engineroom

driving from MIA to FLL can be a lot more than nuisance

brp

Well, maybe not devastating, but more than a nuisance that my redeye options SJC...FLL are now nonexistent. Evening flights have an overnight layover and arrive mid afternoon (at least for dates I've checked). Inasmuch as my brother is north of FLL, this is definitely more than a nuisance to go to MIA.

Cheers.

sk3

FWIW: Here's a report about what happened to pax holding tickets for December, FLL-LAX....

My parents had ticketed a one-way FLL-LAX to get them home at the termination of a cruise.

I just happened to be in my dad's AA account trying to help them get JFK tix for the fall and saw the FLL ticket (I hadn't known about their trip).

AA had rebooked them thru DFW and issued new seats. No email to my folks, no phone call. Nada.

Upon finding out about this change, my septuagenarian father was completely thrown - "but I have my tickets right here, see? LAX nonstop to Fort Lauderdale! Your mother and I only want to fly direct nonstops!" and he waived the piece of paper about.

AA had booked them with a layover in DFW of 55 minutes and I suggested they switch to the next fllight to give them a less stressfull 2 hour connection. AA kept their original seat selection for the FLL-DFW which still worked fine, but for the DFW-LAX they gave them 14 E, F. In an MD80. My dad said "sounds ok". I explained that this equipment was 2 and 3 across configuration and that he now had a middle seat and a window. You should have seen the look on my dad's face.

My dad called AA and changed the 2nd flight and seats. All fine now.

I'll keep an eye on his flights from here on to see if the MD80 gets switched out and his seats get lost again, and for all the usual reasons.

I post all this for the guy who posted on the thread: "Upcoming Route Cuts.. Consolidated thread" that planned on rescheduling his flights before AA called him - and for the newer readers who may be unaware that historically it's been a hit or miss if one actually receives "change in flight notifications" and that in this current situation of massive schedule changes that it's up to us to diligently monitor our upcoming reservations. (And the reservations of your friends and family if you happen to be their de facto travel agent like me!)

pauleeepaul

Loose change...

Loose women = lose money

Robt760

Hate to say anything, but had they remained on FLL-LAX non stop, it would have been on a 757 which has 3 across on BOTH sides of the plane. What would the look on his face have been when he found that out?

The only way now that they will get a non stop flight will be to go with MIA-LAX. AA may or may not switch it out at no additional charge. There are at least 8 flights a day on this route.

mvoight

Are the cruise lines planning on subsidizing AA?
That would be the only negotiation AA should be interesting.
Talks and letter campaigns don't pay the bills.

The fares were low because AA couldn't get higher fares for the route, not because they were being charitable.

sk3

Well actually I shared their seat assignments for the DFW-LAX portion (14 E, F) and said that their seats remained the same as originally booked for the FLL-DFW. And since it was a switch from a 757 to a 738 the seats worked fine (15 D, C so they can each have aisles opposite from each other). I hadn't shared all that since I tend to be too wordy to begin with!

Anyway, thanks for the MIA suggestion, I hadn't thought of that. If my parents are interested in that (dunno if they may think it's too much of a hassle to get from the ship to MIA) but if so, I'll post back with whether AA makes the switch for free....

Edited to add:
Just called dad to suggest MIA and he said that would be absolutely horrible, too far from the ship, would have to rent a car, horrible he said. They're very fussy ppl. Anyway, no more from me on this topic!

Jumpcut

I had 4 LAX-FLL flights scheduled after 9/3. I was able to change them all to LAX-MIA without hassle. Even was able to keep my F award seats on Thanksgiving time travel.

beachfan

A cab between the FLL and MIA is about $50.

The odds of something going really wrong is a lot higher in DFW than MIA IMHO.

sharklover

I think a cab is closer to $60.

It does not surprise me that these flights were cancelled. They used to have 4 flights a day and then cut it to 2. Lasy year I went to LAX 4 times and each time I went from MIA because of better schedule and to fly on 777 or 767. FLL was always less expensive. Filling a plane at $300 a person for such a long flight i am sure loses money even if 100% full. AA seems to contantly taking away flights from FLL and adding them to MIA despite landing costs being more than double.

izzyizzo

I love the redeye from LAX on an ancient 737 to MIA. Especially when I'm in the middle seat. Just try for an upgrade, at least you'll get a chuckle out of the LAX agent.

Then again, the company pays for a limo when I take the midday nonstop out of FLL and come back in on the redeye to MIA... so it could be worse...

sk3

well i lied, i'm posting more here ~

thank you Robt760, Jumpcut, beachfan, sharklover and izzyizzo for your posts. I'm going to convince my dad to switch to MIA, if it takes me hiring a car to get them from their ship to MIA

the $50-60 cab fare sounds like a steal considering what my folks would gain by switching to MIA -

but just in case that's not enough incentive, izzyizzo, could you please share what car service your company uses? or does anyone have a recommendation for a reasonably priced car service to get my folks from the port in Fort Lauderdale to MIA?

i realize i've now gone OT, but any help would be really appreciated.