Anyone ever get MCT overruled? JFK EY-AA

Old Feb 11, 2019, 9:42 am
  #1  
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Anyone ever get MCT overruled? JFK EY-AA

So I have on one PNR EY103 to JFK and onward to DCA, all in F. Obviously I will clear customs/immigration in AUH and bags will be checked to DCA. The MCT for I-D is 120 minutes and the soonest JFK flight is 90 minutes after scheduled arrival. Has anyone ever been able to convince anyone at AA that this should have the D-D rule applied?

If not, I remain booked on the 2159 flight, with SIX lovely hours at JFK for which I would be granted no lounge access. I know we can standby to the earlier flight upon arrival as well. Any other thoughts? Am I missing something obvious?

thanks!!
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 9:49 am
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To the contrary, Ive read several posts over time AA agents are unwilling to waive MCT in instances where pre-clearance is done at AUA, DUB, etc. its always possible, but from what Ive read AA agents are unwilling to waive MCT - MCTs are not established by AA, theyre established by IATA.

If you did manage to get an AA agent to waive MCT, Id half expect another wouldnt and you might get stuck without a valid JFK-DCA ticket from the AA perspective. Id take the six hour stop and try to get the earlier flight if I arrived on time.
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 9:53 am
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Just standby onto the earlier flight when you arrive.
The chance of finding an agent to do the waiver is very slim.

Do you have any AA status? Even if not, I think the chance of getting a standby fee waiver at the terminal (which I've had for me once on DL for this precise reason) is substantially higher than getting the MCT waiver.
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 10:01 am
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Preclearance of a flight is technically not guaranteed but at the discretion of CBP, hence why they stick to the normal I-D MCT
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 10:14 am
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Originally Posted by JDiver
To the contrary, Ive read several posts over time AA agents are unwilling to waive MCT in instances where pre-clearance is done at AUA, DUB, etc. its always possible, but from what Ive read AA agents are unwilling to waive MCT - MCTs are not established by AA, theyre established by IATA.

If you did manage to get an AA agent to waive MCT, Id half expect another wouldnt and you might get stuck without a valid JFK-DCA ticket from the AA perspective. Id take the six hour stop and try to get the earlier flight if I arrived on time.
Im confused, how/why could AA agents be unwilling to waive MCT for pre-clearance origins? Its automatically coded as domestic, theres no intervention necessary as far as I know.

AUA, NAS etc have always been D-D/D-I* connections as far as MCT is concerned.

Now apparently for whatever reason AUH is different in this respect, but there shouldnt be any issues with AUA. Is there perhaps a Caribbean vs Longhaul difference in MCT? Is DUB I-D/I-I? (My only experiences are AUA and NAS, cant comment on DUB/SNN.)

But perhaps Im misunderstanding your post.

*I do recall D-I connections coming in from preclearance airports sometimes having a slightly altered MCT, though.



Last edited by Djokison; Feb 11, 2019 at 10:24 am
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 11:03 am
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Im pretty sure its not up to AA, its on IATA. If IATA doesnt reflect the AUH preclearance, AA is going to be stuck enforcing the IATA rule. Another member had similar issues at SFO, possibly arriving from AUH as well. I may be wrong and it applies to any EY flight from AUH?

Originally Posted by Djokison


Im confused, how/why could AA agents be unwilling to waive MCT for pre-clearance origins? Its automatically coded as domestic, theres no intervention necessary as far as I know.

AUA, NAS etc have always been D-D/D-I* connections as far as MCT is concerned.

Now apparently for whatever reason AUH is different in this respect, but there shouldnt be any issues with AUA. Is there perhaps a Caribbean vs Longhaul difference in MCT? Is DUB I-D/I-I? (My only experiences are AUA and NAS, cant comment on DUB/SNN.)

But perhaps Im misunderstanding your post.

*I do recall D-I connections coming in from preclearance airports sometimes having a slightly altered MCT, though.


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Old Feb 11, 2019, 11:20 am
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Originally Posted by JDiver
I’m pretty sure it’s not up to AA, it’s on IATA. If IATA doesn’t reflect the AUH preclearance, AA is going to be stuck enforcing the IATA rule. Another member had similar issues at SFO, possibly arriving from AUH as well. I may be wrong and it applies to any EY flight from AUH?
My understanding is that AA can ask for exceptions to the times.

In this specific case, for EY103 to any other airline, the MCT is set at 2:15, which is 30mins longer than the standard I-D connection at JFK.

Last edited by deeruck; Feb 11, 2019 at 11:21 am Reason: Correction
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 11:41 am
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Thanks for responses so far. Guess it just doesnt make sense why its coded as I-D at all.

and I have no issue standing by onto the earlier flight, but would much prefer to have confirmed seats. Unless something changed very recently, an award ticket in F has waived same day standby fees.

Last time we did this connection it took an enormous... 12 minutes... from deplaning through TSA in terminal 8. We would definitely have enough time to make the 1739 JFK-DCA. Oh well.
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 11:59 am
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EY-AA set itheir own MCT's. MCT is simply EY's willingness to accept the risk of a misconnect and it is not willing to do so here.

[IATA] Resolution 765 indicates that airlines are responsible for their own bilateral agreements with other airlines or railways for shorter or longer intermodal MCT intervals in those cases where particular circumstances of their special arrangements/situations make this possible or necessary.

EY/AA's decision to adhere to the I-D MCT for pre-clearance flights is the subject of several other complaints here on FT and it appears that it is not an error, but rather an intentional policy.

If there is any way not to check a bag, it is more than likely that AA will rebook OP onto the earlier flight if he makes it to the departure gate in a timely manner. If not a flexible ticket permitting a fee-free change, AA will almost certainly rebook in any event even if this is not within the SDC / SDSB policy.

If OP must check a bag, this is more difficult as AA will not likely locate and pull a bag with such a short time between flights and this is a voluntary change which will likely prevent most AA agents from being able to make a change with a checked bag in the system.

Last edited by Often1; Feb 11, 2019 at 12:09 pm
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 1:42 pm
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Just curious - when are you on EY 103? Flightware shows no such flight number over the last 4 months, and I couldn't find it plugging in 4-5 dates on the Etihad website over the next few months.
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 5:11 pm
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🙄 oops. Originally on EY103... which was canceled and rebooked on EY101, which arrives at 1610 at JFK.
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Old Feb 11, 2019, 6:46 pm
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Originally Posted by schoeffer2
Thanks for responses so far. Guess it just doesnt make sense why its coded as I-D at all.

and I have no issue standing by onto the earlier flight, but would much prefer to have confirmed seats.
What you rather do, sit in an unconfirmed seat for 1.5 hours or 6 hours in a confirmed seat at JFK?
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Old Feb 12, 2019, 8:19 am
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Originally Posted by TomMM
What you rather do, sit in an unconfirmed seat for 1.5 hours or 6 hours in a confirmed seat at JFK?
I don't think it's the seat at JFK that OP is worried about confirming
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