Missed connection

[palm beach]

We are flying to Asia this fall and have a connection in LA. Did anyone ever miss their connection? We tried to have Silversea book us on an earlier flight, their answer was they are assigned a limited number on seats on each flight.

Did anyone get any help from silversea in this situation? My Silversea TA is not very helpful, her response is the airline will take care of it. Does anyone know what would happen to our transfer from the airport to the hotel?

[purduemom1]

You didn’t give us enough info. Hard to give you good answers when we don’t know the date, airline, flight numbers, type of ticket (bulk fare, consolidator, etc) and your connection time at LAX. I can tell you that if your flight requires you to switch terminals at LAX, you will need sufficient time. Most international flights at LAX leave from the Tom Bradley terminal. Length of time to transfer there is difficult to estimate because we don’t know your particular circumstances.

 

The short answer is that when you have a connection there is always the possibility that delays with your originating flight will cause you to miss your connection. This has happened to me twice this year, once on an international itinerary and most recently a domestic itinerary.  How the airline accommodates you will depend on the airline and the type of ticket you have purchased. I suggest that you ask your question on the Cruise Air forum. There are some very knowledgeable posters that will most likely help you out.

 

i also suggest that you read the stickie at the top of that forum entitled Cruise Air and Air Deviation Explained. Whenever you purchase flights thru any source but directly with the airline, you need to know exactly what kind of fare you are purchasing and all the conditions attached to it. In other words-not all airline tickets are created equal.

 

 

 

[Nachosdelux]

actually the kind of ticket does not matter in this instance.

 

if you misconnect, the airline is responsible for getting you to your destination.

 

normally they will put you on the next flight (same airline or alliance), but they may (or may not) be willing to put you on another airline/alliance.

 

This is where Silversea comes in.  If you purchased the air through the cruise line, they should be able to put you on a flight that the original airline is not, so it gives you (hopefully) more options.

 

always be prepared for a misconnect.  What I mean by this is have a list of flights that will work for you to get you to your destination on time.  For example, of you are continuing from LAX to SIN, make a list of flights (non-stop and connecting) that leave after yours, that you can offer as a suggestion to the agent.  Do not be afraid to ask for a supervisor.  

 

also, you may have to accept a downgrade (for example from business class to economy) to get where you want on time, if those are the only seats available.  

 

good luck!

Edited September 27, 2019 by Nachosdelux

[palm beach]

getting flights ahead of time is a good idea. I am aware that me might downgrade as we are a group of 4 people traveling business class.

Looking at all options gives me peace of mind, in the past we missed our connection a few times but traveling to Hong Kong is a different story. Not many direct flights from LAX.

i thought silversea would help us in obtaining new tickets but my TA say the airline will do that ( we bought our tickets through silversea) .We would also miss our transfer from the airport to the hotel. I am told that  I would have to call the local contact in Hong Kong.

Silversea has a good reputation for good service. I hope it is true, so far I am not getting that impression with their travel reservations. I thought we could go standby on an earlier flight, unfortunately it does not apply to us as it is an international flight.

Hopefully, we won’t miss our connection.

[purduemom1]

14 hours ago, Nachosdelux said:

actually the kind of ticket does not matter in this instance.

 

 

Actually all tickets are not created equal. The OP still has not told us how much of a layover there will be at LAX. So nobody can answer the original question without knowing just how much time is involved.  

 

Silversea has already told the OP that the airline, not Silversea, will handle a misconnect. So the question really should be: “based in the ticket I have purchased what will my options be if I misconnect?” 

 

Hopefully, they are not planning to arrive the day the cruise embarks. Always good to arrive a day or two ahead to allow for unforeseen situations.

 

The majority of the time flights go as planned but it’s always good to have a plan B in mind. 

 

 

 

 

[Nachosdelux]

7 hours ago, purduemom1 said:

Actually all tickets are not created equal. The OP still has not told us how much of a layover there will be at LAX. So nobody can answer the original question without knowing just how much time is involved.  

 

Silversea has already told the OP that the airline, not Silversea, will handle a misconnect. So the question really should be: “based in the ticket I have purchased what will my options be if I misconnect?” 

 

 

 

with all due respect, you are mistaken.  all tickets are equal in this regard (presuming it is a single ticket)

 

it does not matter if it is a consolidator ticket.  it does not matter if it is a bulk ticket.  it does not matter if it an award ticket.  if they misconnect, the airline is responsible for getting them to their destination.  the length of their layover is irrelevant to this (other than the obvious increased risk of a short layover).  

 

if the layover is really short (but legal) you can always call the airline and ask to be put on an earlier flight to LAX, but they are under no obligation to do this (for free) unless there was a flight time change, and a legal connection became illegal (minimum connection time)

 

 

[purduemom1]

Agreed, airline is responsible for getting them to their final destination. However, routing and priority for available seats depends on the terms of each ticket. Consolidator and Bulk  often have terms that tickets purchased directly with the airline don’t have. I have already suggested that the OP  ask the missed connection question on the Cruise Air Board. There are some very knowledgeable posters there who will have answers.  I have learned a lot reading that board including the stickie entitled Cruise Air and Air Deviation Explained. It becomes evident that knowing the terms of purchase of a ticket is important. 

 

It it doesn’t matter one bit to me if some pax don’t pay attention to what they are buying. I was attempting to help the OP to be better prepared should there be a problem. Hopefully all will go as planned.