Originally Posted by
moonwoo
Yes just a carryon. You have a great point. I just assumed that they would back me up if I booked AA for both legs but two separate tickets mean two separate contracts. I really appreciate this. I'm going to book the travel for the next morning and get a hotel room.
I guess everyone has different risk tolerances, but I do things like this all the time. If things go well, you make your 7:03 p.m. flight without a hitch.
If they don't, you walk up to the gate/admirals club/ticketing center (or if it's really late, you tweet/call AA) and say you missed and can you get the first one out in the morning. They'll put you on it. Look up "late arrival standby" and see what you can find. The only
real risk in my book is if the next day's flights are legit all full.
I've never (personally) understood the philosophy behind planning for Plan B preemptively.