I will be travelling to NRT from CLE on NH via either IAD or LAX.

The tickets on NH are free, and as such would be under a different PNR than the domestic segment from CLE to one of those cities (right?).

I'm going to be flying UA for the domestic portion, which leaves me with some questions:

(1) Is it possible to combine the two different PNRs into one, so I would be protected in the case of a cancelled/delayed flight? Is there some other way I should book this?

(2) Would it be possible to use my UA MP number for the domestic portion (because I have paid for E+) but my NH number for the international segments?

(3) Is this connection doable if I have two hours in ORD and three in LAX, or five hours in IAD? What happens if one of the flights is delayed, but the two portions of the trip are ticketed independently? Would I be better off arriving in LAX/IAD a day in advance?

This is my first time doing something like this, so please forgive my ignorance. Apologies in advance if I posted this in the wrong place; I assumed this would be best since it concerns more than one airline.

Thanks in advance for your help!

The ANA tickets are award tickets, I take it? If they're free tickets, then you won't collect any miles for the flights...

Is it possible to get free tickets from CLE from ANA using their code-share on United flights? This is the first thing I would ask...

In any case, I would book all your flights, domestic and international, through ANA, preferably as code-shares on the United flights. First choice, if they can do it: put them on the same PNR; then you're totally covered for a misconnect. Otherwise, have them put a notation on your PNR about the connections.

If you're worried about a misconnect (and I can relate to worrying about this), give yourself as much time as you can. Flights from CLE to IAD and ORD should be more frequent than flights to LAX (and much shorter), so I'd do my connections there.

David

No, not award tickets. They are two vouchers for full-fare Y tickets that were given to me by a company I have done work for, and they do earn miles.

Thanks for the input.

That's good news. Check with ANA and see if they are good from any ANA gateway city to NRT (and if CLE qualifies using code shares).

Good luck!

1) You can add an information segment to link the 2 PNRs. Note however this will not protect your connection. If you misconnect you could still potentially be on your own. The only way to protect a connection is to book all on one ticket. Almost as good is fully flexible tickets.

2) Yes. Check your BPs carefully.

3) 3 hours in LAX should be enough time to connect, even with a change in terminals. Whether you want to take earlier flight (longer connection) depends on how much risk you're willing to take.