Mr. Smith, appreciate your detailed apply. I am relieved to know ORD to TYO via *A metal is an option. There is no AC direct flight from Canada to TYO that I can catch on that day if I miss the original flight. I certainly don't want to stay overnight in YYZ!
Originally Posted by
Adam Smith
AC will re-book you via some other route. They also fly to NRT from YUL and YVR. Depending on when the delay occurs, they may re-book you on something like ORD-YUL-NRT. Or they could re-book you on a partner flight like ORD-NRT or ORD-EWR-NRT.
If it looks like IRROPs are coming, keep an eye on alternate options and don't be afraid to ask AC for your preferred one. For example, AC's automated re-booking might default to leaving you in YYZ overnight and putting you in the following day's YYZ-NRT flight, even though ORD-HND on NH is available, and if you go ask an agent, they should be able to put you on that.
Note that AC's preference will generally be to keep you on their own metal, then on *A metal, and lastly on non-*A metal. So if they can get you there 3 hours late by sending you ORD-YVR-NRT, they'll do that rather than send you on a non-stop operated by JL. But if AC will otherwise force you to overnight and lose a day, they're more likely to be willing to put you on JL, AA, etc.