American Air Lines

[wgw04024]

Of all the times I've wondered about my short layover times, even flying international, it's never been a problem. Just gotta roll with it.

 

[jonhall]

I sure don't think I should have to pay a charge to change the flight, since they changed the flight on us. Any thoughts are appreciated.

I think everyone has to expect changes, especially now that most airlines are struggling with enough workers, including pilots, to service all of their flights - but that doesn't mean we should be happy about it.

I've become less concerned about connection times and more so with delays and cancellations.

We have been lucky dealing with American Airlines who we do fly with the most. I agree with @Altamira. In the past and more recently, they have made changes to accommodate us over the phone (you may have to be willing to wait your turn - patience) - have your alternative flight plan ready if you think you need to change the flight to arrive a day earlier in Miami. You're probably not in one of the AA categories to get a full refund or a change without fees, but I know we have made changes without paying anything extra. The airlines want to keep its customers happy right now, so some of their policies are changing.

Fifty minutes connection time normally wouldn't scare me, as long as previous posters are right about how long it takes to walk the terminal, but it seems I always have to go to a different terminal. I'm used to fast walking and riding the train in the Miami airport, but since this is only 1 week trip with limited flights to Bonaire, I think I would suggest going a day early to Miami to eliminate the risk/stress.

We're getting ready to fly to Alaska - since we booked airfare on 11/16/21, we have had 3 schedule changes with Delta going to Fairbanks - we did book a day early so we hopefully are there when we're supposed to be for the land portion of our tour. On the way home with American Airlines, we have also had 3 changes with the last only being a change in the plane (not time) - on this one we went from a 2'20" connection time to 35" to 50". If I wind up having to spend the night in Chicago, at least it's not winter time!

Let us know how it went.

 

[parzdiver]

Miami is a big airport. I have done connections in less than an hour and I just made it the length of the terminal in time. Of course as soon as I got on the second flight, there was a weather delay of about a half hour.

Coming back into the country through Miami is an entirely different fiasco. Immigration is no problem, but takes a while for bags in customs. The biggest delay is going back through TSA security. They didn't have any PreCheck lines open and it took about an hour after rechecking our bags. I wouldn't do that connection with anything less that 2 hours.

 

[arubabob1]

I have booked over 100 tickets with AA in the last 10 years to Aruba. I am100 % happy with AA. But I avoid Chicago and Miami. I will only go thru Charlotte. That's just my 2 cents. When you fly on miles, there is no airline that can compete. I have had as low as 7,500 miles for a 1 way. Alot of 10K miles for a 1 way. Other airlines are triple!!!

 

[FishWatcher747]

I have a trip with AA to Bonaire in November. I am flying with miles and from my home airport Albany, NY I can't get to or from Bonaire in 1 day. So I book the itinerary, 2 flights to Miami, stay overnight, fly MIA-Bon next morning.

So they changed my flight to staying over late at Reagan Washington then a super early flight to Miami in the morning. So this means a hotel about twice as expensive in DC and a sleep deprived trip to Bonaire.

I called AA with little hope of getting a better itinerary and they changed it no problem. Back near the original itinerary and a good nights sleep in a Miami hotel.

So it doesn't hurt to call and ask.

 

[parachute]

I personally would feel ok w/a 50 min connection in MIA. I have flown w/AA to BON via MIA many times (all pre-Pandemic, though fwiw). Your flight is on a Wednesday, and early morning (and not during the height of summer travel?...dunno), so perhaps lower probability of delays or cancellation.

 

[uncfnp]

It’s a crap shoot. If your plane into Miami arrives on time and you don’t mind a brisk walk, you will be fine (but still no guarantee on baggage). Personally, I don’t like those odds. If you have the AA app check the flight info and see if it gives you the option to change. If this doesn’t work, call and get in line for an agent. They will offer the options of a call back when someone is available.

We just returned from a Wednesday to Wednesday trip on AA. We had a 90 minute layover in Miami and everything went smooth. Trip back…not so much.

 

[jjach]

Update. It's 2 weeks until we leave for Bonaire. The more I thought about a 49 minute layover in a airport I have never been in, the more I was convinced I need to change my reservations. So I called AA and after about 45 minutes I got a call back from them and explained my concerns about the short layover. I rep I was talking with kept on saying it is a good layover time. I tried to explain that it was an hour and 15 minutes when I booked, and they changed it to 49 minutes. She did not care. So I hung up and called again. After another 45 minutes I got a call back and explained my concerns. The rep said no problem and worked with me to change the flight from Chicago to Miami to Tuesday afternoon instead of Wednesday morning. I picked out the seats we wanted and everything was good, I thought. This morning I went on the AA website to find my reservations to double check them. The seats I chose were not listed and the seats for the flight to Bonaire were not on the reservations. So back on the phone with AA. After 2 phone calls everything is straightened out, I got the seats I wanted. We have reservations at the hotel in the airport so not having to get up at 2:00AM to make sure we catch a 5:20AM flight is great, no worrying about missing my flight due to a delayed flight.
Counting down the days

 

[mcohen1021]

Or should I try to change our flight leaving Chicago to Tuesday and spend the night in Miami.

Change your flight now

I promise you there's not enough time unless you can hurdle over everything like OJ Simpson in a Hertz commercial

 

[kinoons]

Change your flight now

I promise you there's not enough time unless you can hurdle over everything like OJ Simpson in a Hertz commercial

I believe you’re 12 minutes late to the party. OP posted just before that a flight change was made.