worldwidetraveler

Originally booked my flight from IAH in Business to europe with a 2:45 hour connection at DFW. Well, AA decided to change my IAH flight to a later depart which only allowed a 46 minute connection. I didn't realize that a change of terminals would be required. AA flight into DFW was delayed 25 minutes and my TATL flight left 5 minutes early. AA re-booked me thru an LHR connection which added 8 hours to my travel time!
Moral of story : Don't trust AA when they do a schedule/flight change without carefully investigating potential pitfalls! (there was still a flight I could have been booked on from IAH to DFW which would have given me a 2:40 connection)

arollins

I'm sorry to hear about your scheduled changes. This is one reason it is important to always keep up to date with the reservations one has. Had you caught this early, you could have requested a different schedule that could have been to your advantage. Leason learned, dont trust the re-accommodation algorithm that AA assigns, use your best judgemt. Typically changes of 2 hours you can request a different routing and or full refund.

This is one reason I always keep a full profile on the airlines I fly and opt in on their notification emails/text to alert me of such things. Along with that, I also use awardwallet, tripcase and trip it as well. I do not leave this to chance. Did you received any prior notification on this change?

SAN_Finn

I do feel for the op in the sense that AA could do a lot better job at informing customers what changed in their travel plans. The email about flight change is very vague and requires way too much digging to see what changed and what the impact was.

sosfo

+1

​​​​​​I wish that email would show both the old and the new information side by side like other carriers. I had a flight I booked almost a year out that had 4 flight change notifications. Two of them ended up being equipment changes, but one was a three hour time change. Since it also changes in the reservation online, the only way to find out what the charge was was to go back through historical email confirmations. I use expert flyer to monitor this stuff now, but the fact that it's not something the airline offers it's kind of ridiculous. They have all of the information required to do so.

Bogeys

I was coming back from BKK going through HKG on Cathay (everything booked through AA) and had the flight change the night before to a JAL flight routed through Narita and leaving 3 hours earlier. On the taxi on the way to the airport for my earlier 6 AM flight, I checked the app and found that I was now re-booked to an 9 AM flight, still going through Narita. The only notification I received in all of it was the one the day before showing that the Cathay HKG flight was going to be delayed.

AA is horrible about notifications for IRROPS, something I really really wish they would prioritize. Why IRROPS are still relatively rare, when they happen it can really cause headaches.

floridastorm

Back in the "old days" most airlines worked well together. If you missed a connection, your flight was cancelled, or your flight was unreasonably delayed, customer service would put you on the next available flight to your destination, regardless of carrier. Is this still happening and, if not, why not?

bse118

AA is terrible about notifying about schedule changes, agreed.

But, seriously people, just check your itineraries every now and again. It's not that difficult.

869

Pax should assert themselves. You can ask for a change if AA changes flight time by 5 minutes. I understand they may not refund but I personally will not accept having my schedule subjected to whatever works for AA. Have never had a problem getting changes but have had to push sometimes. No doubt holding status helps.

Agreed on all accounts. AA sucks at this and it would be so simple to fix.

brewdog11

Case in point of why it's a good idea to occasionally sit down and check your reservations.

3Cforme

OP doesn't mention if the trip was booked with AA, and specifically on aa.com, or thru a 3rd party which would have been responsible for notification. Looking at a prospective booking thru DFW on aa.com, I see a terminal change alert. I don't know if that is repeated in schedule change notices. Minimum Connect Times are set with terminal changes in mind, anyway.

josmul123

I have a trip booked in July on 2 separate PNR's (one revenue ticket, one award ticket). I got a flight change notification for the award ticket (Which isn't my reservation), but not for the paid one (Which is).

That said, the agent I ended up talking to about changing everything was so accommodating, she even let me change the paid reservation's outbound (which didn't have a schedule change) so I could be on the same flights again, as I'd changed the outbound because a unicorn (Saaver business award) opened up on a different route.

beachfan

Award Wallet has saved my bacon a couple of times on this issue.

worldwidetraveler

I agree that I should have been on top of this change of flights booked thru aa.com. Family problems drew my attention away. I had "assumed" that my connection would be at a nearby gate. In any case the aa scheduled 45 minute DFW connection domestic to international should never have been allowed!

The smallest state

I really don't like that we are blaming the OP for "missing" the flight. If the connection is too tight, then AA shouldn't sell the ticket. I must say 45 mins to change terminals is too tight.

On the other hand, some of the connections that Delta runs through ATL or AA runs through Miami are downright insane vs 45 mins in DFW.

jordyn

I don't know if this is worse than on other airlines, but in addition to not showing you "before and after" in the e-mail notifications, AA has a bad habit of moving you to flights several hours from what you had originally booked even if (as in your case) there's another flight at almost the exact same time.

I presume this is incompetence as opposed to malevolence, but it seems like it would be something that would be pretty easy to control for.