Which flight are you on? I see one that was scheduled for 8:30 departure (AA2495) that pushed back at 9:58PM and should get into T4 G48B at 11:21.

I don't see a flight that was scheduled for 7:35pm.

DalAA21

Sorry you are correct. I was indeed on that flight. We just landed and schedule to leave at 11.21. I got confused with the boarding time (which got delayed) and actual departure. Should be able to catch other flight. Thanks for help guys

corncob

Best of luck on your MR. Hope you made the connection!

DalAA21

Hey guys,

I wanted to follow up and wanted to thank you all or advice. I got my initial connection but tonight my leg PHL-SJU got delayed for 3 hours and was able to rebook in Y for a direct phl-lax. As far as I understand I can't claim trip in vain because it wasn't due to weather (in this case it was equipment) but i can potential seek for refund if I understood this correctly ? in that case, is there a specific form ? sorry this is my first time dealing with all this and have no status yet with AA so wouldn't impact my 500 mile upgrade.

corncob

So you skipped the PHL-SJU-PHL-LAX portion and did PHL-LAX instead?

If you seek a refund, I doubt you will end up getting any of your miles. I would calculate your original fare basis EQM on the original routing vs the new EQM on the new routing in Y, and see which works in your favor. Then, if it's the original, you can request original routing credit.

DalAA21

Yes that is correct. Oh now I understand, I didn't know it would it would recalculate in Y fare for my whole trip, I thought it covered only the phl-dfw portion. Well after calculating the original fare is better by around 1k miles. That because I booked separately my dfw-lax with a different flight locator. For future reference, can I combine several flight locator into one?

corncob

It wouldn't recalculate in Y for the whole trip. It would be 1) DFW-LAX-PHL-SJU-PHL-LAX-DFW in whatever original fare basis it was, versus 2) DFW-LAX-PHL in the original fare basis and PHL-DFW in Y. By default, AA will add mileage credit to your account for the flights you flew, in whatever fare basis you flew them. That's the #2 above. If you want #1, you will have to request ORC.

In terms of the blue highlighted text above, I'm not really sure what you mean. I think you're asking if the whole itinerary could be calculated for credit in Y and the DFW-LAX-DFW added to that. Which isn't really valid because only the new leg booked in Y is calc'd as Y, as I mentioned above.

Dr. HFH

You may be able to get trip in vain applied. I did it a number of years ago (though rules may have changed since then, of course) when FLL-LAX-LHR changed to FLL-MIA (by taxi) - LHR due to late arrival of inbound aircraft at FLL.

DalAA21

Ah thank you, I was waiting for a prior confirmation that this could happen. I know it's YMMV but at least I know it's possible