wildblueyonder

Hi
We are taking a two week trip to Hawaii (from the UK) in June and, on the way back, we have a 12-hour stopover in Dallas. I'm wondering whether we wouldn't be wisest to stay overnight in Dallas and fly to London the same time the following day. We have economy tickets with AA, and I know that the tickets can't be refunded, but I think I recall seeing that you could change the flights for a fee, but can't find it on their site anywhere - nor is there anything on our etickets. Can anybody please confirm whether this would be possible? I guess I should just call them, but we haven't made our minds up yet!

Thanks
WildBlue

RoamsAround

Yes, AA allows you to change flights on non-refundable tickets for a fee as long as you don't alter your destinations. It's been a while since I've actually made any changes so I don't know what the current fee is but I think I remember it's around $150 per ticket. Call AA Reservations and the will give you the current fee. FYI - the ability to change, of course, is dependent upon the seat availability on the new flight you want to take.

wildblueyonder

Thanks very much RoamsAround - yes, I called them and it is that price - a bit much, I think! So we'll probably stay as we are, but I worry about being overtired!

RoamsAround

Have you thought about getting a room at one of the Hyatt Hotels for your layover. There are 2 at the airport - one right in Terminal D and the other is a freestanding unit near Teriminals B & C. You can relax in your room or by the pool, take a nap, shower, have lunch or dinner, etc.

Your other option is is leave the airport and visit a couple of the "tourist attractions in either Dallas or Fort Worth. With a 12 hour layover you have plenty of time to leave the airport, visit one or two of the many museums in the area, go to the Dallas Acquarium, the Dallas Arboretum, the Fort Worth Stock Yards, the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens, the Fort Worth Zoo, etc., etc. and still have plenty of time to get back to the airport for your connecting flight.

wildblueyonder

Hi RoamsAround
Yes, we had planned to hire a car (actually have already booked it - got a good deal!) and spend the day looking around Dallas or Fort Worth (probably the Stockyards), but we know we're going to be very tired! We are seriously thinking about changing to the following day flight and spending the night in Dallas/Fort Worth as we think it might well be worth the extra money for a night's sleep and 2 days in the area. Still thinking!
Thanks!

yk

IMO, not worth spending $150 per person to change your ticket, plus cost of hotle + rental car, to visit Dallas/Fort Worth.

What time does your flight from Hawaii get in? When is your trip? right now, there are 2 nonstops daily DFW-LHR, with the earlier flight departing around 5ish pm. And later on this year during late spring/summer, there are 3 nonstops daily DFW-LHR, with the earliest flight departing at 4:45pm.

therefore, you can always try to stand-by the for the earlier flight when you get to DFW (if you're not already booked onto the earliest flight). You can also buy a one-day Admirals Club pass ($75 for two people) so that you can use the AA lounges at DFW. There is a lounge at each terminal, so if you're bored, you can ride the SkyLink at DFW airport and go from terminal to terminal and try out every single lounge.
http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?...OneDayPass.jsp

Do you have elite status with any OneWorld partners eg BA? If you have OneWorld Sapphire or Emerald status, you can use the AA lounges for free.
http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?...worldCustomers

wildblueyonder

Hi yk
I booked the flights months ago and purposely selected the later flight from DFW to LHR (07:20pm), so that we'd have more time in Dallas/FW area! We've never been to Texas! I guess it wouldn't be worth it to a lot of folks, but if you're in England, it's a long way to get back! There are 3 of us, btw - so it would be a fair bit more expensive, but we have a hotel booked in London for the night of our return (we live 300 miles from London) so we would save on that, as we'd probably be able to drive straight home. As it is, it works out as 3 nights without sleep - and I'd hate to spend 12 hours just sitting around an airport! We are still thinking about it though. We would quite like to see the museum in Dallas re JFK, also the Stockyards - and maybe even Southfork Ranch (yeah, I know it's tiny and a way north of Dallas - and not worth visiting - but ... !)

wildblueyonder

ps - I forgot to say that our flight from HNL lands at DFW at 8:15am.
My only real worry (apart from the cash!) about moving the flight to the next day is, what would happen to our luggage? I presume, with our current flights, that AA would hang onto our luggage to put on the DFW-LHR flight. But if that's not til the next day, we would have to take it all with us and I don't like leaving stuff in the trunk of a car. Perhaps if we found a hotel close to DFW, they might store our luggage for us when we check out. It's getting confusing now ..

yk

If you really want, then go ahead to change your ticket. After all, you can get a hotel for far cheaper than London! You can pick a hotel near the airport, spend your first day visiting Fort Worth, then the next day visiting Dallas.

Rastaguytoday

Having been to Dallas more times than I've wanted to, I don't see that much of interest. Austin, yes, Dallas, no.

If you are going to spend the $150 to change your ticket, may I suggest you fly back HNL-LAX-LHR. Your change fee allows you to change the routing as you wish. The only caveat is if the flight is more expensive, you would have to pay the price difference.

There are enough flights through LAX that would give you a 2-3 hour layover.

It may seem weird and illogical, but flying out of LAX to LHR is a 10 hour flight. Flying DFW to LHR is about a 9 hour flight. To fly from HNL to LAX is 5.5 hours and HNL to DFW is 7.3 hours.

wildblueyonder

yk, not an awful lot cheaper at the moment, I'm afraid - the pound's value is dreadful!

wildblueyonder

Hi Rastaguytoday
Yes, I hear what you're saying - having spent half the day looking around virtual Dallas and Fort Worth, at a zillion hotels and reviews, there's not an awful lot there to tempt. However, the flights are conventient times for us. We are flying to HNL via LAX because, as you say, it's quicker. However we have to plan our home flight to coincide with our flight back from BI to HNL and the direct LAX-LHR ones are too early. Also, we've been to a lot of the USA, but never Texas!
Still don't know what to do! Maybe we should save our money, have the 12 hours in Dallas and try to keep awake!

yk

If you're comfortable with using Priceline, you can bid for a 4* hotel in the DFW North zone. People have been reporting successful bids around $55.

Rastaguytoday

You could simply change your BI flight (thogh I don't have a clue as to what / where BI is). I'd rather spend a day in HNL than DFW.

Odin

I've visited Dallas twice from the UK for business and enjoyed it very much although have never stayed downtown but have been shopping at Galleria, Northpark, Grapevine (outlet) and Southlake (not far from the airport, quite upmarket area with nice shops and restaurants). Rented a car - Texans don't have any patience with hesitant drivers and they drive fast but a car is needed to get around anywhere. Stockyards is very interesting, like a film set, visit to H3 Ranch for steak and giant margaritas. Apparently I should have visited Fort Worth for restaurants.

travelgourmet

I think there is plenty to keep somebody interested for a couple of days in Dallas. There are several great museums, some good restaurants, the Stockyards, Billy Bob's, etc. Maybe do a bit of shopping, if you are into that. Don't take it so seriously and you will have a good time. For a 2 day trip, I think Dallas is as good of an option as LAX.

Whether you change or not, I highly recommend you fit in some time to have a meal at Chuy's. It isn't that far from the airport and is unpretentious Tex-Mex at its finest. The creamy jalapeno is so addictive and almost certainly completely terrible for you.

http://www.chuys.com/index.html

HPmatt49

If I had only 12 hours in DFW, I would have to choose Ft Worth. Their wealthy in the recent 2 decades have quietly invested in their town, as opposed to Dallas. At the civic level - Ft Worth already has what Dallas 'wants to be'. The Ft Worth Zoo is just as good as San Diego, though on a much smaller scale; the Kimble museum is world class; the new Modern Art Museum is world class - though small; the Stockyards are Ft Worth history; downtown is clean, safe and interesting; the west side of downtown has a nice 'river' walk. Unless you are going to shop, Ft Worth is all together. However, if you want to shop, and enjoy being pretentious, and pretend chic - Dallas is your choice. The shopping in Dallas is the best in the US; restaurants in Dallas are so numerous and top notch, and cheap - you can't go wrong in Big D. In June it will be hot outside - we have always had global warming in Texas. Actually it is a little cooler now compared to the Cretaceous period. Currently it is already 80 deg F.

yk

I agree Fort Worth is a lot more "Texas" than Dallas. However, the OP did specifically mention the desire to visit JFK/Sixth Floor museum in Dallas.

wildblueyonder

Thanks all for your replies and suggestions. We've decided against changing the flight so that we stay overnight in Dallas - not worth the expense. We do have a rental car for the 12 hours - but I don't know how tired we'll be. It would be nice to book a hotel room to store our luggage, have a brief rest and shower. But I can't find any DFW hotels with 'day rooms'. We would need, therefore, to reserve a room for 2 nights, just so that we could have access to it from 9:00am to 6:00pm! The Motel 6 DFW is cheap, but, even then, if we didn't turn up on the first night (which we wouldn't!) they'd presume we weren't coming at all! Any ideas? Thanks!

yk

Just give the hotel a call to let them know you won't check in until 9am.

if you are comfortable with bidding on priceline, you can get a very good deal for a DFW hotel.