Booking Flights in Advance: Schedule Changes

A couple months ago I used the rest of my American Airlines miles to book my ticket to Guatemala. I looked at my miles account and noticed there was a schedule change on my flight from Miami to Guatemala. It created a long (4+ hour) layover in Miami that didn't sound pleasant.

I did a search online and found a seat on a later flight leaving Atlanta opened up! This was great since I was on the 7AM flight. I am now on the 8:30AM flight so I can sleep an extra hour and still have a long enough layover to have lunch in Miami. Since there was a schedule change I was able to do this for free.

Knowing the rules of the tickets you book can help you later on. Schedule changes in most cases can get you a free change. Sometimes I will book a flight with multiple connections in hopes one will change. When it does I can call and change to a more direct flight for free. Buy the cheapest that will work and hope you can change later is the strategy.