Originally Posted by
seattletravelmember
On Thurs morning, the representative did offer flight 99 from LRH to ORD on Friday July 6 but said we'd need to find our way to Seattle from Chicago. Then 20 minutes later, she called and said well I do have an option for you and then described an 11 hour total travel time jaunt with multiple legs and long layovers. We decided to pass: I think I could handle a 24 hour total flight, but it would be pushing my wife and kids too much. There are also a number of other issues with LHR on July 6 and how it fits into the overall trip. I do not write this in a vaccum, I've started looking into some other vacation options that I think will work and be a lot less wear and tear than that trip back. Maybe when the children are older they could handle it. Alaska does have several non stops from Chicago to Seattle, but there's no space on them at the level of ticket we would have.
I called again this morning (Friday). The 7+ seats on July 6 are still available. So are 3 seats from CDG to a gateway city in the US that I think would work. I am hoping they will add a few more seats on that, and that we can then work out a reasonable cross country trip.
Thank you again for your insights. I hope this these comments don't come across as too prima donna-ish. I just have to be realistic about what the family can handle.
Well, now I'm getting confused. You definately don't want to do more than your family can handle. But I thought you said you were willing to overnight in your gateway city. I thought it odd that you were saying there was no room on AA99. And there is Saver awards available on AS21 on 7/7. I'm not sure whey they would fly you on multiple legs over 24 hours when you could have a nice dinner in Chicago and continue your venture directly the next day.
Anywho, at least your scenario does NOT prove that AA's availability is different than AS's!