What to do if missing the connection?
 

- I have also posted this on the Chicago forum -

In case of not being able to make the connection, what are the steps to be taken to get on a different flight?

My case is:
I fly into ORD on United Airlines 501 (landing at 6:50 a.m. at T1)
I fly out from ORD on Aeromexico 669 (taking-off at 8:45 a.m. from T5)
The travel agent I bought the tickets from: Vayama.com
The ticket "holder" :Continental Airlines (my credit card was charged to Continental) - I take a Continental flight on one leg of my my return trip.

I called Vayama: they said UA should fix it (if necessary)
I called UA - they said AM should fix it (if necessary)
I called AM - they said Continental should fix it (if necessary)

Should I also call Continental to see what they say?

The problem is UA501 landed today 55 minutes later and AM669 took-off on time.
I fly tomorrow( Dec 24). If this is happening tomorrow as well, I might miss my AM 669 flight (as I have to go from T1 to T5 by ATS, and check-in in person for AM669 - I can't check-in on line through UA).

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance

An excellent question. When all flights are on a single ticket, the airline that causes the misconnect is responsible to fix it; however often requires involvement of the airline that issued the ticket. So, when you misconnect at ORD you might have to go to UA counter, then go to the CO counter, and finally go to AM (or whatever airline they reroute you onto). Presuming you are flying out of YYZ on UA, your best bet is to check for late arrival at YYZ before boarding, and if there is a delay ask to be re-routed out of YYZ (I think AC and AM might have service from YYZ to the same cities as AM serves from ORD). UA can do this, but most of the time they will not. At ORD expect to have some problems; or phone your TA and require them to rebook you when the problem occurs. Given the current conditions at YYZ and ORD this is almost guaranteed to be a missed connection (unfortunately the int departures at ORD get priority and often leave on time, when everything else is delayed).

The old expression, "Don't borrow trouble!" applies.

There's nothing you can do today. There's little you can or should do tomorrow, unless your UA flight into ORD is (a) delayed taking off so that you're likely to miss the AM connection or delayed enroute so as to cause you to miss the AM flight check in time.

In case things descend into the morass, hopefully you have a cellphone and can start the "resked" process as soon as you (on the ground in either your departure point or at ORD) determine that it's likely you'll miss AM669. Sadly, Vayama, which earned a commission for selling you (for some reason on CO ticket stock) such a complex routing is likely to not be of much help, and you better get Chicago phone numbers for UA, CO and AM (along with Vayama). Traditionally, if UA going to get you to ORD to late to connect, it may (repeat "may") be willing to help rebook you to Mexico, but the odds are that you'll be depending upon the often undependable, the willingness of GAs and TAs to help a pax with whom their airline has no direct connection and for whom helping may involve a high degree of difficulty. I don't think you can count on any real help from Vayama.

On Christmas Eve, if things go wrong, you will be only one of many for whom things are going wrong. Empty seats, available flights, and personnel time to help you will be minimally available

Thanks for the input guys. It kind of becomes scarry!
Just to be clear for number_6: my trip originates in Buffalo , NY.

What literally sucks is that I see that UA's counter at ORD is on T1, CO's is on T2 and AM's is on T5 !!!

Step 1: Have all four phone numbers for reservations in your cell phone. (if you are elite on any of those airlines, have those)
Step 2: If you are delayed, call the instant you get on the ground, while you are running to the other gate, just in case. I'd call Vayama first, as they are your travel agent, and it is their job to get things straight.

Good luck!

And the weather forecast is for a storm at BUF (which I know well and stopped flying into in the winter, after some massive delays). You will be quite lucky to get out of BUF at all; in addition to the contingency of what to do in ORD, if you get there and misconnect, you might want to have a contingency for what to do at BUF if you are stranded there overnight or for a few days. Sadly this is not out of the question with the current weather forecast. One positive note is that UA often operates out of BUF when other flights are grounded (e.g. AA is canceled but UA flies); at least that has been my observation. Of no help to you is the Jetblue service to JFK (unless you are willing to buy a new ticket); that is the most likely to be on time out of BUF on 12/24.