elipisk123

I have no idea what any of those numbers and letters mean. Sorry, I am not that fluent in flight language. Can someone explain that?

JJeffrey

It means that the minimum connecting time for a mainline to mainline connection at CLT is 30 mins. So you're above the MCT.

While it's certainly tight, I see sub 40 min connections offered at CLT all the time, so it's nothing unusual.

DenverBrian

This. Whenever you "have to be" at a gate at xx:00 PM, you should never schedule an arrival for less than an hour buffer, because airlines.

Luckily the nonstop CLT-MCO has a significantly later departure than your current one-stop booking, so you'll have to monitor day before and day of conditions and flight status, and if your one-stop begins to suffer from CDS (creeping delay syndrome), then call (or, if you can, chat with an agent at an Admirals Club) and ask if you can simply be placed on the nonstop to ensure you won't blow your connection.

If your first leg delays by more than 15 minutes, I would think they would grant this automatically, assuming they have a seat to put you in for the non-stop.

rdw72777

I'm going to guess this was a passion purchase. Picking a flight without thinking about connection times, mentioning Valentine's Day, being at a gate by 3 but no mention of a 3 pm flight...all sounds like an airport marriage proposal.

If there's yet another flight where the gate closes at 3 pm (not mentioned by OP) then this is the least likely to succeed itinerary I've ever seen w/r/t connection times (33 min and 19 min, respectively).

elipisk123

This is one connecting flight. I am a volunteer for a Jewish youth group, BBYO, and they have specifically ordered me that I have to be in the airport by 3 PM.

brewdog11

If your flight is somewhat late, I doubt they will leave you stranded. I'm not sure what kind of meeting/conference you're attending, but surely the events don't start at 3pm sharp. If you're late, you won't be the only one.

iadisgreat

They want you in by 3 pm, but in all honesty if you get delayed and show up at 4 pm, you'll be fine. Don't worry about it.

elipisk123

So, overall, what you are telling me is that I am out of luck and that I should just keep my connecting flight. Correct?
Do you guys think that a seat will be open on the direct, nonstop flight on the day before (February 13)?

lds89

@elipisk123 I'd remove your record locator from a public website

Record locators can be used to make changes to reservations

Often1

This connection is just inside the MCT for CLT, but it is well outside the SCT (Sensible Connection Time) for anybody who has a tight schedule. Having nothing to do with the schedule, this is a poor choice. Not much OP can do, but this is important for others. If OP misconnects, he has at least a 2-hour wait and a 4-hour wait if the 2-hour wait flight is sold out.

wetrat0

First, relax. Your posted instructions says you should plan to arrive at the airport by 3 PM. You have done exactly that-- you have planned to arrive by 3 PM, and there is a reasonably good chance you will arrive by 3 PM. Second, start watching for schedule changes. Any schedule change that gives you a < 30 minute connection would be grounds for a change with no fee. This can and does happen. Third, watch the weather. If there's bad weather, there will be a waiver, which will allow you to change to an earlier flight at no charge (assuming space is available). Finally, if the day of travel arrives and if your flight is delayed, even a few minutes, it puts you under the MCT and you would have every right to ask to move to a different flight. If none of these things happens (no schedule change, good weather, no flight delay) you have little to worry about. 30 minutes mainline to mainline in CLT is enough if everything goes as planned (walk quickly just to be sure...).

Last but not least, know your options. Have a list of (multiple) alternate flights, so that at the first sign something is going wrong, you will be able to give the agent the exact flight numbers, etc., that you want. This dramatically increases your chance of getting a desirable rebooking.

elipisk123

Would it be possible for American to hold the flight, or is that unreasonable?

brewdog11

I would definitely not count on it, especially on the CLT-MCO route. AA will rarely hold flights, especially on routes where there are multiple flights per day. They *might* hold a flight if it's the last flight of the night into an outstation, but it's highly unlikely on this route in the middle of the day.

PHL

Another thing to keep in mind is that the schedules are heavily padded. PHL-CLT is blocked (gate to gate time) at almost 2 hours, but in reality the time in the air is about 1:20. So if everything is operating normally that day, there's a good chance you arrive in CLT early and have more time to make it to your connection.

Often1

That is unreasonable.

The decision to hold a flight is made by Operations and it involves a lot of factors. One of them is how many passengers AA is stuck with. There are multiple later MCO services so it's a good bet that misconnects will be acommodated over the next 2, 4 or 6 hours.

One thing never to do is to count on a connection being held. Even if the staff at your original airport tell you that it will be.