Impossible connection - what will USAir do with us
 

I know this has been asked a million times but can't find past thread.

Flying Boston-Anchorage with plane change in Las Vegas on FF tickets. All on USAir and booked as BOS-ANC - the airline is the one that set us up on flight with 25 minute connection, so I imagine they consider it legal.

It took over an hour on the phone to find 4 FF seats BOS-ANC and then Vancouver-BOS and I am not even sure they would/could change the the later in day flight from Las Vegas to Anchorage.

If we missed the connection, what would they do with us? It would not be the end of the world, even if we had to spend the night in Las Vegas since we are starting a 7 day independent land trip prior to cruise a week later. But if they could not rebook us on later in day flight would they pay for hotel for a night and put us on the AM flight the next day? What if it was not their fault - like weather?

Thanks.

If it's weather or air-traffic control problems, then they're not responsible for your hotels. They'll try to put you on the next available flight, but you pay for your own hotel.

FF award passengers are near the bottom in the list for rebooking, and flights to ANC are often pretty full, depending on season. You may not get there a day or two late.

USAirways only have one flight a day LAS-ANC, and neither US or their partner UA, have much capacity to ANC. The LAS-ANC is on a A319 that seats 12/114 only.

Not trying to scare you, but it may be a while before they can get 4 of you to ANC if you miss the connection, and you have to split up.

Too bad - none of us are very fond of Las Vegas.

Are you sure it's a "legal" connection? Hard to believe. Have you tried calling them back and pressing the point?

Don't know if it is "legal" - but reservation was made on the phone with USAirways reservation person. (Had to be done on phone since flying into and out of different cities)

US doesn't publish their minimum connection time to the public, and they vary from hub to hub. I'm reading some threads on flyertalk.com, and some older threads say at PHX, they do allow 25-minute domestic connection. At CLT it's 30 minutes, and nobody seems to be sure what's for PHL (some thread says 20 minutes, which is absolutely nuts).

So, call back and ask. And see if you guys can get alternate flights, including on UA and AC. Or fly out to LAS the night before and spend a night there. It's 10x better than being stranded and lose time in Alaska.

I think that UA quit going to ANC last fall.

I think that Air Canada can't sell you a ticket between U.S. domestic airports (BOS-ANC), but don't know if this applies to ff awards. AC might not be an option.

Is the max connection time 4 hours? If it was 24 hours then you might fly into LAS the night before LAS-ANC.

Good advice, as usual. Maybe I can get husband to call them again, but he was the one who had the torture of booking flights in the first place. If not, I guess it is my turn.

We tried to get UA flights, but were told all FF seats were filled.

Just keep in mind that even if you make the connection your bags might not and plan accordingly.

Great - without warm clothing in Alaska.

This is a good argument for carry-on only, as much of a pain as that would be when you're going on a cruise later.

What is US's policy about standing by for earlier flights? Is there any earlier flight that day for BOS-LAS? I am thinking that you can pay a nominal fee on the day, and then get confirmed standby, but I don't fly US.

We are already leaving Boston at 7:30 AM - not likely to be an earlier flight.

Carryon only - no way. While we usually can manage that, we are going on rather rustic 7 days followed by cruise where we will need adult clothing. And then on to Vancouver for 3 days.

gail - don't know if the FF rules allow but you could ask about a stopover that has you flying into LAS the day before your ANC flight. Not being a Vegas fan either it would not hold great appeal for me, but it might reduce the chances of your getting to ANC without your snuggies.

I see United does still go there, UA 701 DEN-ANC. But if you are ticketed on US then changing the carriers or cities used would probably be $400 for the 4 tix. Not a happy option even if it was available.