rholt

I am looking into flight options for a pre-Easter flight trip to Italy. Most likely flight plan is IAD to Venice on the way in and Rome to IAD on the way out. The inbound and probably the outbound will involve a stop.

Lets assume there is a delay in the first leg of the trip and we are travelling using "two seperate tickets". I have heard that if the delay casues us to miss the connecting flight - we could end up in a real jam. The 2nd leg airline doesn't have any obligation to accomidate us becasuse the two tickets are seperate.

My question is - how can I tell if I am purchasing "one ticket" or "two tickets"? Say I am using Orbitz to purchase the tickets. How does Orbitz indicate that there are two seperate tickets involved?

Any help would be appreciated.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

If you purchase all your travel from Orbitz in one single transaction, then it is all one ticket, even if it involves multiple flights. If one flight is delayed sufficiently, causing you to miss your connecting flight, the airline will put you on the next available flight. You do not not need to purchase a new ticket or pay anything else.

The kicker is "next available flight" though. If the next flight is full, you won't get on it and will have to wait until there's space. If the original delay was weather-related, the airline is under no obligation to do anything for you except get you out when there's space. No hotel or food vouchers if it were an overnight wait.

Keep in mind that most connections work out just fine.

I think this is what you're asking ...

rholt

yep - that is what I am asking - thanks.

sounds like the key (for the parinoid like me) is to ensure the connecting airline has at least one more flight into the target city later that day. And also - allow for a generous layover.

i am normally not so parinoid - but we will be travelling with little kids.

J62

The good news is that if the connecting airport with the delay is in Europe there are more passenger rights.

Earlier this month I had a missed connection on Lufthansa through Frankfurt and they were required to put me up in a hotel and pay for meals since the next flight was the following day.

I was very unimpressed with Lufthansa's ability to handle the weather related disruptions. It required a very long wait in line at the airport just to rebook on a later flight. By the end of the day the line was about 3-4 hrs long for even just a simple rebook. In the US I can simply call the airline reservation desk to get re-booked on the next flight. I'm not sure how other European airlines deal with major disruptions.

One thing to be cautious of is if your 2 flights are on different airlines, or worse yet airlines that are not part of the same alliance. You may get stuck in no-man's land trying to figure out how to rebook on the next available flight. Be sure you have the contact numbers (including international direct dial, not just the US 800#) for Orbitz as they may need intervene on your behalf. From time to time there are nightmare stories about passengers getting stuck in that no-man's land.

wally34949

I would try to book the flight with the airline--not Expedia, Orbitz or Travelocity. Try using www.kayak.com to see who is the cheapest and then buy it from the airline directly.

kybourbon

I agree with Wally. I always try to book directly with the airline instead of having to deal with a third party when problems occur.

What makes you think it's separate tickets anyway? Are they the same alliance?

rholt

Normally - I would book through the airline's website, but in this case it didn't appear to be an option.

The optimal outbound plan that I identified (using Kyak and then Orbitz) involved IAD to AMS on United and then AMS to VCE on KLM.

When i go to the United site - it doesn't show me that option. It just shows me sub-optimal (long layover) Lufthansa connections. On top of that - it is more expensive.

I was suprised becaseu I thought it was always possible to 'replicate' an Orbitz result by going to the relevant airlines web site.

J62

I'm not familiar with UA's website. Have you checked whether there is a check box for "Star Alliance" only versus all airlines on the UA search? The AA website has 3 levels of search. AA only, OneWorld alliance, and all-airlines.

You may need to force the IAD-AMS then AMS-VCE search using the multi-city option, not just IAD to VCE routing.

KLM is a member of the Skyteam (Delta & others) alliance, while UA is Star Alliance (LH, etc).

rholt

Thanks - but the die is cast for this trip - I made the purchase through Orbtiz. I agree that I need to better understand who I call at Orbitz if there are problems in AMS.

rkkwan

Definitely NOT always possible to replicate all itinerary you can find on Orbitz on an airline's website. AA is an exception. Most other airlines don't have non-partner flights bookable on their website, though it is sometimes possible if you CALL them.

rkkwan

BTW, I can't even find the same CO/UA itinerary I found on Orbitz last month on either continental.com or united.com. And they're already part of same company! I had to book on Orbitz for that.

kybourbon

I don't think Delta's website lets you choose to search airlines outside of Skyteam. It barely shows their Skyteam partners.

>>>I was suprised becaseu I thought it was always possible to 'replicate' an Orbitz result by going to the relevant airlines web site.<<<

Most airlines only show their own alliances.

TxTravelPro

The 'split' ticket scenario is pretty common in corporate travel... or when you are connecting to an airline that is not a codeshare partner. It happens.
But I agree with everyone.
For anyone reading this that has not bought the ticket yet... book direct!