wulflov

I scored one of the cheap transcon AA Economy Web Special deals to fly DCA -> PHL -> SFO in January, which is great except for one thing: the 33m connection time in PHL. I'm worried that even if my plane lands on time, I'll never make the connection after waiting for other pax to deplane (I'm booked into the first row outside of First Class) and possibly waiting for my gate-checked bag to return (I doubt my suitcase will fit in the overheads, and I'd prefer not to check my bag in case I miss my connection...). I'm on American's last flight to SFO out of PHL, so if I miss it I'm stuck there for the night. I'm thinking about getting the Freebird travel insurance for the trip, though not sure if that would even be helpful if there's no other flights PHL -> SFO.

Any thoughts on whether this connection is viable? And if it isn't, are there any alternatives/contingency plans I should look into?

IADCAflyer

Have an Amtrak ticket on standby. I am not at all comfortable with a 33 minute connection in PHL: January, March, or September.

MSPeconomist

How would the train ticket help? If OP doesn't fly the DCA-PHL segment, the remainder of ticket will be cancelled.

It's not practical to take Amtrak from Philly to SF and this would also tend to cause the return portion of OP's ticket to be cancelled.

wulflov

Yeah, I'm not sure how the train ticket would help, unless the DCA flight was delayed before I arrived at the airport and in time that I could take the train to PHL instead and begged the airline to let me on the flight. But in that event at least the Chase Sapphire Reserve travel coverage would kick in and I'd be able to get a hotel room and meals covered for the night—I'm mainly worried about the scenario where I miss my connection but there's no formal delay, meaning that I'm on the hook for my expenses in Philly until the next morning.

Short of buying a different ticket, do I have any other options here? Looks like the only option that gets me into SFO in time to sleep there and avoids a long layover is a routing through DFW--is there any chance AA would just move my ticket over, or at least let me standby? If it makes a difference, I'm AA Plat.

Blumie

So, when seeking advice like this, it is always helpful to include as much detail as possible, including your travel dates and flight numbers.

I am guessing that you're on AA4550 connecting to AA1742. Unfortunately the next earlier DCA-PHL flight departs nearly four hours earlier, but what you could do is show up for that earlier flight and ask to travel standby. Even if you're not entitled to standby for free, some gate agents will allow you to if you explain your short connection time at PHL and that you're worried about missing your flight. You can use a tool like expertflyer to look at how full the earlier flight is before making the decision to go to the airport four hours early.

Also, if you're within the 24 hour cancellation window, you could try to call up AA right now and ask if they'll confirm you on the earlier DCA-PHL flight. Explain to them that you just purchased the ticket and that you're concerned about the connection time.

wulflov

Yeah, those are my flights. Unfortunately I have an all-day meeting so really can't get to the airport until after work. And based on my reading of AA's same-day flight change rules, I'm wouldn't be allowed to change to the routing through DFW without someone cutting me a break.

Blumie

Just get to DCA as early as you can, and if there’s any indication that your DCA-PHL flight might be delayed (including by monitoring the arrival time of the aircraft from its inbound flight), ask a gate agent (not a ticket or check in agent) if they can switch you to the DFW flight.