wrp96

Booked flights to SJU on AA.com in business class. At the time I booked, the connecting flights to/from my local airport were one class only and booked into N. Due to a schedule change, the return flight to my local airport is now on a two class plane, but because that leg was booked in N I booked into Economy class.

Is it worth it to call and try and get moved up to 1st class? Do I even have a argument to move up to first class? It's only an hour long flight but....

The schedule change really hurt me as I now have a 5 hour layover at DFW, but none of the alternatives are better (4 hour layover at Charlotte or spend additional hours waiting at the airport in SJU - and only get home 1 hour earlier than through DFW, or take absurdly short connections through MIA and LGA).

arollins

Call, what is the worst that can happen? With the schedule change, you can certainly look for a more suitable routing that helps you out.

wrp96

Unfortunately haven't found a suitable alternative yet as I'm constrained by departure time (getting off a cruise that morning). All the flights I could make either require extremely short or long connections and all get home within an hour of each other. If it were just me, I'd probably play the short connection lottery but my aunt is traveling with me on a separate ticket and has to be at church the next day (so no leeway if a connection gets missed).

PainCorp

You paid for Y, why should a schedule change give you an unpaid upgrade? Space permitting you can upgrade to F, but it's going to cost you.

Dave Noble

Did you purchase a business class return from your airport to SJU ?

That they are in N class suggests to me that the pricing was r/t from A-B in economy class plus B-SJU in business class rather that it being a RT from A-SJU in business class. If it was a through fare I would have expected the economy legs to be in Y

If it is a through business class fare, then it is worth asking whether with the change you can be rebooked in 1st for no fee otherwise may be worth paying the change fee to rebook into 1st

I suspect however that you have 2 fare componants and it will need to be repriced ( which will likely be more expensive - if it wasn't then there would have been no reason for 2 fare componants to be used )

beerup

The OP paid for a business class, but since one leg was on a one-class flight (presumably on a RJ) it ticketed as N. IME, when routes are flown by both mainline and Eagle, the price for a ticket in F that connects to this route is the same whether you get mainline F or Eagle Y. That is you essentially pay for the premium cabin but take a voluntary downgrade. For example,if you look that type of routing, you usually find that a P/N ticket on AA/AE is the same price as a P/P ticket on AA/AA.

For example:

wrp96

For clarification I went to AA.com and using the regular round trip booking search on the front page I searched for roundtrip flights from my local airport to SJU, and I selected an itinerary in the business class column.

At time of purchase the flights I chose to/from my local airport to DFW were one class flights (ERJ and CRJ-200).

Due to the schedule change, I've been moved to an MD80 flight as the CRJ flight no longer exists. In fact, if I had booked the MD80 flight originally (it was an available option), I would've paid a few dollars less and would've been seated in first, but I valued getting home 3 hours earlier more than getting the 1st class seat. I'm hitting myself for not saving the extra money now that I'm on the later flight after all.

Dave Noble

Call AA and get the agent to confirm that there is no additional fare difference for accommodation in 1st class and , assuming that there is none, request rebooking. As long as it is a through fare, there should be no issue

That the economy sector is in N does make me suspect that it could be a combination of 2 fares though

Calling AA should be able to get the issue addressed a lot more quickly than asking here where exact details of fare are unknown

beerup

I've definitely seen P/N fares married at the same price as P/P fares on the same route with the same fare basis for P.

I think that fact that the OP said that s/he F on the flight they were moved to for less than the original ticket (with the earlier RJ) indicates they should be reaccommodated in F (fingers crossed).

wrp96

Called and asked and the rep tried but was unable to move me up to first class - although he tried to get supervisor approval.

Yes it is only a short flight but it is still annoying that having booked what American calls a "business" class itinerary I'm not able to sit in first class on a leg of the flight that now has first class solely because my original (now cancelled) flight was on a one class plane.

3Cforme

Going back to Dave Noble's assertion, you can't know that you are in back 'solely' because of the one-class plane without knowing how the ticket was fared.

wrp96

My point is that if someone else, not knowledgable about fare classes, went to AA.com and booked a business class flight, with one flight on a one class flight, they would expect to get out into the front cabin if it switched to two class. It's not like I booked this as a multi-city flight to circumvent fare rules.

What would they have done if I had switched my flights to another route (due to the 3 hour schedule change)? Would I have only ended upfront on one of those flights or wouldn't I have ended up in business/first for all those flights? Why is it any different that I'm choosing to stay on the alternate flights they chose for me?