How to handle two flights scheduled at same time
 

My niece has a cash Y ticket YYZ-CLT-MIA. She now wants to go to MCO instead. There are very cheap AA tickets CLT-MCO but I can’t find another decent one on another airline so ignoring the second leg and flying another airline won’t work. Suggestions on how to handle so she doesn’t get a flight canceled for double booking or dinged for hidden city? She’s Gold, if it matters. Thanks.

Are there any cheap tickets MIA-MCO she could just hop on after her initial trip is complete?

If your ticket was booked over 24 hours ago, then your only choice in this scenario is to change the routing to be YYZ-CLT-MCO. There will be a change fee and fare difference. If you book CLT-MCO for her and do nothing with the CLT-MIA leg, the CLT-MCO will likely be canceled.

Cancellation is less likely if the old and new bookings do not both contain the same frequent flyer number.

How much would it cost to change the ticket using the regular channels? Why not just call and ask?

Uber MIA-MCO is about $300 and 3.5 hours.

Or maybe a cheap flight?

It has been a while since I played the cancellation game. There may not be a risk free way to do what you want. The least risk would be to ensure the AA number is only in one of the bookings, and I believe (but can't guarantee) AA will not cancel the CLT-MCO leg as long as it departs after the initially ticketed CLT-MIA leg. I am much more confident they will not cancel the CLT-MCO if it is scheduled to depart after the CLT-MIA is scheduled to land, but that gives a fairly long layover in CLT. It may be possible to book the CLT-MCO leg late enough to not interfere with the CLT-MIA leg, and then try to standby for an earlier flight if available, but she would have to give her AA number to do this for free. I'd suggest only doing this at the gate of the departing flight and not earlier. If possible try to have your niece's name spelled differently in the bookings (Jen and Jennifer, Sue and Susan, that kind of thing). Keep the boarding pass and submit for credit after the flight. MIA-MCO is pretty cheap too, with many flights under $75 or 5,000 miles, and who knows, with a schedule change on any of the flights, she may be able to re-book for what she really wants. Best ideas that I can come up with! Good luck!

Enterprise in FL is great for one-way car rentals. Would she be renting a car anyway? If so just rent at MIA and return to MCO. The drive is boring but not horrible.

If she doesn't need the car... I can do a one-way, same-day rental tomorrow for $60

Did she buy a round trip ticket? Meaning, are you in the same boat for the return? If so, just leave the flights alone, rent the car, and have a longer airport commute on each end.