111op

Hi,

I'm thinking about booking a ticket that requires an international-domestic connection at LAX. The connection time is about 2.5 hours. According to flightstats, 10% of that international flight were more than 45 minutes late over the last 2 months, and the longest delay was about 2 hours.

So there's a pretty good chance that I'll miss the connection.

What would be best?

(1) Book the ticket on Expedia anyway and take a chance.

My understanding, though, is that if there's a delay, then I'm not really covered, as I've booked with Expedia and not the airline directly. This is no different from booking two tickets.

(2) If indeed I have no protection by booking on Expedia, then I can book the international legs on the airline directly and a one-way from LAX for about $100 cheaper than Expedia.

If I miss the connection, then I'm out of luck.

(3) Book the international segment. Use AA miles for the domestic flight.

What would happen if I miss the connection? My understanding is that AA will rebook me on the next flight if I use miles. Is this understanding correct?

(4) I could go with (1) or (2) and use miles if I miss my connection. Unless the flight I want is completely sold out, I can always use miles if I'm willing to spend the highest level of miles.

It looks like the miles option (3) is the safest, while (1) or (2) is fine if I want to save my miles and there's still a backup plan. Does this sound correct? Any suggestions on what I should do?

Thanks.

Rastaguytoday

From where / to where? When?

The more specific details that you provide, then folks can help you better.

We have 2 folks who know what they're talking about when it comes to the airline rules. The rest of us have a pretty good idea, but aren't experts.

wally34949

Start with www.kayak.com. Type in the start city and your final destination in the United States. The international airline should have code shares. If I had two different airline tickets I would consider spending the night in Los Angeles. Too many things can go wrong.

Gardyloo

<i>My understanding, though, is that if there's a delay, then I'm not really covered, as I've booked with Expedia and not the airline directly. This is no different from booking two tickets.</i>

No, if the flights are on one "PNR" - reservation record - than you'll be OK. Buying through Expedia is fine, as long as you buy the flights in conjunction with each other, i.e. one transaction.

111op

Thanks, that was my understanding before. However searching online reveals a few horror stories, so I was unsure.

I suppose practically speaking, even if the airlines are responsible, they may just dump this on each other if something bad does happen. And the international airline is not a OneWorld partner, so I'm more doubtful.

Still, as I mentioned, as booking separate tickets and/or using miles will reduce my upfront cost, I may consider taking a risk and using another option other than booking one ticket on Expedia.

So if I use miles for the domestic AA portion and miss my flight, I think I can use reuse the miles for the next flight, right? Do I lose anything because I've missed my connection?

Thanks again.

P.S. This complicated connection is required because it's one of few options that will actually get me back on a specific date. So I wouldn't want to spend a night in LA unless something goes really wrong.

mrwunrfl

it would be good for you to answer Rastaguytoday's question.

Sounds like you want to go LAX-yyy-LAX-zzz. Go to the website for the airline that you want to use for LAX-yyy-LAX and use a "multiple destinations" option to query for LAX-yyy-LAX-zzz and see what you get. This might give you an option 5.

111op

Thanks. I ended up finding a reasonable fare with decent connections, so it's all booked on one ticket. All the flights are on Cathay, but I've booked them on AA's website for a cheaper fare than Cathay's own website -- which I'd not have expected myself. I just tried it on a whim and it worked. It should be pretty safe -- there's only one connection that can possibly go wrong, but since everything is on Cathay, I know they have to get me out in the worst case.

However I'd still be interested in knowing the answer to my question on AA miles if I miss my flight for future reference.

111op

PS Now there's no longer a domestic-international connection, and I'm not going through LAX at all, in case anyone is wondering.

rkkwan

Using FF miles is no different from a paid ticket. They may accommodate you with the "flat tire" rule, but no guarantee, and only if there are seats left. They don't have to put you on a later flight if you miss it. You can check with AA what's the rule for redeposit miles.