traveller1983

i booked a flight from carribbean that was scheduled to arrive in miami at 6:45pm on a wednesday and then connect to AA 1724 MIA - DFW leaving miami at 9:15pm and arriving dallas at 11:25pm.
i received a schedule change notification that my flight now arrives into MIA at 6:55pm and due to the 9:15pm flight being CANCELLED (schedule change), they automatically changed me to AA 2413 MIA - DFW that leaves miami the next MORNING at 6:20am and arrives dallas at 8:30am. there's a 8:10pm mia-dfw flight but it's not a legal connection for customs timing.

what are my options? is there any compensation involved for having to stay the night in miami?
1. i looked at flight schedules and there's another airport that i could fly out of but it would cost me a $150 cab ride and would be a 2 hour drive.
2. the other thing is taking the MIA - LAX - DFW flight out the same "night" which gets into dallas at 5am which would give me more miles but it would be a major hassle if any flight delays occurred and i'd be stuck sleeping in a plane all night instead of sleeping at the airport all night.
3. does this allow me a date change? i booked for the 20th but turns out i can actually leave on the 14th so it would be great to change to that.

what does the FT community think? what would you do in my position? what compensation can i receive for the inconvenience?

mvoight

AA isn't going to pay you for transportation between 2 airports or the hotel.
Options
1. Come to an agreement with AA on new flights
a. I doubt the would let you change the dates by 6 days, but go ahead and ask
2. Cancel and get a refund

fanch26

Is there an earlier flight into MIA that day which would get you to 2413?

Note that once you commit to a change, your going to be stuck with it,
so the more options you have identified the better.

Depending on how the fares are relative to purchase, you might be able
to take the route of six days early by obtaining a refund rather than changing the ticket.

traveller1983

Nope. Theres not an earlier flight from the same airport. Only one flight a day. Which also means no matter what day I pick I'll have the issue of an overnight in Miami.

I agree. Once I pick a change I'm stuck with it so hopefully I can find a good option.

I just calculated the extra lax leg would give me twice the miles but it sucks to spend all that time in an airplane seat. lol

HNL

BIS miles actually require time in the seat.

NoWindowSeat

As my question is somewhat related so I ask it here on same thread instead of opening a new one:

I'm booked in A/I fare classes (First/Business Saver) on itn connecting trough DFW, AA changed the schedule and I was wondering if I could reroute via MIA instead? I prefer DFW immigration/customs over MIA any day but in this case I'd be tempted to switch.

From previous experiences I know that I can change within the current routing as I wish but just never tried to change the connecting airport before. Also, I couldn't find clear fare rules from aa.com

Thanks!

mrredskin

The Protection for Schedule change rules are apparently different than what's listed in the OP.

Now it has to be a 60-119 minute difference to warrant a voucher, and 120 minutes or more for you to get a refund of original form of payment. Absolutely ridiculous.

serfty

The 240/80 AA page link to in the OP has been updated (indicates January 12, 2011). However, the ranges are listed as 0-60, 61-120, 121+:

http://www.aa.com/i18n/agency/Bookin...p&locale=en_IN

GUWonder

A 61-120 minute delay or expediting of a flight pretty much wipes out plans in a variety of situations -- for example, the proverbial "trip in vain" situation.

The more I see these customer-unfriendly changes by the likes of AA and other US airlines, the more I see the need for a passenger bill of rights that is even more customer-friendly than the one applicable under Regulation [EC] 261/2004 to European carriers' flights as well as to those non-European carriers flights from the relevant European-governed areas.

mikelat

Spend more time on FT and you may come to enjoy/appreciate more time in an airplane seat I'd much rather take a redeye flight than spend money on an extra hotel night or have to get up very early in the morning. Assuming, of course, that I get upgraded I greatly prefer 1230 out of SEA to DFW around midnight to having to take an early morning flight out of SEA, especially after oversleeping recently and having to cancel an International trip

mrredskin

FWIW, an agent switched me from a 6am out of LAS to a 7:15 to help make up the 3 hour layover I would have had at DFW. Now I only have about an hour and a half to wait. Didn't even have to ask - she offered to before I could. Awesome of her to do and it only took about 5 minutes of being on the phone.

dstan

Thanks for the heads up, guys - I have updated the quoted material in the OP.

/Moderator

cme2c

Had summer award flights booked FSD-ORD-LHR and return (but booked as a separate award ticket) Specifically chose FSD (instead of my home OMA) because at that time it would get to ORD to catch the daytime ORD-LHR. Now a schedule change on FSD-ORD leaves us unable to make the daytime ORD-LHR, so they rebooked us on a flight that now arrives at 7AM the next day.

There is a flight DSM-ORD that would allow us to make that early flight. I called to ask to have the departure/return switched to DSM from FSD and to be reinstated on the daytime ORD-LHR. Was told by CS that they cannot change the departure and origin on the ticket. (Ironically, I was offered a return to a different destination when the return leg had a schedule change a couple of months ago). Asked for Supervisor to no avail. Other than calling back, does anyone have any other advice on ways I can get this changed. My wife and I don't sleep well on planes and it really costs us a day in London. Overnighting in Chicago would be one option, but would cause a missed day of work.

JumboD

I'd keep trying until you get a favorable response. This is a situation in which they should accommodate you. I suppose you could always try "well, we don't sleep well on planes but if you upgrade us we might sleep better," though that'll probably never get anything but a laugh .

I think by explaining to them that you can't miss a day of work, but have to be in London that morning for XXX very important event which their schedule change is causing you to miss may have the best results. Is the issue that award tickets are no longer available/not available from DSM?

cme2c

Already in J on the way there and F on the way back.