I mentioned upthread that my family of 4 has upcoming travel to HEL. 2 of us have AY tickets from LAX and 2 from DFW. We are all starting in SFO and flying to the AY gateway on separate tickets. We are meeting in HEL and traveling onward together to one of the Baltics.

I believe we recently learned of an AY policy where they will not permit changes to origin or destination for flights cancelled due to strikes.

The 2 of us flying from DFW are flying to DFW the night before the AY flight and staying at an airport hotel. The 2 flying from LAX are flying to LAX the day of their AY flight and scheduled to arrive at 1pm, 5 hours before the AY flight.

I think it would be a good idea to now buy a refundable ticket to LAX for the day prior to the AY flight, so if there are disruptions, they have the entire original day of travel available to them from LAX. I'm concerned about availability and cost of alternative flights to LAX at the last minute.

Does this make sense and am I missing better alternatives?