Where did I go wrong? [invol reroute OSO / IROPS mess at LIM]
 

This is not a rant about AA. It's a request for advice if there is a next time.

My flight from LIM-MIA on saturday night 9:30pm was cancelled. I was in the preferred line, those in need had already been checked in and the phone started buzzing. 7 messages constantly changing, telling me the flight was moved, it wasn't moved, it was moved. Counter still telling us we were boarding. Finally pilot comes out and cancels flight.
AA then collects everyone's passports to cancel our customs stamps, sends us back in line to book new flights. They state an extra plane has been scheduled for sunday night at 11:30pm to get us home. When I get to the counter, they tell me that flight has is full. They booked me on Air Canada at 2am sunday morning which refused to seat me because flight was full and finally they booked me on COPA sunday 7am to Panama, then Miami. (as an aside, because I took COPA I will fall short of miles for platinum next year so I booked a miles run upon return)

My questions
What could I have done to make it an easier transition. I have never had this situation occur. I am platinum and was flying first class.
Did I have a number to call that could have aided my transition. Should I have gone on line and tried to book my own flight. If I booked a flight, not on AA metal, would I have had to pay (I knew about the Air Canada flight an hour earlier). Should I have booked the 11:30 sunday night flight as a precaution.
Bottom line is, I felt I should be doing something in the 71/2 hours it took to book a new flight but didn't know what to do.
Hopefully this never occurs again, but if so, what should I have done?

Sorry for the length, tried to shorten as best as possible. Thanks for any advice

Ok, as for falling short on miles, there is something called ORC, Original Routing Credit, you request it, and they will grant you the mileage that you should have gotten. The re-route was not your fault, but rather AA, and they will certainly honor the ORC. On the flip side, you can get credit for Copa flight as well in your *A account if you have one. Another reason on having a FF account on all alliances.

As for what to do, call, call and call. It seems that you already knew of some possible alternative flights. Instead of waiting in line for you to be attended, make a call to AA, Skype, tweeter, etc. There where obviously numerous people that had to be accommodated and not many available seats at the moment, those that are first in line will be the first to be attended/accommodated. Be pro-active and get in touch with an agent ASAP and start the ball rolling while you are waiting on line.

Counter agents where probably limited to how much time they can spend with someone while the line is getting long, they need to help all the others that are still waiting, also, they do not have the time to check on all possible routes they can offer. This is one reason why I research my alternative and spoon feed it to them.

This is one reason why I have AAdmiral club account, I can go there and one of the AAngels can take care of my situation.

Ask for Original Routing Credit and you will get your miles, etc.

I have seen references to (but haven't used):

● AA OSO (Off Schedule Operations) desk for day of flight issues - 1-800-446-7834

I think that might be a number to call in these circumstances

arollins

In this case no AA lounge. However, for the, hopefully not to happen again, future. If there is an AA lounge, how do I get to it. I was sheparded out of security as soon as I received my passport and immigration form, since I no longer had a ticket.

Also
Do I simply email to request the ORC or is there a form?

For ORC, you can send email to AA or call. They will ask for the record locator, flight dates, and or ticket #. As for lounge access, you will need to have membership (I do) or buy a day pass.

I think that call center is only activated in major disruptions like weather at a hub, not for a single flight cancellation. Platinum phone number would probably have been the fastest. I would have done that while waiting in line to talk to the agent. I've done this before where I put the call on headphones so I can keep using my phone to start looking for alternatives while I'm on hold. It is extremely stressful.

In this case I would have asked to keep my passport and explained that I would try to handle it at the Admirals Club (if there was one). In fact I'd probably have run to the Admirals Club before anyone could stop me the moment that the phone started buzzing. Again, all hypothetical if there's no club in LIM.

Or login into your AA account, and on the summary page, on the bottom left there is a selector asking "What do you want to do?" and one of the dropdown options is "Request missing flight miles" ;)

1) You're right - OSO number is activated when the fit hits the shan.

2) There isn't. AA uses the Sumaq lounge at LIM, and they wouldn't be of any use at all.

3) OP needs to read http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html

4) With TripIt Pro on my mobile, I can see alternate flights, including seats for sale. Then I can proactively tell the counter agent (or call - though that's a crapshoot these days) "I see Compañia Fulana de Aviación has three seats available to Chiquitito, with a connecting flight to xxx; can you secure a seat for me?" Preferably, a oneworld connection makes it easier for them.

5) My FlightBoard app will tell me where those flights depart from.

6) Purchasing a new flight voluntarily is not necessarily going to get reimbursed by AA, nor is it going to be easy to get ORC, but at walk-up prices you can be sure it'll be expensive.

Will do

I will say the Sumaq lounge is better than any AA lounge for eating and for sleeping.

Not so likely to work for ORC. The minute they see the COPA ticket number and coding they're extremely likely to deny.

In what dimension is that? ;) It's often so crowded it can be a challenge to find two adjacent seats. "Sumaq" means "beautiful" in Runasimi (Kechwa), but IMO not so much - though uncrowded it's much better.

Not so crowded at 3am

I have a travel agent. I also 'self help' if he is sleeping.

You can go on line and book SPACE. not necessarily buy a ticket, although you can if you must. But buy refundable, and STILL get to the irrops carrier to fix it. I have also bought tickets, fully refundable first class once for over $20k, then went to AA and said "fix this- put me on those seats, refund the ticket". I was an EXP.

I have never abandoned travel and purchased my own way, then tried later to have it fixed. On occasion Id flying into XXX instead and rent a car 200, 300 miles, but I expense that.

If you wait for them to present solutions, it will be after everyone else AND will be on their preferred carriers/solutions. During IRROPS it is about space, and those that get space first win.


and as everyone is saying, AA will give you ORC. No need for the mileage run.

Thanks to everyone for your advice
I did not know about ORC. A phone call to the platinum line, after a bit of a hassle and two supervisors(first said no because no ticket number, second said yes because she could get the ticket number) my miles were restored.
Thanks again