Several months ago we booked our June trip to Italy using AA FF miles for Business class. Our return is from FCO to LHR and then back to LAX, using BA on the first leg. Last night we had a message from AA to call them about a problem with our itinerary.

It seems that LHR has changed the legal connection time there from 90 minutes to 2 hours, so our connection of 1:40 is not going to work, and they will not allow us to be ticketed. AA said that there is an earlier morning flight that, but it is booked, so that our only recourse is to leave the night before, and thus spend our last night of vacation at a hotel near LHR, awaiting an afternoon flight the next day. We said we would talk and get back to them.

This was not a happy conversation because this is a short trip for us and losing a night in Italy was not a good thought, but then it occured to me that perhaps only the Business class was booked on that earlier flight, so in getting back to AA, that was confirmed and so we now have seats on that earlier BA flight from FCO in economy, and instead of losing our last night in Italy we will only have to spend some extra time at LHR. Our flight back to Los Angeles is not affected, also good news. We have requested an upgrade on our new flight since we are using our FF miles for Business, and since we think more Bus seats will open up later, and were told that since it is BA it will not be automatic, we can keep checking with AA on a regular basis between now and June.

Guess the only problem is that since we booked the original connection (11:00 flight to LHR) to allow for a last night, easy morning drive to FCO, in our B&B outside Orvieto, we will now be getting up before dawn to get to FCO for the earlier 8:00 flight. It's a Sunday, we should be ok and it certainly beats the first option of flying to LHR the night before.

Guess I'm glad they called and we didn't find this out closer to the date in some other way. No, make that I'm very pleased AA was on top of things and was willing to work with us on this.

Marcia

Marcia-

Consider yourself very lucky to have gotten the phone call at all. My husband and I just returned from Italy using AA miles for business class too. Our flight from LHR was cancelled and they only way we found out was to contact them 3 hours before the scheduled departure. Fortunately they had re routed us completely but didn't even bother to email us to let us know - and we were flying on electronic tickets! It's not that they didn't have our email address.

Hi Marcia,

Fortunately, I came across your post and immediately checked our June itinerary. Our return was also FCO/LHR/LAX in Business Class with an 11:55 a.m. departure from FCO. Our layover at LHR was less than 2 hours but we received no notification from AA. I called AA and was told by the agent that the early flight from FCO was not available and then she started mentioning flights the day before. I told her this was a definite no so she puts me on hold and then comes back and tells me she was putting in a note and it would take a few days and to call back. This made no sense so I asked for a supervisor. After more hold time she gets back to me and said she checked with a supervisor and we could be on a flight that left FCO at 10:00 a.m. on our original departure date and connected through JFK and then on to LAX. I also asked if we could fly into Orange County from JFK instead of LAX. She said there would be a $100 charge per ticket so I had her book the flight to LAX.

Tonight I decided to call back and give it another shot. I got a great agent that immediately found us a flight that leaves FCO at 11:00 a.m. and connects through Chicago. He also got us on a flight from Chicago to Orange County and waived the charge. Actually, it seems like it all worked out for the better because now we don't have to deal with connecting at LHR.

Maybe you should call back and see if you can get similiar flights and avoid the 8:00 a.m. departure from FCO and also LHR.

Mucho thanks for the heads up.

Carole

I am visiting the Alitalia site, drooling over the non-stop LAX-FCO flights. That is what I am going to do, and I hope I NEVER have to change at Heathrow again.
Yrs, Robert

Carole,

I am going to pass on your experience to David since he is in charge of the airline part of our trip. I think we will probably stay with this plan, only because the LHR-LAX is on a new 777 and David was excited about that. But then who knows.

Yes, I'm glad that AA called, and even tho it was frustrating, they are very good about working with you, at least that has been our experience.

Marcia

Marcia, that 777 does sound tempting but, for me anyway, the 8:00 a.m. departure would definitely offset that perk. We'll be on a 767 but at least it will be Business Class.

Carole

Carole,

I spoke with David this am and gave him your experience. He said that AA was not able to route us through NY, Chicago, etc, most likely because we are traveling a few weeks later in the summer and there were no FF seats left. So, we are grateful that we have our FF seats from LHR to LAX, and can get there by leaving earlier as opposed to having to leave the night before.

So the 8:00 departure is offset because we get to keep our last night in Italy, which was not AA's first offer. All relative in the end, right?

Marcia

this question is perhaps somewhat off topic but would appreciate any info you might be willing to share

my son is booked to fly on AA for his honeymoon--on purchased tickets-- not FF--from DFW into Gatwick in early March --and then on BA One-world connection into FCO-

their tickets have a very tight connection time (less than 2 hours)--
the DFW AA flight arrives at 745 AM and they make BA connection, scheduled to depart at 9am--
AA linked the two flights together on its web site as one ticket w/o any qualifiers about "tight connection" or "less than 2 hours" (which I have seen on other sites after I became concerned)...
AA will only change the booking if we pay the fees--

Does the same 2 hour policy that you mentioned for Heathrow apply to Gatwick?

Can I use that as some type of leverage maybe to get them switched to better outbound route?
Should I be talking to BA instead of AA about a later flight--

the AA Chicago route or JFK is not an option for them as they want to leave Monday evening from DFW and did not want to transfer airports in NYC either...

if you have any ideas or suggestions would appreciate hearing them...
thanks for letting me piggy back your thread...

I think you need to check with AA since they did the booking, thus you are ticketed through them. And it is one ticket, with a connection.

As far as airports go, we think that the opening of the new terminal at Heathrow is the reason for this time change. Again, do check with AA if you have any questions. I know nothing about Gatwick.

Marcia

Update to our story:

Yesterday got both a phone message and e-mail from AA with a "change" to our itinerary - upon examing the e-mail, we realized that AA had managed to move us from coach to business on the leg we had to change, the early morning return from FCO to LHR. And we had not yet called once to check the status.

Sometimes things just work out, we're pleased.

Marcia

Last week we bought AA tkts via LHR with 1:50 hr connect time with BA flight to BLR. Both flights are in one ticket. I checked BA website and notice minimum connection time between Term 3 and 5 will be 2 hours. Should I call AA or wait for their call? We are family of 4 and are really worried about LHR transfer.

If I call AA can someone recommend how to approach this to get on an earlier flight to LHR. Will AA also book me simply on another routing (say FRA) avoiding LHR headache? Will there be fees to us?

I had called AA before I learnt about this minimum connect time and they said I will have to pay change fee and fare difference for taking earlier flight to LHR.

Thanks in Advance.

Problem solved. Called AA PLT desk. Initially refused saying current connecting time is legal. When I explained BA BLR flight is moving to T5 from T4 starting June 5 (one day before our travel) she put me on hold for a long time, but booked us now on non-stop DFW-LHR that arrives 3.5 hours before LHR-BLR flight.

Thank you for this thread. It gave me info needed to go back to AA.

quote:

Originally posted by ulbhpy:
Problem solved. Called AA PLT desk. Initially refused saying current connecting time is legal. When I explained BA BLR flight is moving to T5 from T4 starting June 5 (one day before our travel) she put me on hold for a long time, but booked us now on non-stop DFW-LHR that arrives 3.5 hours before LHR-BLR flight.

I'm glad that everything was resolved for you, ulbhpy. That's a generous three and a half hours between flights at Heathrow. On this upcoming Tuesday, I only two hours before my connecting flight to FCO, so I'm really sweating it. Especially, considering the fact that they never made a smooth transition to Terminal 5, now I have to transfer over from terminal 4 first. And, I have to do it from a flight that has a record of being chronically late.

Have a great time in India! After you return, come back to Slow Travel Talk and let us know how everything went on your trip, okay?

I recently booked thru AA (using air miles) with a leg on BA from Rome to Heathrow, an hour and a half layover, then AA from Heathrow O'Hare. This is for a Sunday in March of '09. I was just happy enough getting award seats on my dates of choice. Should I contact AA regarding the too-short layover?

At least it's on the way back.

The legal connect time between T3 and T4 is 90m and between T3 and T5 is 120m. I am sure if your Rome to Heathrow flight is moved from T4 to T5 ***AND*** legal minimum connect time at that time is still 120m, AA will probably rebook you like they did with OP of this thread. But if you would rather have 120m and it is already between T3 and T5 I suggest call AA. At the worst they may say no and you ask them to put it in your reservation record that way you are protected in the event you misconnect. Go to BA.com to check where the Rome flights are from/to T4, T3 or T5.

Have a great time in Rome and protect your purse/wallet!!! We had wallet stolen from handbag in Paris ruining our vacation. I have heard Rome is similar.