aislepathlight

Hey all!

A few months ago, we purchased a round trip Main Cabin from Amsterdam to Austin for a very reasonable fare (less than 450 EUR per person) through AA. Our return leg (routed AUS – LHR – AMS) is just over a week out and I realized that we have a ~8 hour layover in LHR that I'm trying to figure out what options we have to shorten the layover (or just shorten the overall travel duration).

What I understand/have done so far.

• AA's online system says that the ticket can only be changed over the phone.
• When I called AA last night, apparently the first option the system was showing the representative was something via PHL that would be more than $300 per person additional fare. He didn't seam to see any options for of earlier options from LHR – AMS, which confused me as a quick google seemed to suggest there were flights every hour or two on BA.
• I then called BA this morning to see if there was any way that they'd be able to accommodate the change and they said that it may be possible but they might have to contact the back office, which would take a few days.
• I called AA back to confirm what the representative had seen the previous night and they confirmed that the their system was showing the PHL routing was the cheapest and that he could see options through LHR but they were more expensive (something in the range of $400 or $500).

Maybe I've been spoiled by domestic travel, but it feels like I'm missing something. The fare difference between the flight we are on and the earlier LHR – AMS flights are relatively low (<$100); additionally, the fare to buy separate tickets on the earlier are less than what I'm being quoted as the change fee.

Would I be able to standby at LHR? Or is there some other mechanism for a same day flight change closer into the flight? Or should I try and work through the BA back office people?

PS: Hope this is the right place to ask this question! Also FWIW, the only relevant status I have is my American Gold (OW Ruby), which is the highest on the itinerary.

UKtravelbear

BA does not do standby like AA does.

It does have a same day change feature but as you have a conecting flights booked via AA it dosen't apply. (BAs same day change is basically for simple point to point bookings paid for in cash in Economy Plus or Club Europei involving the same airports)

So you have two optioms - in addition to the long layover - one is to pay AA the fare difference + any change fee (if applicable) (and this is what the BA back office will probbaly be calculating) and the second is to hope for some sort of IRROPS when you arrive at LHR and perhaps BA will change the flight for you on the day.

If you are stuck with the long layover then you can leave the airport and perhaps go to Windsor or go into London for a few hours.

aislepathlight

Thanks for clarifying the BA rules and standby policy!

Thinking outside the box: do you think it be worth seeing if BA or AA would be willing to let us upgrade the LHR – AMS to Club Europe leg, then later we could try the same day change?

I also should have noted we spend a couple months in London/surroundings each year for family reasons (GF is English) and will be headed back to London after our 3 days in AMS, so definitely could find something to do if we stick with our current itinerary

wrp96

Even if you upgraded the LHR-AMS flight to CE, it wouldn't work as it would be part of a longer itinerary that doesn't offer the opportunity for same day change.

stevendorechester

All the other posters are right as there is officially no same day change or standby BUT the agent at the airport may be able to help.

Last March I was traveling YUL-LHR-CAI on British Airways. My ticket was a discount business ticket purchased on AA's website on AA stock. There was an eight hour layover at Heathrow.

At YUL I asked the agent if I can take the morning flight to CAI. The agent said he can offer a one-time exception.

This is not guaranteed though. The agents could have been given leeway due to a lit of potential IROPs, the evening flight could have been overbooked while the flight I got put on was wide open. It does not hurt to ask.

At YUL I asked the checkin

Blumie

I’ve had two 8-hour layovers at LHR recently, both times flying DFW-LHR-DXB. The first time I took the tube into London and saw King Lear at the Globe and then had a drink and a snack at the Wigmore before heading back to LHR. The second time I changed into running clothes at the Arrivals Lounge and went for a 10k run through the areas around Heathrow before returning to the CCR for a shower and lunch. (The agent at the security checkpoint got a kick seeing me in my sweaty running clothes as I re-cleared security!)

ijgordon

If you were willing to post your date of travel and the “booking code” of your return segments (eg, “Economy (S)” or (V) someone could look and see what might be causing the fare difference to be so high. Have you flown the outbound legs yet? Often it’s easier to change the return after the outbound is flown because it forces the agent to use the original fares in effect when you purchased your ticket; the detailed fare rules likely allow this prior to the departure of the first segment on the itinerary, but agents often overlook this and try to reprice the itinerary based on current fares.

it’s odd that if they were just trying to change the last LHR-AMS segment that it would cost more than a new one-way ticket on the same flight, assuming they were changing the ticket properly. That said, since this was a ticket purchased originating in Europe, there could very likely also be a $200 or thereabouts change fee.

aislepathlight

Thanks all for the info/experiences!

Thanks for offering! Yes to flying the outbound legs; booking code was an "O"; and date of travel is 10 Nov but the LHR – AMS flight is on 11 Nov (I think I didn't miss any info you needed!). Alternatively, if there is a good guide to check the fare difference to follow, I'm all ears!

Thanks in advance!

Dave Noble

Looking at availability on 11 Nov, the lowest booking class for LHR-AMS on the earlier flights is V

There is quite a large fare difference between O and V class fares, so not surprising that there is a large fare difference to pay - there would seem to be about EUR300 fare difference on the r/t fares

There is a EUR150 change fee on the O fares listed

Changing the r/t would then require paying EUR150 plus haf the difference between the O and V r/t fares , so EUR300 would seem about right to make the change

orbitmic

I don't think the fares available on the LHR-AMS matter in the sense that those will likely work as married segments so I suspect that the change is based on whatever is available on AUS-LHR-AMS with the same first flight but the earlier LHR-AMS. In other words, the fare difference may be caused by what is now available on your first long haul.

As O is the cheapest bucket of them all, pretty much anything else is more expensive.

In terms of the experience reported above on a YUL-LHR-CAI, I can only imagine that there was something specific that enabled the agent to help (overbooked flight, expected delay, etc). The BA norm is definitely not to allow that so I really wouldn't expect this to happen often. Any change will be subject to fare rules unless there is a specific reason to waive them (e.g. travel disruption and so on).

aislepathlight

All the replies make a ton of sense (and are completely unsurprising given how little the ticket cost)

Attached is a photo I took while searching for these flights (evidently I didn't book this itinerary given the 3:10pm arrival time, whoops!) as a reference of how cheap the basic economy was. Seems like BA is really trying to get customers on flying to Austin (or worried about KLMs option from Amsterdam OR Virgin competition...)

I'll cross my fingers and ask nicely, once, when checking in for the flight — otherwise, a reminder for me to be more careful!

Quick edit: would I be able to reserve a seat ahead of time with my OW status? The AA rep I spoke with wasn't sure about an exact timeframe.

UKtravelbear

If you want to select a seat on a BA flight then you need to use the BA app or website. If they haven’t already then AA can give you the BA booking ref to be able to do that.

(just like BA gives me the AA booking ref for AA flights booked via BA so I can select seats on my AA flights)

donotblink

the op is only ow ruby so iirc it’s 48 hours before flight time of the specific segment

wrp96

OW Ruby gets seat selection 7 days out.

blitzen

Maybe I'm missing something, but it might be cheaper/easier to just skip the last leg LHR-AMS and buy a separate LHR-AMS ticket (obviously wouldn't work with checked luggage). on KLM/BA/Flybe starting at $110
There is a range of prices depending on departure time, but it could make sense.