Flight reservation cost weirdness and a layover question

[Lesley Wake]

So, we are finally decided on doing a family trip to France this summer! We're staying in Paris, Amboise, and Bayeux. And I'll tack on some solo days at DLP afterwards!

Checked on airfare via various sites (Kayak, Google Flights) and, as expected, most things are pretty high. Mom doesn't want any sort of budget airline, so Wow, Norwegian, etc are out. It appears the best schedule and cost will be with British Air.

But some craziness with booking:

• Booking a reservation LAX-CDG gives a minimum cost of $1,992, with a layover in London
  
• Booking a reservation LAX-LHR and then LHR-CDG has a cost of $907! For the same flights as the full reservation!

So, anyone see any fault with booking with 2 reservations rather than 1 to save over $1k? At least there are plenty of Paris-London flights, so I'd need to leave enough buffer to account for going thru customs/immigration, grab bags, and then recheck-in the bags. Right now I am looking at flights that would leave a 5-hr buffer; they are all currently scheduled for Terminal 5, so no need to switch buildings. Is that too much? We would have 6 people for the arrival date, though we are all adults. The closest time option would allow for a 3-hr layover on the way there and a 2-hr layover on the way back. British Airways website says to allow 1 hr for connections in the same terminal, but I don't know if that includes consideration for getting our own baggage... If it was just me, I would probably do the reduced time, but I don't want to freak out my mom over it!

 

[Mama Lo]

Hi Lesley,

We have a similar thing with our trip. We are starting our trip with a cruise from Marseille, France. The RT from EWR to Marseille with a layover at CDG was $1900 but to book them separately cost only $950 total. Since both of the flights are on Air France I contacted them to see what their thoughts were. I figured it would be fine because I could have booked the ticket that included the exact same flights. I was told it would be perfectly fine. She even said that I could show them both tickets at check in at EWR and the could link the flights so we could check our bags all the way though.

Oh and we only have 1 hour 45 minutes in between so I think you should be totally fine.

If I remember or if you DM me I will be able to give an update on how it went with any advise to share. I will be back home on April 9th.

Happy Planning!

Lois

 

[Lesley Wake]

Hi Lesley,

We have a similar thing with our trip. We are starting our trip with a cruise from Marseille, France. The RT from EWR to Marseille with a layover at CDG was $1900 but to book them separately cost only $950 total. Since both of the flights are on Air France I contacted them to see what their thoughts were. I figured it would be fine because I could have booked the ticket that included the exact same flights. I was told it would be perfectly fine. She even said that I could show them both tickets at check in at EWR and the could link the flights so we could check our bags all the way though.

Oh and we only have 1 hour 45 minutes in between so I think you should be totally fine.

If I remember or if you DM me I will be able to give an update on how it went with any advise to share. I will be back home on April 9th.

Happy Planning!

Lois

Thanks! I didn't even think about having them link the tickets at baggage. So much easier!

 

[olafLover]

.

 

[SirDuff]

Thanks! I didn't even think about having them link the tickets at baggage. So much easier!

Be careful because, in my experience, many airlines have very strict rules on when they will do this (some don't ever).

I found this on FlyerTalk:

UPDATED FOR 15 NOVEMBER 2016: BA will no longer accept interlining on BA-BA separate tickets / PNRs.

From 1 June 2016, the oneworld policy on accepting customers travelling on separate tickets was changed. BA, along with some other oneworld partners, has implemented this change in policy which is as follows:
Only those customers that have separate tickets issued in the same PNR/booking will be accepted for through check-in. Furthermore all sectors must be BA / oneworld / other carrier, but BA to/fron Vueling is specifically NOT allowed even on the same ticket. Aer Lingus is not specified but some be covered by "other carrier".

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/bri...ough-checking-baggage-separate-tickets-2.html

And this on the BA site:



http://www.speedbirdclub.com/ch/reservations-ticketing/rulesregulations/separatetickets/

So, depending on your exact scenario, you may be okay with the luggage.

I note (per a PP) that is does also say:

They cannot claim any costs associated to their onward flight if the arrival flight is delayed

So, you'd be out money if you had to re-book the second flight because you missed it due to late arrival of the first flight.