AA Policy if Late to Connecting Flight
 

Weather is making me nervous. We're to fly AA January 1 from ORD to DFW to OGG. We have purchased coach and used miles to upgrade to first and we really only want a 767 on the long second leg. If our first leg is late, what can we expect? We'd rather wait a day or two at home in Chicagoland to get what we want than be switched to a 757.

They will put you on the next available flight. Their choice, not yours . . . (and they won't let you change your first flight 'just in case' your second one might be different equipment. )

I presume you know that is there is only one flight nonstop from DFW to OGG on Jan 1st, so if you miss it, that's that. It depends when you get there, if you get a nonstop to Honolulu, then a short run, you will still have a 767 to HNL. But that flight is around 1 pm. Most of the AA flights from there to OGG the rest of the day transfer in LAX and then you'd get a 757 from LAX to OGG (although maybe a 767 to LAX).

If your first leg is late due to weather, chances are your second flight will be held a while. They're doing that a lot more lately....because with most flights running full these days, there are just no later flights to fit you onto.

Check their website in the days leading up to. AA often has weather alerts where if the weather is expected bad you can reschedule your entire trip. Weather of course isn't always predictable so doesn't mean you won't get held up anyway. But at least that is sometimes an option.

You might have a problem getting on the "next flight" as your are flying a peak season.

If they would let you fly on Jan 31 to DFW and overnight, that might be a good option. The hyatt, directly in DFW, is very nice. Sometimes they do that sort of thing with a weather event.

Not sure when your morning flight is scheduled to depart. Another thing would be to get on an earliest flight as possible. Then you are more likely to make your connection, but also more likely to spend a longer time in DFW, thus making a long day even longer.

There are no "A" bucket (upgraded first class) seats on the DFW-OGG 763 open on the 2nd, 3rd or 4th of January, so if you misconnect on the first, just resign yourselves to flying via LAX or HNL.

Thanks to you all. (Sigh.) If AA can tell BEFORE we leave ORD that we will miss the DFW-OGG flight, can we ask to be cancelled and rebooked later for the whole shebang? I'd rather sit at home than in Dallas. We'll be Maui two months, so getting there pronto isn't as important to us as getting there with all our joints still functioning (the 767).

Chance or precip here in Dallas is 0% on the 31st and 1st and 10% on the 2nd so at least this end should be fine.

OK - what if you DO arrive on time . . . And they end up with an equipment change???

There are no guarantees in this world.

Connie -- Yup, we've been tracking that ever since your ice storm!

Janis -- Bless your heart! I guess there isn't anything TO be done about that, unlike trying to plan ahead.

I was just saying - you are investing so much worry on these 'what ifs' because you just have to be on the 767 - when specific equipment really isn't any part of the terms of carriage.

Is there that big a difference in first class between a 67 and 57? They always look the same to me when I am walking through first class.

<i>Is there that big a difference in first class between a 67 and 57? They always look the same to me when I am walking through first class.</i>

AA has three versions of the 757 - an "old" domestic version with wide but rather hard leather seats in FC, a "new" domestic version with more comfortable seats, and an intercontinental version with angled-lie-flat seats and personal video. (The domestic versions still have overhead screens.) The 767-300s have a similar seat to the intercontinental 757 and also distribute individual video (tablets) to each seat.

The "old" 757s are shrinking in number as the planes' interiors are refurbished, but there's no way to know which generation will be on any given flight; the planes move around a lot. Occasionally one will get an intercontinental 757 on a domestic run, but you can't count on it. AA is distributing tablets on <i>some</i> domestic 757s but again it's a crapshoot. For an itinerary as long as the OP's, I'd definitely pack an iPad or Kindle for the trip.

Service - food etc. - is similar regardless of the plane.

Going to Hawaii for 2 months on First Class-But would rather just stay home than to ride a couple of 757's for 4 hours.
SMH SMH

Spiro -- This is a 14 hour travel day for us. We're OLD, with health issues. We've spent $350 pp to be able to use the miles to upgrade. We booked the outbound flight months ago to GET these seats, then paid tix change fees to get the returns. (If you live long enough, someday you may understand.)

Old or young, we all want to be as comfortable as we can and get what we paid for. You really don't have much control after you get to the airport as to what is going to happen. It's a crapshoot. Usually everything works out, but it seems to me that about 15% of the time it doesn't and about 3% of the time things get totally screwed up. I always plan my trips out months in advance to be able to use my rewards/points(I no longer have an AA credit card as they don't even begin to compare with my Southwest CC)and get the best deal possible.
I've spent the night in the airport. Been kicked off a flight, even though I had a ticket but not a receipt(this was a nightmare in Alaska on a midnight flight), had an emergency landing(weren't sure that landing gear was down), had an entire trip cancelled(lost a lot of money on my lodging and activities) because a freak hailstorm damages 45 airplanes in Denver(so there were very very few flights for several days to where I was going). And I really don't fly that often, maybe 4 times a year.

My point to my last statement was that you sounded pretty spoiled(or old ha). I've never flown first class. I've never been to Hawaii. I've never been anywhere for 2 months. I'm not jealous because you have or can, but just seems odd to me that you would put so much worry into a situation that you really have little control over. It seems to me the worst that will happen to you is that you will spend an extra 1.5 hours at LAX for a layover, you would have to be perhaps in coach, and you would arrive 4 hours late. For most people headed to Hawaii for 2 months- 4 hours late and a seat that isn't as comfy wouldn't be that big of a deal, IMOP.


Now back to your original thoughts. In looking at things today, I would be more concerned about ORD weather than DFW. Hopefully, things go smoothly for you tomorrow and all is just as you reserved. DFW is a great airport with lots of recent new dining options. Use the SKYLINK if you need to get to another area of the airport(different terminal)its super fast.

ChiSue, I got home two days late because of that ice storm in Dallas and then had to drive across Dallas on ice to get home.

Hope your trip goes better than that. Please let us know.

Thank you spirobulldog . . . that is what I was trying to say but you said it better . . .