Morning_Giggle

Hi Travelgourmet -- thank you for your advice on my previous thread. Hoping you and others can steer me right here.

I called my Alaska mileage partner desk to see about going from Pdx to Rome. As they didn't have a direct flight on my dates, they reserved me a RT from PDX to Amsterdam on NW (using Alaska mileage.) The Alaska partner desk advised me to simply buy a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Rome to make the connection. So far so good.

But when I phoned NW/KLM, the agent told me it would be a big mistake to buy the second leg separately, because if the NW flight was late and I missed the second leg flight I'd purchased, they wouldn't reschedule me on a later flight. I would simply have forfieted the purchased Amsterdam-Rome leg.

I'm not quite sure what to do here. I could arrange a long layover, but even then there's a chance my NW flight would be delayed enough to miss the connection, in which case I'd be out the price of the ticket and possibly stuck in Amsterdam.

All advice welcome, thanks!

LoveItaly

Hello Morning, perhaps I do not understand, but why not reserve your flight through NWA/KLM from PDX to Rome? One ticket would assure you that if your NWA flight was late arriving in Amsterdam you will still be entitled to get the next available flight to Rome.

Morning_Giggle

Hi LoveItaly,

Sorry, I explained this convolutedly (if that's a word!

I used mileage for my PDX-Amsterdam round trip, with the plan of purchasing the Amsterdam-Rome leg.

My mileage plan people (Alaska) didn't have any PDX-Rome flights available, and suggested this plan instead.

janisj

If you are stuck w/ this - I'd personally plan a night in Amsterdam and fly to Rome the next morning.

Gardyloo

Assuming you're trying for an award for the longhaul and a purchased ticket for the shorthaul, right? If so, then the separate ticket is your only alternative.

Your choices are (a) allow a comfortably long layover to minimize the risk; (b) buy the shorthaul ticket in a refundable or changeable fare class (the NW phone person can help with this,) (c) buy travel insurance for "trip interruption," or (d) take the train.

Alaska's mileage plan doesn't allow you to use multiple carriers on overseas itineraries. I'd phone back and see if they could get you on a partner that can get you all the way to Rome. They have plenty of partners.

WillTravel

I agree with Janis. The agent has already made it clear to you what will happen if something goes haywire.

travelgourmet

Not sure what to say:

1) I'm surprised that KLM is taking such a hard line, but they don't have the best reputation for customer service. I'm not certain that, if push comes to shove, they might not be more accomadating, but since they say they won't protect you, I would take them at their word. There is a joke that the standard answer from KLM is "that is not possible."

2) One option is to look at trip insurance. There is an AMEX policy that looks like it would cover you. But, be sure to call them and get some sort of confirmation that you would be covered.

3) As others have suggested, you could add some time into your itinerary for connections. And bear in mind that international flights are not as subject to delays as domestic flights. The Seattle to Amsterdam flight on NW, for instance, runs on-time over 80% of the time and the average delay is only 18 minutes. Given this, and given how easy Amsterdam is to connect at, I would personally feel pretty darn comfortable with anything over a 3-4 hour connection time.

The 4:45 Alitalia/KLM codeshare would give you almost 6 hours to make the connection, which is a lot, in my book, and should cover pretty much any normal delays or snafus. Unfortunately, there aren't that many more options, as the next earlier flight gives you only 2:30 hours. On the bright side, Schiphol is so nice and convenient that you will not want for things to do while there.

For the return, it looks like staying overnight in Amsterdam might be a good idea anyway, as you would have to leave Rome very early to make your connection, even if you were protected. Personally, I hate getting up at 5am to catch a flight, and there is a 9pm departure on the 12th, should you want to maximize your Rome time.

4) The other option is to just buy the ticket outright. It looks like you could still get your ticket in the $1100-range. Since you are buying a $300 or so ticket from AMS to Rome, the incremental cost is still around $800, which I think is quite fair, considering that it saves you 50k miles, plus earns you an additional 10k miles. To me, 60k miles is a lot for an $800 ticket.

I guess it comes down to how risk-averse you are. All I can say is that I have done separate tickets before and never had a problem. I would do them again. Indeed, just this past November, I bought a ticket from Cairo to Milan to Amsterdam, and connected to a separate ticket/separate carrier from Amsterdam to Newark. I've also done an Aruba to Miami to Milan to Copenhagen using separate tickets/carriers, within the past year.

Maybe I would take out travel insurance, but I've also done it without travel insurance. And, maybe I've been lucky, but this comes back to how risk-averse you are.

Morning_Giggle

Thank you all very much.

Janis, you're right -- spending the night in Amsterdam may be a good choice. I'd rather have a night in a hotel than a long wait in Schiphol, even though it's a nice place with a cool mini-museum as I remember.

Gardyloo (great name I usually use Alaska miles for a flight that changes in the States (BA through Seattle, NW through Detroit, etc) and it's always dead exhausting. I was thrilled to find that NW flies direct from PDX to Amsterdam -- hence this choice. (I'd love to take the train if I had more time.)

WillTravel, yes -- I don't like to assume KLM will come through in case of emergency, after what the agent said. (sigh.)

Gourmet, thank you again for your (as always) great input. I will consider buying a straight-through ticket too. (I'm going to have to sit down and THINK carefully this weekend. I was planning to stay overnight in Amsterdam on the way back, because as you pointed out, I'd have to fly out of Rome in the Middle of the Night to make the connection back.

So I guess my options are an overnight in Amsterdam both ways, buying a ticket straight through, or holding my breath and Taking a Chance (with or without insurance.)

Thank you again so much -- it's great to have this kind of support and input! I'm off to have a good THINK.

Morning_Giggle

TG and other helpers, I wanted to report back an interesting piece of good news. I phoned NW again, and the agent I spoke to THIS time told me there was absolutely no problem with putting me on a later KLM flight in the unlikely event of my missing the connection! She even gave me her name with the assurances. So, I booked the KLM flight leaving 2 and a half hours after my arrival in Amsterdam.

I guess I learned the old travel lesson again -- call back!

Thank you again so much for all your help.

alanRow

Main risk is that if you miss a flight then it's your problem, not the airline's.

So you'll have to cough up for a new ticket on the next flight.

And insurance may not cover you for missed flights if they decide you were unreasonable in your connection times

friendindelhi

A quick question: if you do get two separate legs, do you have to check-in for the second flight separately? Or can you (and bags) be checked in through to the final destination?

rkkwan

Bags can be checked through. Boarding passes will depend - sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes you can check-in online and get all your BPs printed prior.

WillTravel

I have travel insurance that requires four hours scheduled time between unrelated flights at the same airport.

I think you will probably be fine, but my concern is that the second agent you talked to will not be the one who wins out in the end, should there be a problem. Neither of those agents will be on the ground, so to speak, at Schiphol.

travelgourmet

<i>Boarding passes will depend - sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes you can check-in online and get all your BPs printed prior.</i>

Fortunately, even if you can't get all of your BPs at the same time, the transfer desks at AMS are pretty efficient and it isn't much of a hassle at all to get your boarding pass there.

Morning_Giggle

Just an update: it worked out fine. NW wouldn't check me through in Portland, but we got to AMS in plenty of time, I checked into the AMS/Rome flight at a machine, then got a better seat at the gate.

Going back, the KLM rep in Rome checked me in all the way through to Portland.

Thank you for reassurances, Travelgourmet. As you said, the NW Airbus 330 was a treat, and the flight both ways a breeze!

clarasong

Why would anyone buy 'legs' separately, when you can get a 'twofer' price just by being born...well most of us, anyway. And some of the male persuasion think they got three.

Gardyloo

Just as a cautionary tale, I had an award that went Tokyo - Vancouver (stopover) - London, with the YVR-LHR leg last week. I booked a separate connecting flight from Seattle to YVR on Alaska (cheaper than train plus taxis) and allowed myself 3.5 hours leeway at YVR for an international - to - international connection that should take 30 min.

Oops, Alaska flight goes mechanical so we have to wait for a diverted aircraft from Victoria to get to SEA, offload people into customs, get new crew and load pax, blah blah...

Net result I arrive with 40 min. to spare to the scheduled BA departure, and the transit kiosk in the YVR passport hall is closed. So I have to wait through the queue to passport and customs, and get upstairs (to go through security again) in time to freak out the BA counter person who is closing up shop, who (bless her) first scans my bag tag to make sure the bag has made it (yes) then tells me to &quot;walk briskly&quot; to the gate, where I arrive just as standbys are being called. Pant, pant... it takes a couple of G&amp;Ts (provided by the nice upper deck people on the 744) to get the old heart rate down.

dorkforcemom

I'm doing a similar scenario next month. I'm using anytime ff miles on AA from DFW-FCO for business class seats. On the return, there aren't seats available for the FCO-DFW flight, so - I have to purchase one way tickets on BA to LHR, then utilize my anytime ff business seats from LHR to DFW.

What if my BA flight from FCO to LHR is cancelled? I'm in a bind. They can't &quot;combine&quot; the 2 portions onto one ticket and I'm taking a gamble. I guess I'm willing to try for the return portion of the trip. On my last 2 trips to Rome, I've had flights cancelled putting me much later arriving while involving changing airports, airlines, etc. I'm rolling the dice that this time, it'll go swimmingly!

MomDDTravel

I am doing this with dh's flight. He is flying business class on miles to LHR and then taking a B.A. flight to Rome. I have to ticket it still and hope that because it is AA and British Airways they will check him through. He does not deal with this stuff well.