Flossie

Hi everyone - I'm a very occasional redeemer of Aeroplan miles these days so I'm a little rusty on the rules. Have just been on hold with Aeroplan for 1h 45m when it cut me off so thought I'd ask the experts on here (which is where I should have come in the first place!)

One of the last-minute award options i'm looking at connects through SFO.

Is 2 hrs at SFO do-able?

What happens if my in-bound flight with airline A is late and I miss my transatlantic flight with Airline B to London? Whose responsibility is it to get me on another flight - Airline A or B (I'm assuming it would be ridiculous to have to call the Aeroplan call centre!)

If Airline A cannot get me to my final destination in the same class (Business or First), and I have to go in Economy do I get a refund of the difference in Aeroplan miles?

If this later connection gets me to my destination too late to be able to attend the funeral I'm going to I guess I just have to suck it up and enjoy the trip for what it is? (the last minute isn't ideal but it just has to do) - I can't get them to send me back to my destination?

Also, if its clear from the outset that Airline A is cancelled and the journey is no longer feasible, can I get a refund at that late stage?

Cheers
Flossie

Sean Peever

Calling cow! Calling cow!

But my $0.02 would be that 120min in SFO is totally doable. And if you have Nexus / Global entry you'll even have 90 min in the lounge.

canadiancow

2 hours is easy unless you're coming in from a country without preclearance, don't have GE, don't hold a Canada/US passport, and a bunch of Asia flights just landed. (Oh yeah, never have I loved GE as much as this morning)

But the entire thing would be easier to answer if you told us what A and B are

Since you appear to be based in YYC (and I'm going with this assumption for the rest of my reply), and the only *A SFO-LHR is UA, I'm assuming Airline A is AC or UA, and Airline B is UA.

I think it's technically airline A's responsibility if you misconnect.

If, before the trip starts, the first flight is cancelled, that airline should rebook you on YYC-LHR or YYC-YYZ-LHR or something else.

I have no idea what Aeroplan's reaction would be BEFORE travel starts (though I suspect they'd let you cancel at no charge) if IRROPS make the trip infeasible.

However, once you've flown a segment, I think you'd have extreme difficulty in getting a "trip in vain" refund (and a return flight home).

1Newflyer

How do you find airline A if they have infrequent flights at the connection point and no agent at the desk, phone call or what.

canadiancow

Can we be more specific as to who airline A is?

But there will always be an agent of the airline who meets the flight, no?

If it's AC, that is definitely the case in SFO, and there will be staff pretty much all day if you're airside, and until about 1700 if you're landside on a day they don't have 571/754 running in the winter.

If it's UA, it's a UA hub, and there will ALWAYS be staff around.

pewpew

Not if IROPs severely delays your arrival, but I'm talking with reference to a revenue UA ticket, so I guess I cant actually say that with much certainty

segacs

Really? Thinking to the times I've misconnected, I've generally addressed it with the transfer desk or agents of Airline B. "Hi, I was supposed to be on flight XYZ, but my inbound was late... what are my options?"

Then again, I've never had anyone give me a huge amount of trouble getting me re-booked / re-routed. I suppose if I had, it would be helpful to know who was technically responsible. I tend to assume it's whichever airline the ticket stock is on, right?

Anyway, OP, I've never had to phone Aeroplan to get sorted out during a missed connection on a reward ticket. I've always been able to handle it at the airport with the local agents on the ground.

canadiancow

Right, I specifically meant with Aeroplan.

Trip in vain is fairly common on UA, and it is documented in the AC tariffs (though possibly only international), but I've never heard of someone trying to use it with AC.

Stranger

I would only use an award in that sort of situation if it were a case of a funeral that I feel obliged to try attending but in a situation were socially the excuse that the flight got delayed would be good enough for not making it.

Flossie

Thank you very much for your replies - they are very reassuring - I just like to be prepared and know what I can do if things don't go to plan.

Yes it was via SFO, but in the end that option disappeared during the several attempts to get through to the call centre at Aeroplan.

Managed to get a flight out via ORD and ZRH to LCY in business at very short notice and tried to ensure that if any leg gets delayed or canceled that there are alternative options to get me to the UK in time.

Cheers all!