Clicking through my usual morning flight checking (because google isn't great about sending me email alerts to price changes) and suddenly my flights are not available? Hmmm. Was there a schedule change that I have gotten ZERO notice about, American Airlines? Yes. Yes there was. Instead of having a quick 30ish minute layover in Chicago where I run from one plane to the next, I get to spend 2 and a half glorious hours sitting in O'Hare. Which means I'm definitely going to be relying on others to grab stuff for me at the expo because it'll probably be really picked over by the time I get there at 2pm (at the absolute earliest) AND I won't be able to get a VQ on my own. And American's policy on a refund? A 3+ hour schedule change.
There's something going on with AA's website because it is showing all 4 flights (2 down, 2 back) as being fully booked, and it auto-placed me in the middle seat of an exit row from Chicago to Orlando when they changed that flight. And it's giving me a message to "Check back later or have your seat assigned at the airport."
There are no other options out of my local airport with an earlier arrival that isn't also double the money. So I am well and truly stuck.