Well, I have turned this over and over and over in my mind over the past week or so. Finally, I decided to come to you guys for advice.

I was able to get first class award tickets from Pittsburgh - lax - Singapore and back home again.

Originally I was on a direct flight from pit-lax, getting in at 10:44 a.m. and leaving lax for Singapore at 1 p.m. That works. BUT, ole faithful USAIRWAYS cancelled their direct flight and I am now on a connecting flight with America West through Phoenix, with a 25 minute transfer in Phoenix, getting into lax at 10:30 a.m.

I am not worried about any of this if everything goes according to schedule, but if anything happens (e.g. pilot gets spooked about a knife and turns around or I miss my connection in Phoenix), then I could very well miss the lax-sin connection.

Does that 25 minute transfer sound awfully short? I have never been to the Phoenix airport.

For those of you who know me well, you know I tend to be a worry wort about these types of things. :rolleyes: I just am debating the option of flying in the night before.

Obviously there are pros and cons to both. The financial con being a rather persuasive one.

I just don't want to end up on TA (TUSH Airlines) rather than Singapore Air!! ;) :eek:



Sheri

Oh Sheri, that picture is hysterical! Can you change to the night before for a penalty but still keep your first class award tix seats?

Sheri, love your humor...and appreciate your angst! Been there! My vote would be to get into LAX the night before...and leave the stress behind you! Those first class tix are too precious!

I agree with Bonnie. Your well being and lack of stress would more than make up for the cost of a hotel at LAX. Maybe you can get something through Priceline? Let me know if you need help.

Sheri, I think the 25-minute transfer time in Phoenix is too short. You will probably have to change terminals. Although that isn't a big deal, it leaves little time if your plane is even 10 minutes late arriving from Pittsburgh. If you weren't connecting with an International flight, it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but you are.

I agree with the others, fly into LAX the night before. Keep us posted.

Sheri,

I don't think 25 minutes is even a legal connection!!

Knowing you to be the travel worrywort you are :hug: I would definitely get to LA the day before. Have a massage, drink a little wine, and relax!

I think 25 minutes is too short - especially to expect that your bags can be transferred. Phoenix is an easy airport to transfer in, but there is no room for any delay.

Can they send you through another airport, like Chicago, w/ a longer connection? Or for sure go the night before!

No matter what, I would definitely fly into LA the night before. (We always stay overnight in an LAX hotel. Massage is a great idea!) The 25 minutes connection time is entirely too short in just about any situation much less a critical one like yours, Sheri.

Sheri 25 mins is no where near long enough for a connection. I won't give my clients anything less than an hour connection if at all possible and for sure nothing less than 45 minutes and then I notify them before doing that. There are just too many "what ifs" involved in that short of time.

Get yourself a room in LAX for the night and relax knowing you will make the next flight and you have your luggage! ;)

I agree, too, Sheri - why stress over missed luggage or worse missed connection?? Get hotel on Priceline and chill!!! Joanna

Well, it appears to be unanimous! :)

LAX for the night it is. I just made a reservation at the lax Westin. Didn't we stay there for MINT or something??? If I remember, it's pretty nice. Plus I have Starwood points!

Suzanne, it's too bad you aren't closer...I don't suppose you want to flap your wings and come down to see me??? :D

Now I have to call the airline...I always cringe at the thought. It's VERY rare that I get an agent who understands what I am talking about anymore. A few weeks ago I got an agent who didn't know what a seat assignment was!!!! I kid you NOT!! :eek:

Sheri,

Sometimes you are allowed to break your trip into segments allowing for overnights or sightseeing. I think it's usually on the lnternational legs, but it wouldn't hurt to ask!

Unfortunately I leave for Lisbon on Oct. 31st, so a LA rendez-vous doesn't look do-able :(

Yes, it's just blocks form LAX and it was nice. We came down and met everyone going on MINT.

What date is your flight? If I am around, I might be able to come join you for a bite.

Hmmm....well, she wasn't very fluent and kept leaving me on hold to go talk to her "mentor"....AND she tried to out me on a pit-lax flight the day AFTER rather than the dat before (YIKES)...BUT, by the end of the call, I was changed to the flight I wanted, in first, AND no extra charges!!

All's well that ends well!

THANK YOU all so much for your help!! :app:

Sheri, I've had the exact same experience with USAir - we are booked to fly to PSP-BGI, then FLL-PSP in December and they have canceled two different legs of our multi-leg itinerary. We never were notified (and who knows when/IF we would have been?) - but luckily, I am a control freak and check our reservations every day online. Like you, they tried to put us on a flight that arrived the next day. I was very firm and said if we can't get there the original date, we will cancel altogether. All of a sudden their tune changed - they had to put us on an American Airlines flight (in hindsight, I WISH-WISH-WISH we would have booked AA to begin with, but were trying to save $$$ - USAir was about 1/2 the fare!).

But I kid you not, I was on hold with them for 1.75 hours the first time around, and 1.5 hours the second time. I've even been cut off after holding like that with the only person who knows my story, then I have to call and explain all over again. To complicate things, we used FF miles to upgrade to first, and when the flights were canceled, so was our class of service. I cringe when I have to call India like that. They don't understand me, and I don't understand them (although by now I am getting used to it - getting much better at it!).

My advice to anyone with USAir tickets: check your reservations daily. If you can't find out what you want online (we can't even view our seating assignments - how assinine is THAT!?), then the trick is to call the old America West number: 800-235-9292, select the option for DOMESTIC flights (even if you are on international. Because if you select International, you'll get India.) The old America West people have (usually) tried to help me as much as possible, even though my ticket was originally booked through USAir. They are in good old Tempe, Arizona, US of A! and can sympathize with our plights after we've gotten nowhere by trying to talk to someone halfway around the world.

Anyway, Sheri, I am glad you are set to arrive the night before - but do keep checking your reservation to make sure nothing has changed.

Reading all this Kristin, and experiencing what poor Olivia went through on MUSH, I have no plans to fly USAir! They really do sound like the worst and most difficult to deal with.

I'm sure all the airlines have their problems but the airline we fly most frequently is AA (though Tom no longer has any elite status) fairs better than any others IMO. So far, I've never reached an India operator on AA or Alaska Air but have on the other major airline. I hate that outsourcing, I feel so rude asking them to repeat things because I can't understand them. They're very unknowledgeable too and have given me incorrect information.

Sheri, I'd try the Sheraton Gateway over the Westin. The LAX Westin gets very mixed reviews from Flyertalk. We stayed at the LAX Gateway Sheraton earlier this year and it was nice. We got a nice upgraded room and the group of guys I was with ended up closing down the lobby bar.

Kristin,

I had to laugh when you said that you check your air reservations daily. I do the exact same thing, and than goodness I do. Like you said, they change constantly and NEVER contact you. They used to contact me with any small change...not any more.

I am no Lee Iacocca, but perhaps the business experts out there could chime in. It SEEMS to me that they are shooting themselves in the foot. Hiring all these non-English speaking, incompetant people as agents. It takes 10 times the time it used to to get anything done on the phone...not to mention all the people they are alienating!

Thanks for the tip John! I will get online tonight and change my reservations!

Like I need to be closing down the bar with a bunch of guys!!! hahahaha...I'll end up missing my flight anyway!!!! :D :eek:

Good decision on the change - you don't want to lose the Singapore F seat no matter what!!!!

Peter,
THAT was the thought that really was the determining factor! :)

Sheri,

So glad you decided to go a day early. And I can definitely feel your pain. We are heading to Costa Rica in December from Philly. First we had a direct flight. Then US Air cancelled the direct flight and booked us through Charlotte with a similar absurd connection time like what you were given. Then they cancelled the flights for that day altogether! Now we're on AA via Miami. :)

Can't wait to hear all about your trip. Enjoy every moment!

Kathy