RedPanda5

Intl Biz saver award flying MXP(Milan)->MIA->DFW->SFO

originally the flights where
MXP->MIA: lands at 1:45pm
MIA->DWF takes off at 5:40pm
...

same flights but with different scheduled times now:
MXP->MIA: lands at 1:35pm
MIA->DWF takes off at 3:40pm
...

my gf is not a US citizen so I don't imagine we will make it through customs and recheck bags in 2h5m at MIA hence my booking a long connection.

I have no status and my GF is AA plat, what do you think is the best course of action? If we call to ask for another flight, will they open up addnl biz/first inventory for domestic segments? Or do we wait until we misconnect and then see?

cedric

Schedule has changed by 2 hours. Call and ask for an alternate flight that suits your preferences. You may even be able to avoid the DFW stop and fly straight to SFO if there's a flight at an appropriate time.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

Yes, the OP should look at MXP/MIA/SFO alternatives. There should be an early evening direct flight from MIA to SFO.

Often1

As this is a departure from the EU, you have a right under EC 261/2004 to: 1. Cancel for a full refund, 2. Reroute now, or 3. Reroute later. You presumably want #2 .

While there is no established right to be rebooked on other carriers, you should do the research to find the most convenient reroutes and have those written down to read off when you call AA. I would stick to AA and possibly BA. Consider other European & US gateways and don't feel bound by MIA.

erik123

Ask for the JFK connection - JFK-SFO is lie flat in business so much better.

AndyAA

With this being an award ticket, AA agents have been very much hit and miss in terms of making any sort of change, when the new flights all have valid connections, regardless of the length of schedule change. Best thing to do is have the exact flights you want prior to calling and HUCA until you find an agent willing to make the change.

RedPanda5

Thanks all will give them a call, not sure how it will go given its an award ticket but fingers crossed.

Hmm good idea, would you think 3h 15m is enough time to clear customs and immigration?

DCJoe1

That should be enough time even as a non-US citizen- you will be at the front of the line for your plane, at least.

Also, the fact that it is an award ticket does not matter in this situation, they should be willing and able to make this switch quite easily based on a 2 hour schedule change. Congrats on (hopefully) getting a better flight with one less connection- that's the beauty of schedule changes when you can use them to your advantage.

RedPanda5

sigh called in and they said the evening direct flight is already oversold and that I needed to connect via MIA not JFK.

Very inflexible w/ married segment logic and saver awards needing to be available? Feels like i'm getting the run around. Would it help if my GF called into the plat line?

arollins

Dave Noble

This is indeed covered by EC261 , however since this is not a cancellation, I do not believe that the cancellation provisions apply - the OP indicated that flight number is unchanged

Even under cancellation provisions , the passenger can claim a refund or have rerouting at earliest opportunity , re-routing at a later date subject to availability

The airline has provided rerouting at the earliest opportunity - the last option is kind of irrelevant since changes to awards are permitted free of charge anyway

If concerned about baggage, why not collect the bags and get them checked in whilst the other passenger clears immigration. The connection time meets the MCT for MIA ; if there is a misconnection, the airline will be responsible for rebooking onto a later flight ( and if this is caused by any delay to the MXP-MIA flight there will be EUR300 or EUR600 compensation )

AA's own provisions for dealing with schedule changes is what the OP wants to use

Djokison

ijgordon

Given that the flight still meets the minimum connection time, and the new itinerary arrives a couple hours earlier, I don't think AA feels the need to be uber-flexible on booking alternatives, particularly given it's an award. So they'll require award availability to make a change, or you ask to cancel and they should waive the mileage redeposit fee.

On MIA, I'm not intimately familiar with the flow of traffic through immigration, but I would think the worst of it is in the morning when a lot of flights arrive from Latin America. Mid-afternoon gets some Europe arrivals, but it wouldn't surprise me if 2h is more than enough.

erik123

Let your girlfriend call the Plat line. Say reroute doesn't work for you and suggest thru JFK.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

At worst the OP takes a later flight to DFW and a later flight then to SFO (last flight from DFW to SFO goes out around 10PM or so) or gets put on a direct flight to SFO. I agree that because since this still meets the MCT AA might not be so flexible. The OP indicated that AA said the JFK to SFO was oversold and AA is not going to put them onto an oversold flight.