Should I sandwich a MR in between two other MRs?
 

In two weeks I'm running from PIT-ORD-ANC-ORD-PIT, landing at 1:15 pm.

The following day, I'm departing at 10:15 am, doing PIT-ORD-LAX-HNL-LAX-ORD-PIT.

I don't live in Pittsburgh...in fact, I'm driving there from hundreds of miles away because of the PIT DEQM/TRDM promo. So to do all of this would require an overnight stay...or, I could shove another MR in between. Here's the catch, though: in order to do the only realistic MR (given number of miles, CPM, and flying overnight to avoid a hotel stay), my flight would be arriving from ORD at 9:50 am, just 25 minutes before the next departure on a different PNR.

Now, PIT is a small airport for AA. So, I'm pretty sure they simply turn the same plane around...but if they don't and I miss my flight, it would cause me to miss my next flight on the next PNR.

So, here are my questions:

1. If I miss my first flight on the HNL trip, would AA rebook that itinerary without my incurring any fees? I actually do have some looseness with my connections; it would only require changing two flights, not the entire PNR...unless something goes horribly wrong, of course.
   
2. If something does go wrong and I have to see an agent about this, it's going to be perfectly clear to the agent that I'm doing MRs. Would I end up with any black mark or whatever on my record with AA for the irresponsible behavior of booking back-to-back itineraries, 25 minutes apart?

Oh, by the way, I'm sure some of you are wondering why I don't just tack on an extra MR at the beginning or end of the trip. Well, the fares are too high and the timing's not good. Believe me, I looked into it. I'm also considering the possibility of a VDB situation happening somewhere in these 10 flights...if I take the extra flight, I might not be able to volunteer.

Thanks for your help!

I wouldn't. I'm not sure of what the minimum connect time is at PIT, but probably greater than 25 minutes. Given that, AA really isn't obligated to reschedule your HNL trip. Any hiccup at all in that middle run, and your last run blows up. I would look for something shorter that you can do in between that will put you back into PIT earlier. The agent shouldn't care that you are doing mileage runs. A few years ago, I did 3 round trips in a day, STL-DAL-STL. Same gate agent, same crew, no problem.

If you decide to skip it and try for the VDB, take a sheet of paper on which you list out the itinerary options you want if VDB'd on each segment. If VDB'd on the first segment, what will you try for? Second segment? Don't leave it to the AAgent to decide what is best for you.

It seems to me that the same plane is used for both these flights. These flights have arrived and departed from the same gate in PIT yesterday and are scheduled for the same gate today and I dont think they can turn around two flights in 25 mins! :)

When does original routing credit kick in?

For example if you do:

STL-SFO-LAX-SFO-STL

And STL-SFO is delayed.

can you do STL-SFO-STL and get original routing credit aka can you make it an involuntary routing change seeing as the first segment was delayed?

Hey guys,

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. And the last run, the Hawaiian one, is the big kahuna. (No pun intended.) If they rebooked me for free, it wouldn't be any problem. With the prices as they were at booking time, I booked the shortest possible route to HNL; any deviation from that routing would result in more miles. It's that stinkin' fee or black mark I'm worried about.

I guess I phrased this wrong. It's not so much that I'm worried about them catching me doing a MR. It's really a fear of them notating my account or otherwise penalizing me for deliberately booking two PNRs with 25 minutes in between. But I think you're right about being cautious. I probably won't do it.

Oh, that's a good idea. Thanks for doing that. I actually used their timetable to determine where every one of their ER4 and ERD flights come from and probably go to in a given day. All I can say is, I wouldn't want to be on an AA flight in PIT during a bad weather situation. I don't see any room in their schedule for error.

One time I asked for, and got, a few-hundred-mile RDM credit for VDB'ing. I didn't ask them for EQMs because I didn't need them at the time. And a) it was only after pestering them, b) it was only a few hundred miles' credit, and c) I was a high(er) revenue passenger that year than I am, now. So who knows if that might happen again.

For me, given that I'm flying out of a tiny outpost of an airport for AA, there is no possible way for them to shorten either of my two trips any more than they already are. Should anything happen to my routing, I have nowhere to go but up. For you, I would make nice with the GA, possibly explain the situation, and hope s/he keeps your routing to avoid having to go the Customer Service route.

Since these are separate PNR's I don't think AA has any obligation to rebook you for free if you miss the next PNR for any reason. To AA it would be like you showed up late.

If you get a decent delay anywhere along the 1st MR it's going to hose your mini MR. If your mini-MR leaves you stuck someplace else your last MR is at risk. The whole 'same plane' thin may be true however IIROPS could really mess this up. I like the idea but the risk seems a bit high given the gains and drivers noted previously.

Also, I've done an ANC MR before and those 757 brown F class seats, or worse yet coach, is kind of a beat down.

Hotwire a hotel room with a shuttle for the night and rest up. Should run you way less than $100 even if you go high end ;-)

Thanks. Yeah, basically as it stands right now, I have 3.5 solid days of flying. That would make it four. Perhaps a stay would help get the kinks out of my back and let me do some physical activity for a bit. And I think the answer here is, it's not worth the risk. All indications are that they use the same plane, but we can't predict the future, here, and it's not worth the risk.

Thanks!