LHR - AA missed connection
 

I'm scheduled to connect to a AA Flight in LHR T3. Incoming from a BA international flight to T5. The ticket is issued by BA with AA LHR-USA as a code share (BA Flight #). All segments are in the same Ticket.

The connection time is 2 Hrs and I want to know what happens if I miss the connection due to late arrival or delay at security / Transit betw Terminals.

Do I need to go back to BA flight connections or will AA take care of it. I'm a BA Gold (OWE) and flying in Business class.

The last time I did miss a connection (2014), on AA to USA, I went back to BA Desk to get re booked.

The airline responsible for the delay must sort it out (BA if it does happen)
BA-AA would not have sold if the connection was not possible. Airlines do not like taking risks;- that cost $$$

While technically BA would be the responsible party, in a case like this it doesn't necessarily have to be BA that does the rebooking. Both AA and BA will be able to take care of it.

A few years back I had a late arriving BA flight into LHR that caused me to miss my AA flight from T3, the AA agents in T3 had no problem rebooking me. If you are late I would just go to the first service desk you come across.

But as mentioned above, 2 hrs is plenty of time for a T5-T3 connection, nothing to worry about.

Booking 2 award tickets for Jan 2020. I need 25k miles from my husband's account to cover. Any free way to do this?

No.

How much are the award tickets for a one-way trip on your particular itinerary?

These are one way tickets to position for a cruise leaving from SCL and going to EZE.

Probably a super-dumb question. I've started flying with AA this year due to a relocation to Philly. I've gotten platinum status as of this week due to the number of segments I've flown in 2019. When booking flights through my work (using Concur) I always have to manually change the booking code from B to whatever non-basic economy fare is available. That said, now that I'm a platinum (and will likely hit EXP prior to August), what are the downsides to booking into basic economy? Do I retain any of the same perks associated with status? I'm mostly curious about this for personal travel.

I am looking at an award flight from KOA (Kona, Hawaill) to the east coast in November. I take it the 20/22.5k AA miles is the lowest an award flight will go for on way, so I should probably book now?

If you find the award you want, book it now. It could easily go up in miles cost or disappear.

F/J tickets will get you lounge access. You can always start a AA challenge and pay for status while you complete the challenge.

Dumb question:

I had Gold status on American (I don't normally fly American these days though I do fly a lot for work) through January but have since "lost" my status. I'm Platinum with United and Gold with Delta, FWIW. Last year I did about 100,000 EQM on United (I didn't hit the spend to get 1K, womp womp) so that was my primary carrier/alliance for 2018.

I need to buy a series of tickets for this summer and AA/AA codeshares are coming up as the best options, but I won't get any benefits as if I flew UA or DL (lounge access, etc. -- these are international long-haul tickets).

AA has offered to let me 'buy back' my gold status for $650. I also have 14 500-mile upgrades sitting in my AA account that I can't use unless I am elite (I have ~250,000 AA miles at the moment).

I am thinking of instead asking for a status match. Has anyone successfully done a status match based upon UA or DL status?

Would it be better to buy back gold rather than to do a status match?

Does anyone know the status match challenge requirements for various categories? Would rather not "burn" a status match if I should just buy my gold back and then save status match for when I *really* think I need/want to use it (because you can only do it once, right?)?

Thanks!

Flying HEL-LHR-JFK on AA miles. The HEL-LHR segment is in Y on AY, but the connection is on AA in J.

Will I have club access in HEL?

Also, the cost of a challenge depends on whether you do it before or after Jul 01. See the Gold and Platinum Status Challenge thread. Yes, it appears the "rule" is 2 every 5 years, but of course like everything else related to Challenges it is unwritten and subject to change.

Do you get Etihad bus service between AUH- to Dubai for any flight booked with Aadvantage miles? Do you get free checked bags on this on coach award?? What's the tips/tricks to get 3 J seats for travel from 3rd week of December for a week. ORD- AUH and return around Dec 30th. We are a couple and small child. Thanks

Last year I asked this question:

"Admirals Club Access Question.
I would be flying Canada - Central America. Paid Business Class.
There would be connections in one or two AA hubs.
Spend the night in a hotel continue to destination.
Return the same way.
Do I get club for all segments of just the one from USA-Central America.?"

The result,
Southbound Club access no problem.
On the return, we had a connection in DFW to ORD. Access no problem.
The next morning, went to the club in ORD for the last segment to Canada.
Question 1. Which one of you has club membership? A. None of us.
Question 2. Are you using your AS status to get access?
A. We don't have AS status. We're on an international ticket.
Much key punching ensued, then we were given invitations to the Flagship lounge.

Has AA changed their mind on offering a complimentary upgrade to PE for EXP?
TATL flight this morning had W3 available but I was still unable to see the option either on the app or website. When I inquired at the airport, I was told by the check-in agent that no more comp upgrades offered.

Flying ORD to HND in F (JFK>HND on JL) connecting @ JFK. Will I have lounge access at ORD? If so, what lounge?

I do not hold any One World Status.

Thanks.

Yes--AA Admirals Club, Flagship Lounge or BA lounge. If convenient/time-permitting, the Flagship is probably most appealing option. Otherwise, pick the Admirals Club closest to your gate.

Hi
I am travelling this week with my young family, in Y, connecting international to domestic at ORD. I have two hours for the connection: given that we are not US citizens and have no pre-check, and the kids will probably need the bathroom, etc I am aware that we won't be getting through immigration or T3 security particularly quickly. So I'd like to do what I can to make things easier and with that in mind I was wondering how best to get seats nearer the front of the first flight (so we're closer to the front of the immigration queue). We have been allocated seats in row 31 and I can see blocks of 4 empty further forward but don't have the budget to pay. Do these become free (in the money sense) at T-24 when check in opens? If not, am I right in thinking that I should instead delay checking in until the airport (but arrive there as early as possible) and ask there?

Thanks in advance

Regardless of what you do, two hours connection from international to domestic at ORD is very tight with kids, and moreso if you arrive late. You arrive in the international terminal, probably have a longish walk, process immigration, retrieve your baggage, process customs, recheck baggage just outside of customs.

From there to the train to the AA terminal 3, check in if you don’t have boarding passes, process security, go to the next gate. Three hours is considered a better connection time.

AA will put you on the next flight with available seats. That’s the good news and the bad news, because there may or not be available seats on the next flight.

See https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...ction-etc.html, particularly the Wikipost st the top of the page.

Thanks for your reply. Yes, 2 hours is not what I would have chosen - it was slightly longer when I booked but flight time changes have knocked it down to this. I have contacted AA to ask if it's wise and they have said it's a legal connection so won't consider moving me (e.g. there's an earlier flight from LHR we could get).
​​Hence now trying to get every advantage I can with seats at the front of the cabin.

(I plan to log the time we disembark, join the immigration queue, join the security queue etc and use it, if I need to, as evidence of our best endeavours in any claim for EU261 compensation if we don't connect and are delayed by 3+ hours...)

As I read it, the train is shut down and replaced by a bus now, making this connection more difficult.

My redemption and re-deposit activity this year as a Barclay AA Aviator cardholder:

Jan 2019: Redeemed 75K AA miles. Got 10% AA cardholder refund: 7,500 miles
Mar 2019: Re-deposited 35K AA miles (ticket was originally booked in 2018). 10% AA cardholder perk reversed -3,500 miles.

Considering the above, if I book a 60K AA mile award flight this month, will I get 6K AA miles back or just 2.5K AA miles?

Assuming coach, that's 30K per person each way.

Instead of using 120K miles from your account for the tickets - and it sounds like your short - you could use 90K from yours for 3 of the 1 ways and 30K from his for the 4th.

No transfers necessary, no fees.

This is true, but having been through this T3<>T5 back in February on DSM>ORD>DOH>SEZ and the reverse, it really is not tough. Maybe a 15 minute total process to leave terminal, wait for bus, drive, get off. Bigger issue is re-clearing security.

No, they were for Business seats, 150k each. So 600k total. Seems like a waste of miles but no others showing up.

Yes, you should, since you are on an J int'l itinerary, however, lounge may need some coaxing.

Basic Economy vs Main Cabin
 

Hi,

Has anyone calculated a breakeven price difference to catch the difference in earning rates between BE and Main Cabin?
I am Platinum, if that figures in.

Thanks!

While anything is possible, I think it highly unlikely that AAnytime Business Class awards to and from South America in January, 2020, are going to sell out anytime soon. Unless you have EXP status with AA and can redeposit miles without charge, I would probably wait until the Fall to see if SAAver award seats open up on either AA or their partner LATAM. Note that LATAM award space cannot be displayed on aa.com; you must use some third-party site or call AA to check for LATAM award space.

Just signed up for a Gold status challenge, and my status went into effect today. I typically fly DSM>ORD>IND and the reverse typically so I will be regularly be getting on the upgrade list due to sub 500 mile flights. Whether I get them, different story.

However, my question is this... If I am upgraded, do I earn the F EQD/EQM, or do I earn what I paid, when booking in Y? Not trying to be greedy and expect the higher, just curious.

You always earn miles based on the fare class you originally purchase, not the class you upgrade into. That goes for any type of upgrade.

No, you will get what you paid to book in y.

Looking to fly to Chicago for easter, now I am a oneworld saphire and I have a question about the Main Cabin Extra product. I like the fare below and i see with AA code it puts me into basic so I would have no earning points on Qantas and also no MCE.
However with the AY flight codes it books into Q and N which credit as Economy.

Do I get access to MCE / preferred seats with the AY coded flights? Or do they not get the same benefits?

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b42932e898.png
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f06bb03022.png

@davem4 For transatlantic basic economy flights on AA you will have the option to purchase a seat assignment in advance, and I believe that includes paying extra for an mce seat. Or you can book a full economy american fare for £489 on those same flights and get access to the MCE seats through your Qantas status.

Note that the Finnair flight shown is also a basic economy fare or as they call it "Economy Light." While it looks like it would credit to Qantas as economy I don't know what kind of seating limitations you might run into.

I had a last minute trip this past weekend from CPH-RDU and almost purchased one of these AY Economy Light fares, which included AY metal on HEL-JFK and AA metal for the return RDU-LHR (all as AY flight numbers). In doing a dummy booking as an EXP I was able to select any seat I wanted just like normal, including MCE, exit rows, preferred, and AY's Economy Comfort (or whatever they call it). So it didn't appear that Economy Light carried any seating restrictions, at least for someone with status. By the best I could tell it was the same as discount economy just without any checked bags included.