Originally Posted by
littlevoices
I'm having some real problems with the AA RTW desk on this topic, wonder if anyone can advise.
I am currently booked/ticketed:
MIA-JFK-LAX on an AONE4 originating in Tokyo. The JFK connection is ~20 hours. When booking five months ago, I could not get
JFK-LAX to ticket into "A", so I am in business (D).
Originally I hoped something would improve, but it hasn't, and I'm now 2 weeks away from departure. However, I have tried asking the agent via phone to change it to be later so this becomes a stopover, but even though:
- The RTW tool; Expert Flyer(EF); The AA website (Japan); ITA Matrix; show enough "A" seats, the agents cannot see availability in "A"
- You can see on EF that booking this as "one" MIA-JFK-LAX has no "A" seats; booking as 2x1 ways does. So this would seem likely to be a married segment issue.
I've tried asking the agent to change the JFK-LAX flight only +/- 2 days, without any joy.
Any ideas how I can force the change, so that I avoid the married segments? I'd presume I need 24+ hours stopover. So should I do this as a two step process, i.e. change the ticket first to have a 24 hour stopover (in business, ticket it), and then suddenly magically "A" will open up? Seems odd that the system isn't showing this anyway.
I am really keen to try the Transcontinental in F, since I'm paying for it....
You could always miss your connecting flight in JFK and force a no-show and reschedule. It's the same $125 fee, just be sure you have availability on the next day's flight (as a standalone).
I inadvertently had to do this which later affected me negatively but that's not the same in your situation. I overslept until 1 hour past my departure in CGK a couple of months ago (was supposed to be a 14 hour connection), so had no choice to reschedule it.
If you don't have checked luggage, AND you're willing to pay a night in an NYC hotel AND there is JFK-LAX A availability on the next day's flight then you could "miss" your connection and simply pay $125. But you have to consider that within 24 hours some other people might pay for or be given elite upgrades and the A space disappears.
Having been on AA's "real" F on the 77W, I seriously would not go through this much effort to experience the A321T in F vs. C. The true international F isn't so much different from C except the seat.