Can't argue with this - taking the earliest morning flight today or even Amtrak would have avoided the problem . At the same time, having the entire award turn into a pumpkin because of a misconnect (caused by another OneWorld airline, if it makes any difference) is a little harsh.
Charging some type of an award change fee or a standby fee for switching to a later flight would have been much more reasonable - it would generate additional revenue for BA and not be quite as drastic .
Originally Posted by
Happy
Actually the redemption of 2 partners seems to be a different type of award - it is a OneWorld type of award that is based on distance traveled. For that, AA's OneWorld award cost far less miles than the BA version.
OP could easily avoid this peril by traveling to JFK the night before, or on a Red Eye to get there this morning. He could even take a train the night before if Amtrak runs the train between DCA and NYC!
It was a poor planning or a "roll-the-dice" type of approach that costs him dearly.