This is a new one for me- would you do this?

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Everytime we've ever flown anywhere- we always fly with the same airline on the way there, and on the way back. And we prefer nonstop. I have flown with connections before when on solo trips and it never works out well, can't imagine how bad it could be with 3 kids! So nonstop is the only way we will fly.

Well for our dates for our upcoming 2 days WDW+ 7 days cruise, it comes out (on travelocity- haven't compared elsewhere just yet) to $50 less (pp, which equals quite a savings- $250 since we're a family of 5) if we fly there on Delta, back on Airtran airways. I haven't flown delta in a long time (since we fly out of DFW)- have mostly flown AA the past few years anyway.

So is that something that is not uncommon? Does it make the risk higher of any delays or problems to fly there with one airline, back with another?

 

[bavaria]

If I understand correctly, you are asking about purchasing two one way tickets on two different airlines, correct?

If so, this is perfectly doable. I fly one way all the time, and sometimes my carrier doesn't fly into a destination, so I may be on United and then leave on Northwest, etc.

For a long time one way purchases were more susceptable to the dreaded SSS on the boarding card, which indicated that you were selected for secondary screening.

Now this has become more random, and one way tickets don't necessarily prompt extra screening.

 

[Piecey]

Okay, when I worked for Expedia- I encountered this a lot.

I can't say if the same problems occur through reservations through Travelocity (but I would assume they do.)

Whenever an itinerary was booked like that- only one airline can actually own the ticket. Let's say that you buy these flights and Delta owns the ticket- if Airtran were to cancel their flight, you'd have a heck of a time arguing with them (depending on how nice of an agent you get, anyway! I had my ups and downs dealing with airline agents as an Expedia agent) Because they don't own the ticket, it's not their problem that you have no flight. Delta will give you the runaround because it's an AirTran flight.

I was never trained in AirTran Ticketless flights, but If i remember correctly AirTran doesn't allow ticketless flights with multiple carriers- so you'd have paper tickets which is gonna add about $50 or so to the final cost of the flights..

Hope this isn't confusing you!

 

[goofy4tink]

I just flew Delta/Song into MCO from Boston in late Nov. Then, flew JetBlue back. I had no issues whatsoever. I would do it again if I got to save some money!

 

[alecam]

For my upcoming trip in March, I am flying Southwest to Orlando and Song back. I know alot of people here do this often, and that is why I booked it like that. As long as they are two seperate one way trips, you should be fine!!

 

[antmaril]

We did this last year in February. We flew from Detroit to Orlando on Southwest Airlines and returned to Detroit on Spirit Air. We had no problems at all. I was prepared for extra scutiny at security, but it didn't happen.

I would not hesitate if you can save significant $$.

 

[seashoreCM]

The incentive to book a round trip has been a lower fare compared with two one way tickets.

If you can get a lower fare with two one way tickets, by all means go for it.

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Well actually I was just looking up bookings (haven't actually DONE it yet) thru travelocity and I have no idea if they were counting those as 2 one way tickets or not. They gave the options to choose for incoming (to MCO) flight and the time we preferred was flying on Delta, and then they let you choose the departure (back to DFW) flight and the time we preferred was with Airtran (and saved $50 off the only time we could fly back with Delta since it's either super early in the morning- and the one evening flight back with Delta is $50 more pp -the total ticket price- they aren't listing the prices seperately for each leg).

So now I'm confused. If I were to book it like that with them- it's seperate one way tickets? And you REALLY have me scared, Piecey. That doesn't seem right that you pay for a round trip ticket but the ticket (purchased on travelocity, which is a lot like expedia but ofcourse a different company) has you going Delta to MCO and Airtran back... they can just leave you without a flight back if Airtran cancelled? You paid for round trip- not just one oneway ticket to MCO!

ack
(when it tells you the total- it says like $256 round trip per person/round trip price- it doesn't say they are one way tickets for each leg of the trip???)

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Okay this is really weird.Perhaps it has to do with not many flights (at all) that are Delta flying out of DFW and none flying back in?

When I got to expedia and put in my dates/people- it shows a listing of times/flights/prices. All the $256 prices include AA, Delta, etc. When I choose AA as the first leg of the flight- then the next page DOES NOT SHOW any Airtran flights and all the times for $256 to come BACK to DFW- are early in the morning and can't be done because we're coming back after a cruise and wouldn't be able to make those times. The evening times with AA are WAY more expensive (like $381 pp!) It bumps the price of each ticket to come back on a flight that we can actually make after the cruise.

so then I'm going back and trying a similiar leaving flight with Delta for $256- and the next page (for departure/flight back home) it's showing all these Airtran flights and AA- NO DELTA flights back! All the flights back are the same price and either Airtran or AA... no delta times at all. So there are NO flights from MCO to DFW on Sat 3rd? Does that mean it's all booked or does that mean Delta doesn't fly back in to DFW on that day? I do think I heard something awhile back about Delta not flying at DFW AT ALL anymore, so honestly I was surprised to see the option of flying out with them..

ALL the options (either airtran or AA) are either very early in the morning- or late at night. One is 8:30pm with airtran, the other is 8:50pm with AA but with AA time/flight the price is up to $261 pp. Not a huge difference in price but gosh i wish we had a flight coming from MCO to DFW somewhere in the MIDDLE of the day. what is up with choices being 6 or 7am-ish or almost 9pm and that's it? *sigh*

So what would you do? Pay the little bit more and go back on AA? Pay a WHOLE lot more and go with AA both legs of the trip (and explain to me why if I click to LEAVE DFW with AA, then the return flights show AA as costing way more to leave anytime but early morning- but if I click to leave DFW on a Delta flight- then all the sudden AA late night flights only cost $6 more? It doesn't make sense... that flight is available- but that AA flight at that price for return flight is only available if you made the first trip with Delta? So what is that about? Doing this on travelocity is really doing them one way trips and that's the discrepency of availablity of AA return flight depending on who I'm flying there with? There's a one way AA flight that i can use as my return, but when I book to GO THERE with AA, travelocity is making it a round trip and the only roundtrip return flight with AA costs a whole lot more? I can't make sense of all that).

I just wanted to go the cheapest way with times that were POSSIBLE (even if not desirable- because 8:30pm return flight really isn't our preferred time, but we can't make 5-7am when we're on the cruise!)- but I didn't know that it would make them 2 one way trips and there'd be a chance we'd just be out the money for the return flight if it was cancelled! I can't imagine how much a flight booked with whomever we could get, there at the airport on June 3rd, would cost for 5 people if we booked Delta/Airtran and Airtran cancelled and left us with no way back!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

To add more info- on the Delta flight out of DFW it actually says:
Delta Air LinesFlight6413operated by Chautauqua Airlines
EMBRAER RJ135/145
- view flight details


And it shows the seating- it's a TINY plan with only 2 seats/aisle/ONE SEAT and only 3 seats are taken so far- the rest are all available. What does that mean? I've never flown on a tiny plane like that and if only 3 people and us 5 book this flight- will it still fly at that time??? LOL I can't imagine them flying only 8 people???

So apparently it's not really Delta flying out (I guess it's really Chautauqua Airlines) and that's why there are NO delta flights coming back in- have to use airtran or AA?

Gosh I'd really rather pay $256 roundtrip than $381 (or more) roundtrip.

(can I just say that signing up with farewatcher was stupid of me- considering they add the disclaimer that fares shown (ie: emailed to you) may not be available for booking? Why would I want to be emailed fares that aren't available for booking? LOL)

 

[kaytieeldr]

I would try sidestep.com or kayak.com
To the best of my knowledge, neither site charges any type of service charge, they just provide information (and expect you to link to the best-price site from there, which is how they make money [and yes, I know kayak.com isn't making money yet ])

 

[Piecey]

I'm not trying to scare you- just telling you what I encountered.

I spent four hours on the phone with someone one day trying to straighten out a mess between Delta and I don't remember who else. The other airline cancelled their flight, Delta owned the customer's ticket and wouldn't do a durn thing to help the customer because it wasn't their problem. I kept calling and calling and calling and kept getting different stories- eventually I had a Delta agent, me (the Expedia agent), the customer and an agent from the other airline on the phone and they STILL wouldn't help after the other airline agent said that they'd cancelled the flight and it was Delta's responsibility to rebook the customer- because Delta owned the ticket.
You may fly with no problems, but I thought I'd let you know..

I really wasn't trained in AirTran ticketless flights (They were complicated and a certain special group of people were trained to take care of them) but if I recall a little bit correctly AirTran has very, very few ticketing agreements with other airlines- so maybe they are two one-way tickets, I just don't know.

 

[puffkin]

Many airlines only book one way tickets, so their is no reason you would be susceptible to extra screenings.

We flew SWA to MCO and Airtran home in December. Not a single problem.

I would try to book directly with the airlines than through travelocity or other such sites. I usually get better prices and times and don't run into a lot of problems. I use the travel sites to get a basic idea of what the the various airlines are offering, and then book directly through the airlines website. You will almost always be able to get a cheaper flight this way.

 

[DebbieB]

To add more info- on the Delta flight out of DFW it actually says:
Delta Air LinesFlight6413operated by Chautauqua Airlines
EMBRAER RJ135/145
- view flight details


And it shows the seating- it's a TINY plan with only 2 seats/aisle/ONE SEAT and only 3 seats are taken so far- the rest are all available. What does that mean? I've never flown on a tiny plane like that and if only 3 people and us 5 book this flight- will it still fly at that time??? LOL I can't imagine them flying only 8 people???

So apparently it's not really Delta flying out (I guess it's really Chautauqua Airlines) and that's why there are NO delta flights coming back in- have to use airtran or AA?

By your counter, your trip is 4 months away, I'm sure more people will book that flight. RJ's are small but they are jets, I've flown them, they aren't that bad.

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

Many airlines only book one way tickets, so their is no reason you would be susceptible to extra screenings.

We flew SWA to MCO and Airtran home in December. Not a single problem.

I would try to book directly with the airlines than through travelocity or other such sites. I usually get better prices and times and don't run into a lot of problems. I use the travel sites to get a basic idea of what the the various airlines are offering, and then book directly through the airlines website. You will almost always be able to get a cheaper flight this way.

Wow really... I had no idea. I thought that travelocity, expedia and the like were cheaper than just calling the airlines myself! (and I always preferred it because I could spend time checking out all my options of flights/etc. No airline agent wants to go over and over the flight times and prices and sit on the phone with me for hours- only for me to want to think about it for a few days- like I do with online bookings LOL) I had no idea that calling was cheaper than travelocity and such!

 

[Jacksmom99]

Calling the airlines is not necessarily cheaper, booking through their internet sight is. You can find out what airline fly out of your airport by visiting the airlines website. Once there, you can usually find direct links to the airlines. Another caution about using sites like travelocity, is that not all airlines will list with them.