My daughter is using American FF miles to fly roundtrip Boston/LHR/Entebbe this summer. All was well until American changed/cancelled the flight she was booked on on her return trip on the LHR/BOS leg. The change means she can't make the connection in Heathrow and will need to spend the night in London and return to Boston the next day. For her this is a major and unanticipated expense.

British Air has a flight leaving LHR on the right day and at a time that would make the connection possible. I know that AA usually requires that the transatlantic portion of any FF ticket be booked on an American flight rather than a partner, like BA. My daugheter has already been told it can't be done by the AA FF people but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience or advice on how to get AA to bend a little on this rule since they changed the flights after all was booked.

Thanks for any help.

I don't think AA owes your daughter anything except a refund of the miles without fee or a change to some other flight scenario. It's a shame they baited-and-switched her unintentionally with this original flight, but that's how it goes, I guess. I'm hardly a fan of AA but I don't think they owe your daughter a flight on BA if that's not what they normally offer.

Your daughter can keep trying with AA FF and call back and ask to speak with a supervisor, etc., but I wouldn't count on much.

If AA hadn't had the original same-day connection to Boston in the first place, what would she have done? Canceled her vacation? Or done something else? She might also consider if getting a cheap Priceline hotel at LHR isn't still cheaper than any other option of travel this summer, compared to other options. Or perhaps consider extending the trip a few days by staying in London at the end. It seems AA ought to allow that in this circumstance.

Is a LHR-JFK-BOS or even LHR-ORD-BOS connection possible?

Unfortunately, the anti-trust gods won't let AA book you on BA. I suggest you follow rkkwan's advice and ask them about routing via JFK or Chicago.

As for the "expense" of the overnight stay, it need not be that bad. You should be able to get a hotel on Priceline for $100 or so in Central London. You could get into something near the airport for even less ($50 maybe?). Also, check out the Yotel in terminal 4. I found it decent enough for a quick overnight (nice beds), but beware if you are the claustrophobic type.

Just because she can't use BA from UK to US, she can try to fly through Canada on BA and connect there to BOS. Ask if there is any availability on BA to YYZ (Toronto). I'm pretty sure AA has a flight from YYZ to BOS.

btw, there is no rule to use only AA on transatlantic routes. It only applies to AA/BA partnership on UK to US routes. It has to do with the 2 airlines having a huge advantage of having the most flights from LHR to US. The anti-trust folks don't like it and told both airlines to give a a number of LHR landing slots to be able to partner in every which way on these routes.

You can also check Iberia through Madrid, but I'm not sure they fly to BOS so she would need to connect in JFK, ORD or MIA. Or as <b>rkkwan</b> noted, try AA through the same 3 airports. Extra connection but she may be able to avoid an overnight in London.

So you see there are many possibilities just don't expect AA to 'bend' the rules and put her on a direct BA flight to BOS. They can't.

Good luck!

Iberia does fly to Boston, but not everyday, I don't think. The bigger issue, though, is that such a routing would almost certainly just move your overnight stay from London to Madrid. Since you can't get to Madrid directly from Entebbe, you would have to connect in London to Madrid, which would probably put you into Madrid too late to catch the Boston flight.

I'm looking at the current timetable and am a little confused. I don't immediately see any EBB-LHR flights that <i>don't</i> connect on AA metal to BOS. Perhaps the OP could provide actual dates and flight nos. that would help diagnose the problem and suggest an alternative.

Another possibility:

Brussels Airline.

Overnight flight from Entebbe to Brussels, early morning arrival

American Airlines

Late morning departure from Brussels to JFK to BOS. Home by 4-5 pm.

A belated thank you to you all for your many helpful suggestions.

To answer Gardyloo re: flight numbers and dates, she is booked an BA 0062 on August 5 from entebbe to LHR. Arrives LHR at 4 PM. AA flight 125 leaves LHR for BOS at 3:15 so that's a no go.

At this point she has accepted a AA flight from LHR to JFK on August 5 with a flight the next morning to Boston. Now she needs a hotel near JFK for that night---as she keeps saying, so near (to home) yet so far!!

Yup, apparently AA has whacked AA 155 on Weds, Thurs and Sats. My "current" timetable wasn't current enough. Sorry. Even routings through ORD and NYC don't get her there till the following morning.

If it's not too late to change, you might find that a hotel near LHR (use Priceline) is cheaper than one near JFK.