Trying to book a flight

I'm here trying to book a flight to Chicago. My preference is to fly with an airlines that I have frequent flier miles with, one of them, American Airlines. So, I search for a flight to Chicago. Nothing direct comes up! I can't believe it. All of these connections in Ohio and Kentucky. And, expensive! The most affordable flight from JFK to ORD (O'Hare - Chicago) has a connection in Puerto Rico! I thought I was seeing things, so I did the search again. Yup, connecting in San Juan, PR.

I'm saying. This shouldn't be this complicated. It's kinda cool in a way, to hang out in PR for a few hours. But, I am supposed to be a speaking on a panel at a conference, so I have no time to hang out in the Carribean.

Sheesh.