Originally Posted by
jammin
Hi folks,
First off, apologies if this is a really silly question.
I live in Ireland and, in Europe at least, when you buy an air ticket from A to B but with a stop somewhere (e.g., DUB to SIN but transiting in AMS), and if you're late getting to AMS because of a delay on the DUB-AMS flight and therefore miss your AMS-SIN flight, the airline will accommodate you. I.e., they'll put you on the next available flight and give you meals / drinks / hotel accommodation (as appropriate) in the mean time.
Now, we're off to the US next month and our return to Ireland is LAX-JFK-SNN (all with Delta), but the transit in JFK is only 1hr 48mins. Now, that might be fine, but if the LAX-JFK is late, we might miss the flight to Shannon. If so, what will happen? Or are the procedures / rules in the US the very same as in Europe?
If your LAX-JFK is on the same airline as JFK-SNN, you should not have any problem. If the LAX-JFK flight delay makes you mis the JFK-SNN flight, you will be provided a hotel, if the delay is not due to weather (act of God). In any case, you will be booked on the next flight, although it would require intervention on yiour part after you arrive in JFK.
If the two segments are on different airlines, you will have problems in case of a mis-connection they are on two separate tickets. My nephew was stuck in ORD indefinitely when his LAX-ORD flight, ticketed and operated by AA, was late that caused him to mis-connect with a SWISS ticketed and operated flight. I had to buy him another ticket. AA paid for hotel for one night, after which, he was on his own with no help from either airline.
If the two segments are on the same ticket but different airlines, I am not sure what will happen. You are supposed to be accommodated on the next available flight. Instead, they might put you on the next flight operated by the airline, which means 24 hours or more. You you should insist on the next available flight on any airline, not just on that airline whose flight you missed. If the delay is weather related, your chances of getting a hotel are almost nil. YMMV as some agents are more proactive than others.