I have some tickets being held with my Delta miles; they are perfect except for one concern. This is a codeshare with Continental so we will be flying Continental all the way. My concern is a very tight connection (about an hour) in Houston where we will need to clear customs coming back to the US from South America. What happens when one is using FF miles and then misses the connection because the flights are so closely scheduled? Delta is offering this routing to me, but I'll be flying Continental. Whose responsibility will it be to make sure we actually get home from Houston if our flight into Houston is late or if the connection we were sold is too tight?

And, on another related topic. I have never tried to redeem FF miles before, and on a lark last night decided to give it a try for a trip 6 weeks from now. Was I just extremely lucky, or is it fairly easy to get seats like this? I could find lots of different available combinations last night, but when I did some re-checking this morning there were very few of these available. (Good thing I put them on hold last night.) Is it perhaps that I live in MSP, a NWA hub, and it is easier to get award tickets out of here on other carriers than NWA?

Thanks. I find this whole endeavor a bit confusing, and I've got 36 hours to confirm these.

Are there later flights home from IAH if you miss your connection? If so, CO will probably put you on one of those.

I was traveling on an award ticket earlier this year and had last minute cancellations coming and going. Re-accommodation was taken care of by Air France or Kenya Airways.

Booking close to departure could be helping you in terms of availability as additional award seats could be released at that time.

Once you have started your trip, the airline has to get you to your destination. The fact that your tickets are ff may mean you go to the back of the line for rebooking in the event of a missed connection, but it would not absolve Continental of its duty to get you from HOU to MSP. But don't expect the airline to pay for a hotel if they can't get you on another flight the same day.

I hope that rkkwan will weigh in, as he is expert in all things Continental and Houston. Where I might contradict him, then you should disregard my advice

In the interim:

1) The ticket should be treated like most other tickets regarding the connection. If Continental will ticket it, then it should be a legal connection. Of course, this doesn't mean it is practical. If you miss the connection, Continental will try to reaccomodate you. The question is how hard they will work at it. Flights are full, and someone on a free ticket might be at the bottom of the pile for reaccomodation. So that 1 hour connection might stretch on and on.

2) You might try talking to the Delta agent again. Ask, specifically about the last leg from Houston. Some of the systems don't show every option right away, and there may be another flight that would be available if they look again.

FWIW I didn't feel like I received any lesser treatment than a fare paying J passenger on my recent re-accommodation experiences. On the return, I was given a choice of routing/carrier. On the outbound, I had no choice as there was only one connection that could still get me there at approx the same time and I set a personal record for CDG transits

I also hope rkkwan chimes in. I'm curious what intl-domestic MCT is at IAH.

What flight are you coming in from?

There are plenty of flights a day IAH-MSP, and they can also put you on NW when things get real bad (though CO is usually reluctant to put people on other carriers).

An hour is pretty tight for connecting. Not impossible, but I'd like it to be longer.

No differece in treatment. I really don't know where some people get this idea. A FF ticket is treated just the same way as a revenue ticket. The difference is knowing what to do and who to contact ASAP when things go wrong. It is the old adage "first come, first served". As long as there are seats available and you get a new BP before anybody else, you're in.

Now, if the later flight is full and you have to be put on a waiting list, then there could be a problem. Through passengers, status and in some cases, fare paid do get priority in those cases.


Last year I was flying on AA OneWorld Business class award. One of the main rules of the award is that only OneWorld partners can be used. When my BA flight from YYZ to LHR was delayed and my connecting BA flight to WAW left, and it was the last one for the day, BA had no problem signing my ticket to LOT. Totally against the award rules, but since it was irrops, they were very accomodating.

Thanks so MUCH! When I was looking up the flights, I now noticed the disclaimer that the mileage is subject to change until the ticket is issued. Does this mean that they could now say I need more miles to get the ticket? There were different tiers of mileage numbers for tickets on the same dates. I, of course, was thrilled because I found the lowest number of miles for these tickets. When I go to confirm, could they all of a sudden now tell me that I need lots more miles?

Here is the flight info.

LV LIMA, PERU (LIM) 11:40pm Coach SkySaver
AR HOUSTON-BUSH (IAH) 6:20am

Fri 30MAY Continental 216 LV HOUSTON-BUSH (IAH) 7:29am Coach SkySaver
AR MINNEAPOLIS/S (MSP) 10:29am

I'm hoping since this is amornign flight that there would be other options if I miss the connection.

I've never had the mileage change when ticketing but you could print out what you have on hold if you're concerned.

Does the next IAH-MSP flight have availability?

That's the first of 6 CO flights for IAH-MSP. You'll get home, no problem.

Having said that, CO591 LIM-IAH is not the most punctual flight. It can be easily an hour late. The 757-300 aircraft started off in morning from Houston to Denver, came back to Houston in the afternoon, down to Lima, and then come back to Houston as the red-eye.

Six weeks from now is still spring, and thunderstorms in Houston is nothing out of the ordinary. Along the way, that aircraft can easily be delayed in and out of IAH.

Immigration and customs shouldn't be too bad, though the flight from Buenos Aires also arrive at 6:20a. Lines for US citizens are usually short.

Okay. I'm relieved that I know at least I'll be able to get home the same day even if I miss the connection.

I got the confirmation from Delta with the link to follow to confirm. The confirmation says I will be charged 70,000 miles for 2 tickets but also says, "The mileage is subject to change until the ticket is issued." How likely is this mileeage charge to change? We are trying to firm up our plans for vacation time with work today. And, I was also thinking of playing the game to see if I could get even better dates (a day or two either side would be nice) by dragging this out a bit. Should, I just push "confirm" the first second I am positive I can actually go at this time to avoid the possibility of being charged more miles? Or, would I be okay to wait a bit?

I don't think it is likely that the mileage amount will increase. That sounds like generic legalese to me.

If you are looking to play with the dates, why not call the agent? They charge you something like $20 per ticket, but I usually find it worthwhile to spend the money.

As of today, ticketing through an agent has increased to $25 and there's a new "handling charge" for award tickets with any segment on a partner carrier. These fees are no applicable online. Agents also cannot hold awards anymore whereas the online award hold is still available. It's up to the OP if the $50 per ticket is worth it.

The only later flight currently with availability is CO616 at 7:08pm so I'd just keep what you have unless you decide to change dates.