Can I take multiple airlines to get to my final destination? To do so, could an agent at any gate for the 2nd airline assist me so I don’t have to leave the secure area? Otherwise, I imagine the only other choice is to leave the secure area, go back to ticketing (at the front of the airport) to get a boarding pass and re-enter through security?
If you have experience doing this, how does it work? Thanks!
You can check in and get your boarding pass at the gate. Better yet, use online checkin before you even get there and go straight to your gate.
Remember that if you do this, and the first flight is delayed or suffers some other problem, you’re not going to get any help from airline #1 in rebooking your second flight.
It’s not uncommon if you book thru, say, Travelocity.
Yes, this is fairly common. You usually don’t have to leave the secure area. You will probably have to switch terminals which sometimes involves waiting for a bus or a long walk. You usually receive boarding passes for all your flights at checkin but then sometimes have to trade in the boarding pass at the gate for a new one. If you don’t receive all your boarding passes for your flights at checkin (usual for international travel) then you will have to locate the transfer desk for your connecting airline somewhere in the terminal.
At Logan airport (Boston) you will have to leave the secure area and go back through security if you are changing terminals. If the two airlines use the same terminal you probably won’t have to go through security again, though there are a couple of exceptions.
If you take a route through Heathrow, and book it with the airline. Even if the second leg is with another line you will not see your checked luggage. You will however, have to pass through immigration at your arrival terminal and security at the departure.
If you book the two flights separately you will have to schlep your own checked luggage through customs and then to check in at the other terminal. You will also have to make your own arrangements if your first flight is delayed and you miss the second.
It is possible that at smaller airports with only one terminal, you could transfer from one plane to another and stay airside. I don’t know if that ever happens.
Book each leg separately.
Get and use the phone apps from each airline to do your check ins.
Profit.
Kayak will book this for you. They call it a “hacker fare.” You may or may not have to go through security twice; it all depends on the layout of the middle airport.
I’m assuming that this isn’t possible with luggage, unless you want to leave the secure area, claim your luggage, and recheck it.
Sometimes you’ll end up doing this even if you book directly through an airline. It’s fairly common for airlines to book passengers on other airlines’ flights (per preexisting agreements), or even for one airline’s entire plane to exist as another airline’s flight for whatever reason. Presumably if one airline finds it has too many planes for not enough demand, they’ll make up some of the difference by loaning their planes to other airlines to use for some sort of compensation.
You can do it, but if you get two separate tickets, neither airline is responsible for getting you from your origin to your destination.
First make sure the second airline has a generous policy about passengers who show up late. If you have two separate tickets, failing to make your “connection” is the same as if you overslept or got stuck in traffic. Some airlines will be helpful in that situation and some will keep your money and tell you to buy a last-minute fare on the next flight.
Out of curiosity, I fly Southwest without exception. How nice are they as far as “overslept” or “stuck in traffic” situations assuming you bought the Wanna Get Away fares?
Since you can cancel until 10 minutes before, getting stuck in traffic wouldn’t be as dire of a problem assuming you had a way to contact them. If you go past the 10 minutes, though, it sounds like you’re just SOL.
It depends how the tickets are booked. If they were booked separately, then you’re right. But it’s possible, and quite common, for multiple airline itineraries to be booked as one ticket, on Expedia or Orbitz, etc., or even from an airline itself (if they don’t fly to the destination themselves). In that case if the first leg is delayed, then whoever sold you the ticket is responsible for getting you to your destination.
To expand on my last post, it depends. If booked as two separate tickets, you might need to go back to ticketing (but often not). If booked as a single ticket, you almost always can get all your boarding passes issued at once, and your bags transferred automatically all the way to your destination.
You mention in a later post that you fly Southwest all the time. Southwest doesn’t have interline agreements with any other airline, except Airtran. Consequently, you can’t book a joint ticket or have your luggage transferred to any other airline. They are off in a world to themselves.
But most of the world’s airlines do have interline agreements. You can book a flight on Aeroflot connecting to Luthansa connecting to Delta (it probably won’t be cheap) on a single reservation and board a plane in Moscow and have your luggage travel all the way to Salt Lake City without reclaiming and rechecking it.
And you will also only pay one luggage fee, if applicable.
People like to book their own travel online thinking they save money and that is fine. But if they don’t know all the options they can screw themselves. Going to two different airline sites and making separate reservations for one long trip is one way they screw themselves.
I remember one traveler who proudly posted on another board that he booked a flight on Southwest into Chicago Midway airport and then separately booked an international flight out of Chicago O’Hare not to save on airfare, but to save on baggage fees. He had to take two airlines but would only pay one baggage fee! Well, not only did he introduce the complication of schlepping his baggage across Chicago and running the risk of missing his flight, he also didn’t save on baggage. He could have taken an airline to O’Hare, had his baggage automatically transferred, and been protected if he was late for his connection.
There is a difference between “secure area” and “customs and immigration”, Even though a person changing flights does not have to go through immigration, you may have to go through security again, to enter the departure gate for your second flight.
There are so many subtleties to your question that I’ll just try to comment on a few basics. A more specific itinerary might help us be more specific. For example, international flights are a whole other can of worms and highly dependent on which airport/country/airline…
Ticketing:
You are free to book single legs and combine them as you see fit. Be aware that airlines have some flexibility in deciding how to honor missed flights. If both hops are Delta and the second is missed due to weather delays from the first, Delta will rebook you–sometimes even on a different airline (and certainly so if the first is missed due to mechanical issues). But for two separate flights, you are at the mercy of the second airline if you miss their flight.
Most airline sites, as well as independent sites, have multi-city options and options to use several airlines. A multi-hop, multi-airline ticket will be combined into a single itinerary in that case, which may give a small advantage if a given leg is missed.
Boarding pass:
You generally only need the first one that gets you through security. You can get all the rest at the gates by presenting ID. Options for boarding passes include printing them out (always a nice backup); airport kiosks; airport ticketing desks and mobile phones. There are lots of fine points here, but you don’t need all passes in hand before you start.
Luggage:
If you have checked baggage, you’ll need boarding passes to your final destination and upon showing those (assuming you didn’t book the whole sequence as a final itinerary) you can often get your bags checked through to your final destination. With multiple airlines, it’s a pretty big PIA if a leg gets missed or luggage gets lost. It’s a bigger PIA to get your luggage between flights and re enter security, especially in the case of larger airports and international flights.
Security:
Highly dependent on the airports. Some (OHare Chicago domestic) let you freely travel among all gates once you are inside any given security clearance. Others (Reagan DC) have shuttle services inside security between terminals and security at each terminal. But beware the shuttle schedules or you have to back through security. Others (Orlando) have different security for different airlines so you have to know if your particular combo is going to take you outside security.
Security for the occasional flyer can be a royal royal royal PIA. Just a side editorial.