Hi all,

I'm looking for some help / advice please.

I've received notification of a schedule change that now means I won't be able to make the connection from a separately ticketed flight. Both flights are on AA, one booked on AA.com and the other booked with BA as part of a larger itinerary. I booked both flights around 6 weeks ago and travel will take place in August. I'm trying to think what my options are and from reading this thread it would appear that the best solution (for me) is unlikely to be accommodated by AA or BA at this point in time.

The specifics are that I will be travelling JFK-LAX and then LAX-DEN. At time of booking adding the LAX-DEN-LAX leg to my booking was pricing at >USD1,000 more than doing a separate booking for that round trip, so that's what I did.
As there are many AA flights between JFK-LAX I specifically chose the one I did in order to connect to the LAX-DEN flight. It gave me just over the Domestic-Domestic MCT at LAX and so I knew that with anything over a minimal delay I could misconnect.

My other options as I saw them at time of booking were:
1) to take a later JFK-LAX flight which would have meant I didn't have to get up so early in New York but would have got me to DEN 3hrs later;
2) Get up 2hrs earlier in NYC to get an earlier JFK-LAX flight and give myself more time at LAX to connect.

Neither of these options was overly appealing and so I chose the option I did because I'd get extra 2hrs sleep (which with long days of travelling both behind and ahead of me was important) and I'd have chance to arrive in DEN 3hrs earlier. The connection was 'legal' where MCT was concerned and so in the event of delay I'd be protected by AA and would (most probably) just get into DEN 3hrs later.
So I knew the risk of misconnect but was happy that the potential benefit outweighed this in my particular circumstances in this instance.

So that's the history of the booking. Fast forward one month later and I receive a notification from AA that my LAX-DEN flight has changed. The original flight number has been cancelled and the new flight AA have put me on is ~45min earlier, so that it now departs a few minutes before my JFK-LAX flight is scheduled to arrive. So obviously I have a connection that I can't possibly make.
The simplest solution would be to ring AA and ask them to put me on the later LAX-DEN flight, which I don't think they'd have an issue with. However that would then mean getting into DEN 3hrs later than planned plus a 4+hr layover in LAX which isn't so appealing.

From a personal point of view what I'd like to do in order of preference is:

1) Change my JFK-LAX flight to the immediate preceding flight. This would mean getting up ~2hrs earlier (urrrrgh!) but would give a comfortable connection time in LAX and enable me to arrive in DEN even earlier than originally planned.
Or
2) Change my JFK-LAX flight to one 2hrs later which gives me 2hrs extra (and on that morning valuable) sleep and a comfortable connection onto the later LAX-DEN flight.

The issue with either of these options is that reading the above threat my understanding is:
1) If I were to try to change JFK-LAX with AA they would be unable/unwilling to as it's a BA ticket.
2) If I were to contact BA they could change the flight, but I'd be hit with the change fee (~USD500).

So I don't think I'd have much luck with either of them.

What I'm thinking is that I could wait until the AA JFK-LAX sector comes under AA control (which I believe is ~48hrs before first flight on the booking (?), which in this case would be 5 days before the JFK-LAX flight) and call AA then.
Or I could wait until the same timeframe and go to an AA ticket desk in one of the non-US airports I'll be transiting first.
I figure in either of these instances if I play a bit dumb and say that I've only just realise the LAX-DEN flight has changed to give me an impossible connection, and if I'm extremely nice, then they should be able to accommodate me with one of my preferred options - moving JFK-LAX flight either later or earlier. Given frequency on the route and as I'm travelling alone I think there would be 1 seat available.

If I do this then I am obviously being slightly creative in my description of what happened, but as this is a problem caused solely by AA changing one of my flights I don't think it's unreasonable to try my best to have it rectified more satisfactorily that it currently is.


The final alternative could be to cancel the LAX-DEN-LAX flights as it's not absolutely crucial I get to Denver on this trip. However as the LAX-DEN flight changed by <1hr I understand AA wouldn't give a refund. (Is this correct?)

I could also try to invoke the 'flat tire rule' on the day to take a later JFK-LAX flight but I don't think that option is worth the risk/hassle.

My JFK-LAX travel is in the business cabin and LAX-DEN in first cabin.



I hope that is at least somewhat coherent and to summarise my questions:

1) If I try to call AA and/or BA now would either change the JFK-LAX leg with no charge (I think unlikely).

2) Am I better to do nothing now (if I call and am denied a change then it may be noted?) and then try a few days out from the JFK-LAX leg to change as I have a misconnect to another flight on different PNR?

3) What chance of success would I have choosing option 2?

4) If option 2 is recommended then should I call or visit AA ticket desk in person? And at what point should I do either?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


P.S. And yes, I know this all would have been much more simple booked on 1 PNR but as it would have cost >USD1,000 more that wasn't a good option in this case. And yes, I know I could fly NYC-DEN via a 'better' routing but that option didn't suit my needs in this particular instance.