Flight to Rome

You should trust that you will make your connection otherwise it is going to cost you big time. If your flight BWI to Rome is one tcket you should not skip the first leg BWI to Philly because the airline will cancel the other segments. Call them and ask them if you can skip the first leg and they will treat it like a change and charge you fee.

wow- thanks so much for this. That just doesn't seem right. They cancel our first leg and don't tell us & we just stumbled across it and now we're "held hostage"....I just don't want to miss that flight from Philly.

It is in the fine print conditions of carriage. You can call them and try.

Airline policies often aren't right-in what other situation can you sell the same item twice to 2 different people?

It looks like your 6:35 to Rome connects in London. It is not a direct flight.

If you miss the 6:35 and it is the airlines fault they will as long as there is space just put you on the two flights leaving after the 7:20 or the 8:45. Both are American British airways code share (partner airlines).

Are these separate reservations or were they all booked through AA or BA? If so then they will be responsible for getting you to Rome if your flight to PHL is delayed.

Our 6:35 pm flight from Philly is a direct flight to Rome which lands FCO 9:15 am. There looks like a 6:45 pm connecting through England that lands FCO at noon. After that, there is a 7:20 flight that lands at 2pm. These both go through London.

yes, I understand they are responsible in getting us there. I just wanted to get there sooner rather than later.

What you have here is a "schedule change". This happens all the time. In fact, it happens so often, that if you booked your ticket many months in advance (like I usually do), you're almost guaranteed to have at least one schedule change (maybe more than one) between the time you book and the time your flight actually goes. Airlines tweak their schedules frequently - major US airlines regularly juggle all/most of their flights 3-4 times per year or more frequently.

Here's the thing to know: This is generally not a problem. In fact, it is often an opportunity - a chance for you to switch to a better flight.

Important disclaimer: All of this assumes you are traveling on a single ticket, which leaves the airline on the hook to make things right. OTOH, if you have bought separate tickets, then it's not their problem, it's yours (possibly a big one), and most of what's written here does not apply.

Your airline should (and almost always does) attempt to contact you when there's a schedule change - that's why it's a good idea to make sure they have a real, functioning email address (one that you actually check, not just a spam magnet you never look at) and phone number for you - you should provide this when booking. That way, when they move your flights around, and your international flight (after which you will need to clear passport control and customs) ends up with a connection time of just 5 minutes, so you will surely miss your onward connection, then you actually have a golden opportunity, not a problem.

The airline has an obligation to get you to where you need to go (assuming you have a single ticket - see above). They also (in theory) want to take care of their customer without badly inconveniencing them. It may be hard to believe in today's traveling world, but yes, they actually do seem to want to do the right thing when schedules shift. That gives customers service agents (CSAs) more flexibility to fix things than you might expect.

If the schedule change is trivial (say, a 3 minute change in connection time), then you can and should probably just ignore it and go with the flow (unless it takes a tight connection that you were already worried about and makes it even more worrisome). But even if the schedule change looks pretty minor, it may allow you the option of changing one or more of your flights - it may even let you end up with a much better flight than the one you originally booked.

You need to do your homework before deciding what (if anything) to do about this. Go online, look at other flight times and routings that would get you from Point A to Point B. Then call them, explain to the CSA why the new flight schedule that their computer thought would work for you will not. Ask them if you can change to something else. They will probably offer some different option. This is where your homework comes in handy: if you found something better, offer it as a suggestion (try to be helpful, not pushy). The CSA has some power to make changes, but they have their limits (for example, they're not going to upgrade you from Basic Economy to First Class because of a 3 minute schedule change, so be reasonable).

But you can get a better flight and make this work to your advantage. Most major airlines will allow their agent to change your routing (say, put you on a nonstop from SFO to Frankfurt, even if your original flight had a layover in Newark). Generally, your start and end points can't change, but intermediate details can. I have used this many times to greatly improve my flights.

So, when you discover there's been a schedule change, don't cry out in anguish assuming you're in for misery. Look at it as an opportunity to improve your flight experience.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

When my flight schedules had changed in the past (with delta) and it didn't work for me, the agent offered to refund the ticket, so it MIGHT be possible for them to refund that leg so you can take the train if you cant find a better flight option? Doesn't hurt to ask.

Your 6:35 non-stop to Rome sounds like the American Airlines flight (BA codeshare). Your BWI to PHL flight will also likely be on American, in which case they'll know your status and that should help things go more smoothly. Also, 54 minutes seems like a long time for the BWI to PHL flight as it involves only 20 minutes of actual flight time. With a tight connection, I'd worry more about checked luggage making the flight than you missing it.

Thanks to everyone for responses and great advice! This is one ticket and we are going to trust that they get us to Philly in time to make our flight. and who knows.... we're still over a month out, so there could be another change and we'll then try to use it to our advantage! We're not checking luggage....yes, we're traveling for 2 weeks with 2 small carry ons and back packs! Thanks- I love this forum!

If your first flight is one time, you should be okay, but this does require diligence on your part. The farther back you are seated in the plane, the longer it's going to take you to grab your bags and deplane.

To stack the odds in your favor, there are a few things you can do to help your cause. Download your carrier's app and register for it so that your flight appears on it. When you touch down on the ground and can legally use your cellphone again, pull up your app and check for your next gage. As soon as the seat belt sign is off, stand up and retrieve your bags. Be ready to move as soon as the people in front of you have cleared the aisle.

Then exit the plane and double check the airport signs to confirm that what the app told you for the next gate is correct. Then power walk to your next gate. Do not stop for coffee. Do not stop to use the restroom. Go directly to your gate. THEN you can pause for coffee, snacks, restroom, etc. if there is time when you arrive.

I've made tight connections in Philadelphia. It's very doable. Just be prepared to do your part to help it happen.

I am sitting in an Embassy Suites in Charlotte NC this morning with a cup of coffee in my hand instead of the rooftop of my hotel in Rome with a proseco in hand. We had a flight from Knoxville TN yesterday at 4:00 pm connecting in Charlotte with a direct flight at 6:30 to Rome. Due to Severe storms both delaying takeoff in Knoxville and deplaning in Charlotte we found ourselves standing at the gate with plane still there but the plane door shut. So we had to be rebooked on the same flight a day later or forfeit our business class seats and make multiple layover stops and get to Rome tonight. So we just moved to the next day and will leave Charlotte tonight. I've generally allowed 2-3 hour layovers when flying overseas. Due to the short flight from Knoxville I decided to allow an hour 20 knowing the flight was only 30 minutes and not the hour it showed. I'll never book a scheduled layover less then 2 hours again. Lesson learned. By the way AA was terrible throughout the whole ordeal. Reminded me why I normally fly Delta.