Can we leave the flight?
 

My wife and I have very cheap WLOWWEBI tickets LAX-SNN returning through Boston on 20 Nov. ($322 each)

Our daughter and her husband live in Boston, and we'd like to spend Thanksgiving with them. We have tried to change the return date, but WLOWWEBI doesn't allow layovers and if we change the date of the BOS-LAX segment they will reprice the tickets, perhaps as much as $2,500 each.

We can get relatively inexpensive one-way tickets BOS-LAX on 25 Nov. So here is my question:

Can we leave our LAX-JFK-SNN-BOS-LAX flight in Boston, and fly home on a different flight on 25 Nov? Will AA allow this, or will there be some sort of penalty? Will it trigger some kind of terrorist alert if we don't board the 20 Nov BOS-LAX segment? Will we get full mileage and Q-point credit for the LAX-JFK-SNN-BOS portion of our itinerary?

BTW, checked baggage will not be a problem, because you have to pick up your luggage and carry it through customs in BOS.

Any advice?

I don't know about the mileage (I suspect you will be credited with everything except BOS-LAX), but if you do this, be sure to book BOS-LAX on a different airline. Some would say you're OK if you leave off your AAdvantage number and use a different credit card, but to be completely safe I would fly BOS-LAX on a different airline.

ORD-DUB and BOS-SNN have been combined into ORD-DUB-SNN-ORD (I think as of October), so your connection would now be through ORD. Your best bet in this case may be to ask AA for a refund of your tickets due to the schedule change and then rebook. You can still fly SNN-BOS on AA, using an EI codeshare thru JFK.

while I believe that your first sentance may be correct, the other advice may not be so good.

The fare the OP got to SNN was probably (and the OP should correct me if I'm wrong) nowhere near what s/he can get R/T today. I'm flying to DUB in NOV and DEC and my fare all-in is ~$325 R/T. When I check the same flights today, we're talking $600 plus.

and there is no way AA will put the OP on EI flight just because the OP wants to connect in BOS. The OP bought a ticket from/to LAX and AA will get the OP there, but the OP does not get to choose where s/he wants to connect.

Why should I book on a different airline? What can AA do? If my original BOS-LAX segment was 20 Nov and I book a one-way BOS-LAX flight on 25 Nov, what is the problem?

I want to do this "legally" and within AA rules, but I guess I'd like to know what rules I might be violating.

You missed the main point. All this discussion has been rendered moot by the fact that your route will now be SNN-ORD-LAX.... BOS is NOT in the equation.

Because of the schedule change, the question is, will AA reroute you SNN-ORD-BOS-"LAX"? You'd better have a good reason for wanting that routing (obviously not a layover, since it's not allowed), and I say you have a 50% shot at getting it.

Would you consider flying to ORD, then a separate open-jaw ORD-BOS-LAX?

(And about throwing away your last leg, I believe justageek was concerned that the revenue protection people could show up at the gate before your new BOS-LAX leg, make you pay the fare difference for violating the "no layover" rule and staying in BOS, perhaps taking away your miles, etc. Very rare, but it has happened).

deleted -- remembered that the circumstances were slightly different in the case I was citing.

We do go through BOS. We are flying Aer Lingus codeshare on both SNN legs. Our routing is LAX-JFK-SNN-BOS-LAX. We are not taking the new ORD route.

My original question stands. If we leave the plane in BOS and take an AA flight BOS-LAX 5 days later, is there some sort of penalty? (But you may have answered this with your comments about the "revenue protection people.")

Ahhhh this makes more sense now.

Since your luggage has to clear customs/security you can pick it up in BOS after flying from SNN (Just make sure you don't recheck it!) and literally just walk out...Do NOT buy a BOS-LAX ticket on AA just to be safe, rather another airline

good luck

You'll be fine. It helps that you need to collect your luggage in BOS for customs. I doubt very much that AA computers are sophisticated enough to catch this. 5 days later you will board an AA flight and go home. Nothing to worry about.

It's against the rules but from what I've seen here, you won't have a problem unless you're a repeat offender. There are stories of people being met at the gate as sited above. I think because it's against the rules, you take a chance that you may not get the miles, your account could be marked, etc.

The reason people are suggesting a 2nd airline is so that AA doesn't realize your intentions ahead of time (or at all). Having both reservations on AA with the same FF# and/or Credit Card could raise a flag.

I didn't realize that purchasing a one-way ticket is against any rules?

The OP is flying LAX-SNN-LAX and he's buying a one-way ticket from BOS to LAX 5 days after his return. AA can't catch ANYTHING since there is NOTHING to catch. The only time AA may be able to figure out that something is not kosher is during the 5 days, but again, I doubt very much their computer system is sophisticated to catch on.....

It's the part about throwing away the last segment on the SNN ticket -- not the purchase of the one-way -- that may be a violation of the rules. Buying the one-way on AA could well draw attention to the fact that the OP skipped the BOS-LAX segment five days prior, and give AA a reason to collect any fare difference between a LAX-SNN round trip and a LAX-SNN-BOS open-jaw.

Mike

and that's what I said. Buying a one-way BOS-LAX now will not raise any flags because there are no flags to raise.

Will AA put 2+2 together once he skips the final segment during his SNN trip? Possible, but I doubt AA would even care and let's be honest....do you give their system that much credit? I don't, especially since the one way is 5 days later......

IMHO it takes a lot more than 1 trip to get the attention of the revenue people. YMMV

Don't Ireland airports have US Customs/Immigration pre-clearance, just like Canadian airports?

When I fly YVR-DFW-MIA, I don't have to collect & recheck my bags in Dallas. Are the DUB/SNN pre-clearance faciliites only for immigration, with customs done in the states?

I've never flown from Irelabd to the states...so am curious how it works anyway.