Originally Posted by
oavcech
If I book them separately it will cost me a lot more.
If I did happen to travel and they cancel my trip my only excuse would be that I had to stay at Houston for medical reasons (my actual trip is for medical reasons) and that I had a flight with another airline from L.A. to Houston but lost it.
Medical reasons are what trip insurance is for. The carrier will likely reinstitute your itinerary, refare it, and the insurance would cover the difference once you properly documented the medical reason.
Believe it not, you aren't the only one who has thought of this and it gets tried hundreds of times a day with almost uniform results.