Questions and Answers

I had booked a honeymoon trip (SFO-HNL-AKL, CHC-NAN, NAN-LAX-DCA) several months back using American Airlines miles and the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Visa Card. After a ton of research on the routings in the pacific vs. award availability across all alliances/airline partners I determined I could have the most direct time efficient route with AA miles.

I just found out today that the final leg on the return flight was voided as the layover time from my Fiji flight to LAX was decreased to 1hr and 55minutes as a result of an AA flight time change. See flight itinerary before & after:

[U]Original Flight Plan[/U]
First Flight:
Nadi, Fiji (NAN) to Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
9:40pm to 11:25am (December 4th)

Second Flight:
Los Angeles, CA (LAX) to Washington, DC (DCA)
1:50pm to 9:57pm (December 4th)

[U]Updated Flights Due to AA Schedule Change[/U]
First Flight:
Nadi, Fiji (NAN) to Los Angeles, CA (LAX)
9:40pm to 11:25am (December 4th)

Second Flight (time changed):
Los Angeles, CA (LAX) to Washington, DC (DCA)
1:20pm to 9:15pm (December 4th) – VOIDED
No flight option has been settled yet for the route back to DC from LAX

Since the layover is now under 2 hrs the ticket is no longer a “legal international layover time” as quoted by AA customer service. The only legal option now is a flight the next day at 8am. AA will not cover any food, lodging, or transportation expenses. This situation is not covered by the travel benefits of the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Visa Card either. To make things worse AA has not offered any type of compensation for this inconvenience.

I understand 2hrs is going to be tight but we do have Global Entry which should help expedite our transfer through customs and the two terminals. What options do I have to persuade customer service to keep my original tickets booked? I do not want to stay in LA overnight after 3 weeks of traveling. Also what options do I have to help persuade them to offer me compensation in the form of miles or upgraded seats for our flight back to DC?

[USER=506]@Jon[/USER] F — I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this. It’s common, but never any fun.

The phone agents can’t book an illegal itinerary for you, and can’t change the times of the flights. But what they can do is:
[LIST]
[*]Put you on a flight the next morning (which it sounds like you don’t want)
[*]Put you on connecting flights (these look worse, based on what I can see)
[*]Put you on flights to an alternative airport (the only thing I see is a red-eye to Dulles)
[/LIST]
So your best bet might be to see if you can get to a sympathetic agent who is willing to reinstate the flights for you. I don’t think it’s very likely, or if they even have the capabilities to do that, but you can ask. Otherwise the overnight (and maybe you can make it fun?) is likely your best option.