American Airlines messed up my flight itinerary...what can I do

American Airlines messed up my flight itinerary...what can I do?
So, I booked a May 2011 vacation to Kauai this past October 2010. I spent all my American Airline miles to suprise my partner with FIRST CLASS tickets on these flights. I booked us FIRST CLASS seats on JFK-LAX (Los Angeles) and a connecting flight LAX-LIH (Kauai). Our first flight to LAX stayed the same - I depart 1030am from JFK and arrive in LAX at 1:35 PM. Originally my connecting flight was supposed to leave at 4:30PM however NOW they changed it so it leaves at 10:30AM from LAX - which makes it impossible for us to make. 1. American Airlines never notified me of the change - the only way I found out about it was because I had a weird feeling and felt like I should check on my reservation online. 2. When I called American Airlines Reservations they advised that there is only one flight per day to LIH and unfortunately there is no American Airline flight from the East Coast that would make the 10:30AM flight from LAX-LIH. 3. They said I could either leave a day earlier and stay in Los Angeles the night before - but they WILL NOT pay for the hotel (approx $75/night). 4. They said we could change both flights so we land in HNL (Honolulu) but they WILL NOT pay for the connecting flight to LIH (approx $100 more/person) I don't understand how I will eventually have to pay MORE MONEY out of pocket for something the AIRLINE changed. Is there something i can do?
Air Travel - 4 Answers
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1 :
Delta did the same thing to me as well. I printed out my itinerary and it changed without the airline notifying me. I would see if you can take an earlier AA flight to LAX from JFK since American has lots of flights between those cities each day. Otherwise since the airline messed up, tell them if they can put you on a Hawaiian Airlines flight or put you on either a Delta flight which leaves in the afternoon (took that flight when I went to Kauai with my wife) or United. Or see if American flies to Kauai from another city such as San Francisco. If the person cannot help you, escalate it to their supervisor. I would tell American they have to do something because you refuse to pay for a hotel because they changed their flights.
2 :
Airlines are free to change their flight times whenever they want to. It is a very common occurrence when you book well in advance. There are only 2 options, stay overnight in LA or fly into Honolulu. I would recommend flying into LAX the day before.
3 :
Unfortunately, you cannot do anything in this situation. While booking the tickets, it says in the fine print that the airline reserves the right to change the flight schedule without notifying the passenger. However, most airlines, as a courtesy, notify passengers booked on the flight by email. In this case, American did not notify you. I just looked on the AA website, and I put in for JFK to LIH. The flight schedule is erratic, but you would leave the day before and fly all night. You wouldn't have to pay for a hotel. AA 177: JFK-San Francisco (departs day before; arrives San Fran at 9:55pm) AA 2466: SFO-Dallas (departs 12:25am and arrives in Dallas at 5:35 am) AA 2401: Dallas-LAX (departs 6:20 and arrives approx. 7:30am) AA 365: LAX-LIH (departs 10:30am) With this flight, you'd be flying all night. I don't know if you'd rather do this or pay $75 for a motel for the night Good luck!
4 :
the airlines have to fix up your flight if they set it up, hotels they have to give you vouchers with food vouchers until you get to your destination