salut0

My flights connecting in CLT have been retimed and I now have a 45 min connection there. I’d like to take the opportunity to rebook through a different hub if possible and I’m wondering if a short connection through LAX is easier to do than a short connection through CLT, specifically connecting from LAX T4 to LAX T5. VFTW suggests AA are often closing the door at T-20 in CLT when they aren’t meant to, but a OMAAT article suggests the terminal transfer in LAX only takes a few minutes walk.

Any experience here?

How flexible are AA with making these sorts of changes when they change their own schedules?

LovePrunes

I don't think AA is going to let you change your connecting city because you're down to 45 minutes connection time ANYWHERE. That's really not that unusual of a published time frame tbh.
Doesn't hurt to ask but honestly you'll probably be fine.

SOBE ER DOC

AA will try to tell you that 30 min is a legal connection in CLT. Then your initial flight is delayed, you land in remote D or E and have to haul it over to remote A or B. Since AA closes the door at 15 min before D0 you will either find yourself in a situation where the GA is slamming the boarding door in your face or AURA will just rebook you regardless of whether or not you could make it to your gate on time.

CLT has devolved into the 7th circle of hell. I will not book any flight through CLT with less than a 60 minute connection. I do not have enough faith in AA to actually make that work and I'm not running through a terminal like an idiot just to accommodate for their operational challenges.

You can call and maybe you'll find a sympathetic ear who will make a change for you. But, I would not hold my breath,

GNRMatt

I wouldn't do that short of a connection anywhere. See if you can find a better connection at any airport that works for you and ask to be switched to those flights. As long as your starting point and end point are the same (and your date doesn't change), since the schedule change was done by AA, they should accommodate you on your request. There's no need to accept a tight connection like that.

SCChris

Are both LAX flights Mainline AA or is one of them Eagle? American Eagle flights at LAX depart from a remote terminal that requires a somewhat lengthy bus ride.

salut0

Both flights at LAX are mainline — JFK-LAX and LAX-RDU

SCChris

I don't see AA allowing you to use a routine schedule change to allow you to rebook JFK-RDU via LAX.

lrdpenn

Agree, that is a fairly extreme reroute when other options exist. There are a few nonstops from both LGA or JFK that might be more reasonable. You can also try connecting through DCA if needed.

wetrat0

If you're really convinced that AA is going to let you take a ~600% longer routing because of a schedule change that leaves you with a perfectly legal (if not entirely sensible) connection, I don't know why you wouldn't go all the way and ask the agent for AA106 connecting to AA173.

USFlyerUS

To be clear, are you trying to change JFK-CLT-RDU to JFK-LAX-RDU? If so, LAX is not a valid connect point between JFK and RDU, so it's not a legal routing. AA won't let you change to that. Maybe, and just maybe, if it was IRROPS and that was truly the only option, but even then it's a stretch.

Why not just ask for the nonstop from LGA?

Blumie

For the record, I live in New Orleans, where routing MSY-CLT is a common connection. Although I prefer longer connections, that’s not always possible. I don’t recall ever having missed a connection at CLT. Maybe I’m just lucky.

abk

It may be time to buy that powerball ticket.

My kid went to school in western VA and was always flying ROA-CLT-STL and was aways sprinting to make connections and it was stressful.

I don't work anymore so I am fine with a long layover in CLT and will generally skip the quick connection and go to the Centurion club and/or the Admirals club. I just bought a ticket to go STL-PBI on a Tuesday in August and the the 10:50 flight had an 1:03 connection in CLT to the last flight of the day to PBI. Apparently the later flight doesn't operate everyday. For me it was better to buy a Delta ticket with a 1:30 connection in ATL with two later flights.

bse118

45 minutes mainline to mainline at CLT is no problem. (I truly don't understand all the shade people throw at CLT here. It's crowded, yes, but it is efficient for the most part, IMO).

And LOL at the idea of rebooking that route through LAX. You've got to be kidding.

LovePrunes

very confused what the current routing is x-clt-y vs x-lax-y
If it's JFK to RDU via some connecting city, then LOL for changing to LAX...no way that's gonna happen.
There are a whole HOST of other connecting options from JFK to RDU, along with multiple nonstops.
I gotta believe the OP isn't starting in JFK. Would be great to know the original routing thru CLT and where the person is trying to go. maybe OP is starting in LAX?

gcuk

Maybe OP is trying to maximise British Airways status tier points? JFK-CLT-RDU would be 80 tier points, JFk-LAX-RDU would be 280.