Wow - thanks for the quick response!
Originally Posted by missydarlin
If both destinations are on sale at the same time, then the system should automatically give you the lowest price available, even if it means breaking up the fare points (subject to availability)
If you break up the fare points yourself by buying separate tickets, AS is not required to honor it as a through ticket
That's what I figured, although I wasn't sure about the "Only Here Fare" specials - whether the rules allowed end-on-end, or whether the computer was smart enough to do that with them. It doesn't look like there's any availability left in that sale that we can use anyway.
I knew that end-on-end between carriers one wasn't protected... I thought that AS might do so if both tickets were AS.
Originally Posted by missydarlin
That being said, the DCA-LAX arrives 38 minutes before the LAX-PVR... not something I'd personally want to risk for an international connection, and the return requires an overnight anyway. So if you ARE going to book the tickets separately, I'd highly recommend giving yourself a day buffer on that OB portion.
Yes, 38 min is a pretty tight connection... bit of a headwind, and we're searching for a hotel near LAX. And it means that a T/W/Sat sale fare only works out if we can go T, then W, each way. Although I do see AS5 connecting to AS236 (on a couple of sample dates; looks like the schedule changes) has enough connecting time.
As for the return... hmmm... that is an issue... unless we went PVR-SEA-IAD (or returned out of GDL!). And I can see why you wouldn't bother publishing competitive fares PVR-SEA-IAD.
Edited to add: I'm looking farther ahead (Jul, Aug, Sept) on ita and seeing AS at slightly more than $600, using an AA codeshare red-eye LAX-IAD... the cheapest is at $577, so that's pretty competitive. Still a lot of money for not leaving North America...