We have a trip scheduled for next month JFK-IAH-ANC and return. We’ve been fortunate enough to have cleared mileage upgrades for all segments. The first flight, CO820 is the last JFK-IAH of the day that connects to any CO IAH-ANC and has a rather abysmal on-time record. Our connection time at IAH is 1 hour and it seems that most days it’s an E to C gate connection (the story of our life).

CO820 is at 1:29 PM and the earlier JFK-IAH flights are 5:30 and 7:30 AM which would entail a 6 or 8 hour wait at IAH (a thrilling option with a 7 hour flight following). I’ve called the elite desk to find out about changing to one of the earlier flights and because of the in place mileage upgrades, it’s a really nasty process which could cause us to lose some of the upgrades.

My questions concern CO’s obligations to get us to ANC via either alternate routing or other carrier(s) if we miss the connecton. The usual reason for the miss is a delay on the inbound aircraft (usually IAH-JFK) so we would know about the missed connection a few hours before our scheduled departure. There’s no PC at JFK so we don’t have the option to work with the PC CSR’s. I don’t have a copy of the detailed Fare Rules (my bad) but I don’t think that changing to LGA or EWR for the one segment on the 24hr change option is permitted. I can try the 24 hr change for the earlier flights from JFK.

What’s the best way for me to work with this situation? If I see that the inbound is delayed, will the Elite Desk or a JFK CSR work to get me an alternate route and/or alternate carrier? If we don't arrive before the next morning we'll misconnect on ground arrangements.
What would you do (other than having booked it differently to start with)?