Originally Posted by
iahphx
Aw, that's mean. I've used the 24 hour rule on int'l tickets and last flight/first flight on domestic tickets, so I assumed they followed the general practices of other USA carriers on this. I guess they don't want anyone to get a free business meeting somewhere out of it. I could see refusing a longer connection if seats were available on a better connection, but preventing someone from booking an award when a slightly longer connection is the only option is silly.
Does CO/UA allow 24 hours connection in domestic travel? DL allows such?
But then I would much rather have AA being "mean" in the connection time than AA going the way CO/UA, DL, AS on the Change Fee department. AA charges zilch for changes however many times you need / want to change it as long as you keep the same O/D and only change among OW members. The other airlines charges $100 to $150 a pop even for a basic date change.
Would you like a 24 hours connection or would you like to have the flexibility to change date, carriers, routing, to get the most optimal combination as availability becomes better?
Oh, there is also the 5 days hold period on reservation versus the instant ticketing among other programs...
To me, there are far more good things about AAdvantage program than the "mean" connection time or the more aggressive capacity control - that AA being the "Good Guy" in the industry in the past, now they are more in line with its competitor in this area, should not be a constant source of people's complains. Think about the other benefits you DONT get from other programs!