Benjh

Hello all,

(I asked a similar question in a sticky thread but I believe it was the wrong place to post, apologies for the double).

I was supposed to fly CDG-LAX in AF business (booked for 135k miles RT) in a month, final destination being SJD in Mexico.
Unfortunately, Alaska cancelled my LAX-SJD and there is no other flight available that afternoon.

The best way for me to get to SJD on that day is to fly CDG-MEX instead of CDG-LAX, then book a MEX-SJD (plenty of options).
I want to keep my return flight LAX-CDG as my plans haven't changed and I like my business seat very much

Unfortunately, the agent I talked to tells me I can't cancel or modify my CDG-LAX without cancelling the return ticket. But the fare for the return (LAX-CDG) is now 580k miles one-way, so that out of the question.

Do you all concur with this agent? Do I have no other choice but spend the night at LAX and fly to SJD the following day?

Thanks in advance for your help!
Ben.

fifty_two

If your entire trip is under one booking , you can't cancel a part of it , so you are good for a night in LA

so pay in cash for lax-cdg

Benjh

I’ve been saving miles to afford this trip for 5 years, I can’t afford the cash rate.

LondonElite

I don't think paying the cash rate is very good advice. It's bound to be very high for a one-way in business.

The cancellation of your separate flight to Mexico may well have been a blessing in disguise. I don't know the flight timings, but on separate tickets you have no protection on the second flight if your first is delayed or cancelled. This way you get to LAX and can enjoy what's left of the afternoon without having to stress your way through immigration.

Benjh

Thanks but I had 3 hours to make my connection and I liked my travel plan just how it was.

LondonElite

On separate tickets you don’t have a connection. Without global entry this could have been very tight, especially if the CDG flight was late.

Benjh

Anybody got an answer to my actual question?
an agent on the chat told me it’s possible to get authorization from a manager to rebook at the original rate.
any truth to that?

fifty_two

hmmmm , if the mess was due to their fault and they see you as a valuable customer , they might do such gesture but your problem is with AS , so unless the CDG-LAX-SJD was booked under same booking with FB miles you are out of luck

Benjh

But AF isn’t losing anything considering I only want to replace CDG-LAX with CDG-MEX. Same amount of miles, a bit more in taxes. So it’s be good customer service to do it.

alangore

That's not enough time to clear Customs at LAX. I would take the overnight option and save your J return.

Benjh

Ok that’s good to know.
In any case it’s not actual anymore. I’m still hoping I can find a way to change my flight to Mexico on the way there.

Benjh

Ok, while we were chatting away here I was calling FB non-stop. I talked to 4 different agents who told me I couldn’t be done. I even mentioned asking a supervisor for authorization to freeze my return fare, but all of them were confident it wasn’t possible.
on my fifth call, a very young, apparently inexperienced agent, told me she would ask.

She returned after a long hold (probably 20 minutes) with a yes. She had gotten authorization from what she called her “expert” for a new booking with the same fare and was ready to process it all.

i asked 5 times for confirmation of dates and fare (miles and taxes) to make sure I wouldn’t lose it all and I gave my go ahead.
My new booking had been ticketed, I’m good to go.

so two lessons:
- if you don’t like the answer, hang up and call again.
- if you have a fare you like that’s not available anymore, FB can save it for you, cancel it and rebook it.

thanks for everyone’s help.
Ben.

ranskis

Normally for a cash ticket, they should add CDG MEX on the PNR, keep LAX CDG and reprice CDG MEX//LAX CDG and collect any fare and tax difference. For awards, it is trickier but a good agent should be able to do it, especially with all the marketing around flexibility due to covid. I assume you would just change CDG LAX into CDG MEX and use miles for CDG MEX as well, right?

Edit: forgot to refresh the page before replying! Good to see it got resolved.

flyerCO

? 3 hours is plenty of time to clear immigration at LAX. Even non-US/CANADIAN citizens can easily clear immigration in under 30 minutes at LAX. There would need to be something majorly wrong for 3 hours not to be plenty of time.