germanblonde

I will have to fly from NRT (Tokyo) to LAX on AA, I intend to connect the same day to a AA flight from LAX to ORD To DUB (Dublin). My LAX- NRT ticket has already been issued and I am unable to make any changes since I am travelling with a group. I will need to buy a separate ticket to Dublin. I can fly out of LAX on the same day, I would like to get to Dublin asap, to visit someone who is unwell. I am concerned htat if the Tokay flight is delayed what will happen to my LAX-DUB ticket. Also, can I check in in Tokyo for Dublin if I am on two separate tickets? Any advice would be apprectiated

Flyboy

You will have to collect your baggage for customs in LAX unless you are able to get it all folded into the same itinerary of NRT-DUB. If you are traveling on separate tickets, you will have to go through the check-in process for that separate flight. Can you do it in two hours? Maybe you can, depending on the terminal(s) you will be using, etc.

But you correctly note the risk of a delay. Especially if you're dealing with a different carrier and possibly because you are traveling on separate tickets even with the same one, you may well end up being responsible if you don't show up in time for check-in for the orgination of your flight to Dublin -- probably a MINIMUM of 60 minutes prior to departure if the LAX-ORD portion is regarded as the orgination of your international flight. (They can tag your bags as "late" and avoid some responsibility for their arriving with you in Dublin if you miss the deadline, even though you may be on a plane full of people to ORD who had a less onerous check-in requirement because they aren't traveling internationally.)

I would be cautious with this one. If it is all on the same carrier or a partner, you can get advice from the carrier. You may have to pay a change fee to have it all put into the same ticket intinerary, but that might be good insurance. If it is on unaffiliated carriers, then I'm not sure I would be willing to roll the dice on this plan. (And now that I've said this, your NRT-LAX flight will arrive more than an hour early.)

nibblette

You should be able to get your boarding passes but you will have to specifically ask for them. It is not done automatically. Make sure you present your e-tickets for BOTH parts to the check-in desk so they can give you the onward boarding passes.
You will still have to go thru immigration and get your luggage to go thru customs in LAX. Haven't gone thru LAX in a while so can't remember how bad it is to do this. Most of the time (except Miami) 2 hours is enough.
Remember you will have to check your luggage back in so you will have to meet minimum luggage time requirements for your onward flight.

If you miss your onward flight, you may have to buy a new ticket. The airline (even though it's the same one) has no responsibilities since the segments were ticketed separately. This is especially true if your two flights are outside of their "legal connection" allotment. Can you book a later flight to be on the safe side?

germanblonde

Flyboy, thanks for your advice. I just spoke to AA and they told me that I can check my bag in for Dublin in Tokyo, but I may not get all the boarding passes in Tokyo. They were unsure how to advise me besides saying that this is a legal connection.

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!

germanblonde

nibblette, sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you, your post didn't appear when I posted the above message.

rkkwan

AA should be able to link your two itineraries, or at least cross-reference them. Do this before you flight. That will give you SOME protection, and AA is likely to get you to DUB even if your NRT-LAX is late.

They can put a luggage tag to DUB for you, but as niblette says, you still need to collect them to go through customs at LAX. After you exit, drop it off again and AA will forward your bag to DUB.

AA at NRT may or may not be able to issue your boarding pass for the final two legs, but there shouldn't be a big issue to have your BPs printed or issued at LAX.