AA points used and a change in itinerary.

I had a similar occurrence on Delta using miles. A call to the toll free number resolved the problem quickly and without any additional fees. I explained the situation and the rep said that computers don’t always take all parameters of a flight into account when rescheduling occurs. That’s why there are still people. Call the airline. It’s free and they’re the only ones who can really cure your problem and allay your fears.

Indeed. They will take care of you, don't worry.

In fact, this schedule change is actually a great opportunity to get a better flight than you originally had, at no cost to you - yes, you can now negotiate for, and often get, a better flight which would have cost you a lot more if you had booked that originally. I know it sounds crazy, but I have done this many times and it works like magic. Here's what you do...

First, do your homework. You need to be prepared before you call. Using the AA.com website, look up flights that would work better for you. Ignore prices, ignore availability of frequent flyer award seats, none of that matters now.

Now, it's not quite "anything goes" - they're not going to bump you up to Business class or First because of this (unless you're a lot better at working the system than I am...). But because your original flight (that you paid for with AA miles) is no longer an option, they have to get you to your destination on some other flight or combination of flights. And - here's the key to the magic - the substitute flight(s) they move you to must be acceptable to you - within certain parameters (and within reason). That means that you can ask for something better, and if it's available, they will usually do it.

Your replacement flights must start and end in the same cities as your original booking - that is, you must start in in London and end up in St. Louis. And it should depart on the same date (arrival date might be different). But the routing (and the number/length of layovers) does not need to be the same - you do NOT need to go through Dublin and/or Dallas. If you can find an itinerary that's more direct (a one-stop or even a nonstop), and/or one with "better" layovers (better in your opinion) and they have a seat available, ask them to put you on that, and they usually will do it. You are not limited to available award seats - as long as the planes are American Airlines (they have fewer options for putting you on partner flights, but you can still ask). Because it's basically their problem, they are expected to "fix it" for you, and in a way that's acceptable to you.

You need to do the research online before you call, and have all the flight details for what you want ready to feed to the agent (or you can ask them for other options if you want, but in my experience, it helps to spoonfeed them).

I've used this technique many times to get much better flights than I could have booked originally (I switched from a two-stop return from Europe to a nonstop on a nicer aircraft with more comfortable seats and a better flight schedule).

Be prepared with the details of what you have found online that appears available. Be polite, be nice, remember you are asking them to do you a favor. But with a schedule change, agents are empowered to change things more than you might think, and you might as well ask them to change things for the better.

Good luck and I hope this helps!

Award flight changes can only be made to flights with award availability. The flight they switched you to is the last flight of the day between DFW and STL.

I have made changes to award flights on AA in the past and the changes have to be made to award available flights. As long as they get you to your final destination within a reasonable time of your original flight, they don't have to change it. In this case, they actually get you in earlier. (If they said you had to overnight at DFW and would fly you the next day to STL, then they would have to move you to the late flight.)

My suggestion is to call the AA award desk and ask. You might get a sympathetic agent who will try to reroute you.

But you will go through U.S. immigration and customs in Dublin.

Award flight changes can only be made to flights with award availability. The flight they switched you to is the last flight of the day between DFW and STL.
I have made changes to award flights on AA in the past and the changes have to be made to award available flights.

Respectfully, I don't believe that is correct in this scenario.

If you, as the holder of an award ticket, just want to make a change to your itinerary (and your original booked flight is still available as scheduled when you booked it), then yes, what you're saying is true - you could only switch to flights that have open award availability. But that's not the scenario here.

If you booked an award flight, and that flight is no longer going (or is still going but a schedule change makes that flight greatly delayed), then agents have the ability to put you on other flights with empty seats, even if there is no open award availability on those flights. They can, in essence, "open up" unsold revenue seats that would not otherwise be available to you (if it was you simply wanting to make the change).

Because the change was forced on you, agents have more latitude to put you in a non-award seat. They can't and won't bump a revenue passenger, of course (and there are definitely other limits to what they can do), but it's not true that if your award flight vanishes (through no action of your own), that you would only able to pick from other award seats that are available then. Think about it: 11 months ahead of the travel date, you snag that rare award seat to Europe. A few weeks before the flight is scheduled to depart, they scramble their flight schedule, and the flight you were on is canceled. If they did that, that would leave almost everyone flying on an award ticket (whose flight was canceled deep into the schedule) would be stuck without any way to get to their destination - because at that point, there ain't any available award seats. That's why agents can, if necessary, "open up" a seat for a displaced award passenger.

I've had this happen more than a few times. Last year, I booked a one-stop award flight from SEA to AMS. I really wanted a nonstop, but there were no award seats available, so I took the routing with one stop in PDX. That booking was 11 months ahead. 6 months later, I was informed there was a schedule change, and the connection time in PDX went from 1 hour to just 5 minutes. I called, they quickly agreed that was unrealistic. I asked them to put me on the nonstop SEA-AMS flight that I had originally wanted (there were still zero award seats available on that flight - I checked). They put me on hold for a few minutes but came back and agreed to do it.

I'm a great believer that a schedule change should be viewed as an opportunity, not a disaster.

But in this case there is no delay. In fact, the OP gets in earlier. And a one hour domestic layover is considered doable.

Will they possibly change the flight, yes. Do they have to, no. Not in this case.

You make some valid points, and on most I don't necessarily disagree with you.

Yes, getting to your destination earlier than originally planned makes it hard to argue that they're wrecking your plans, but there still may be better options. If the OP is concerned about a tight connection time with the proposed revised flights, she should raise that concern. Maybe a one-hour connection could be cutting it uncomfortably close for them, in this circumstance. Maybe they have mobility issues, maybe they will have a bulky carry-on, maybe they have some other reason why the proposed flight schedule that their computer spat out isn't a good one (in the eyes of the passenger).

You are absolutely right that the airline does not have to just give you anything you ask for. They do have to do their best to get you to your destination, and (within reason) they would prefer to do that in a way that makes you a happy customer rather than an angry one.

Because OPs original flight was canceled, the restrictions on which seats they could have switched to (voluntarily, if they had initiated the change) are gone. That means the agents are suddenly empowered to actually try to make the customer happy - which for them, seems like a rare bright spot in a work day that otherwise usually consists of speaking with disappointed or angry callers. IME agents are happy to do that, and usually will - as long as your request is within reason.

I don't know the AA schedule and routing options well enough for that route to know if there are any "better" options she could request. Looks like OP's original routing had two stops, in DUB and DFW. But starting in London, maybe they can find a one-stop (maybe LHR to some place on the US east coast, then straight to STL - or just skip DUB and go LHR-DFW-STL...personally, I'd much prefer any routing that cuts out a stop).

If it were me, I'd take a look, see what flights could get me where I wanted to go, and if those have any open seats (even if those look expensive now), I'd call and ask if they could accommodate me on that. Worst case, they say no. But if all goes well, maybe they enjoy a nicer flight.

Wider point, for future reference: a schedule change is not necessarily a bad thing. It can often be a good opportunity. But of course a lot depends on the particulars (and how good you are at schmoozing).

Thank you all for your input. I wanted to be prepared before I called this afternoon. I certainly saw this as an opportunity to get a better flight. Which is what happened. I now have my return flight from LHR to PHL to STL. No need to connect through Dublin!!! That made me happy. Now, I don't think the representative was able to just pick any flight. She certainly seemed to be looking at flights with awards seats available in economy class. (I only used 30,000 and I know LHR-PHL-STL was not available at this number of points - This flight may have required 60,000 points or more, whose to know, but it didn't cost me any more points. So it worked out all to my benefit.

Thanks again
Margaret