Transferring in LAX using separate tickets

[Travel Mum]

As many of you know, I'm hoping to get two QF FF tickets from Wellington to Orlando for two in our family. However, I'm very frustrated because the Qantas flight from Auckland gets in at 6.30 am and, at the time of the year we are going, the only direct AA flight from L.A. to Orlando departs at 8.25 am - 5 minutes under the legal connecting time So, if we stick to the plan to use FF points all the way through to Orlando, we will need to fly AA via Dallas which adds a lot of travelling time. We'd leave L.A. at 10.40 am, arrive Dallas 3.50 pm, depart Dallas 5 pm and arrive Orlando 8.35 pm so 6 hours, 55 minutes from L.A. to Orlando. Not even counting the travelling time from Wellington to Auckland, that would be 23.30 hours from Auckland to Orlando - those domestic U.S. flights sound hideous when travelling with tired children who will just want to sleep by then!

So, now I'm wondering if it would be better for us to just use FF to L.A. and then buy separate tickets on a direct carrier to Orlando. I see there is a Delta flight departing at 10.20 am and a United one departing at 10.40 am - both flights are under 5 hours. However, I'm not sure how it would be travelling on separate tickets and I wonder if anyone else has done it? I've only ever travelled on through tickets which give nice peace of mind

Any advise or shared experiences will be much appreciated

 

[PrincessInOz]

I've did exactly that in May. I purchased tix to LAX; one of which was a FF with Qantas. I then purchased tix on an AA direct to Orlando. The only difference was that I stopped in LA/Long Beach for 2 nights before travelling on to Orlando.
It just means having two complete sets of e-tickets to carry around. But you're not likely to lose any of them, right?

You would need to collect your checked luggage, clear customs in LAX, transfer across to the AA terminal (I don't think they are in the same building as the International terminal) and then re-check in your bags at the AA end. If it is possible for you to do on-line check-in with AA before you leave, then all you'd need to do is check in your luggage.

 

[hjd0411]

Exactly as PrincessinOz has said, you would be fine with the 2 etickets on different carriers. I have done similar trips before and had no trouble at all. You would collect your luggage in LAX and then transfer to whichever terminal you need to go to from Tom Bradley International terminal. AA is in terminal 4, right next door. I can't remember which terminal Delta leaves from, but it is still an easy walk from one terminal to the next.
Have you considered stopping overnight in LA before flying to MCO? I wonder if that would help with tired kids? It certainly helps with tired adults..!!! I just like being able to have a shower and sleep in a proper bed after that trans Pacific flight! (I'm not a good flyer - I hate sitting around cooped up!! ) That way you could still get the AA direct flight the following day using your FF points, and you would arrive in Orlando much more refreshed.
Good luck with your planning!

 

[Jade+3]

The problem I see with booking 2 separate tickets, is that if Qantas is delayed and you miss the connecting flight, you will be a no-show and probably need to buy a new ticket. Its not like you can ring Delta from the plane and tell them you will be late and ask to change to another flight. Personally, I would stay overnight in LA (but don't get the red eye like we did!).

 

[Travel Mum]

Thanks everyone for your input. I agree Jade that I'm a bit uncomfortable about the risk but I guess, if it was delayed leaving Auckland, I could possibly call the other airline, before we took off, and re-book however, if delayed in the air, I'd have no luck. I guess though, if I booked a 10 am departure from L.A., and QF is scheduled to arrive at 6.30 am, that gives us about 1.5 hours up our sleeves for a delay. I think more planes are delayed by that length of time before departure rather than once they are in the air?

We plan to depart 29 September and we have to get to WDW by that date to check in as that's the last day of free dining. We could go the day before and overnight in L.A. but, with the plane getting in at 6.30 am, it seems to make sense to keep going. If it arrived in the afternoon to L.A., like Air NZ does, it would make more sense to me to overnight and fly out the next morning. With regard to QF FF tickets all the way through to Orlando, it seems to cost more points if you break the trip with an overnight in L.A. and I'm not sure we would have enough - will do the sums though

Princess in Oz, on your May trip, even though you stayed two days in L.A. on the way over, did you stop there on the way back too? Or did you connect straight through? If you connnected straight through, how did it go being on separate tickets?

Hmmm, must talk to my travel insurance company too as I'd like to know a bit more about that "missed connection" part of the cover!

 

[Jade+3]

I was wondering if it would cost more FF to break your journey. The other thing to consider is changes in airline schedules. That could really throw your plans out the window (full of gloom today aren't I!!). From my airline days, if there was a schedule change and the itinerary was booked on the one ticket we could change the connecting flights to something more suitable. If the connecting flight was ticketed separately, or on another airline there was no obligation to make the change, and the fare rules of the booking applied.

If you do decide to overnight in LA, you will probably need to book the hotel room from the night before. We arrived at 7am and could not check in until 3pm.

 

[Travel Mum]

I was wondering if it would cost more FF to break your journey. The other thing to consider is changes in airline schedules. That could really throw your plans out the window (full of gloom today aren't I!!). From my airline days, if there was a schedule change and the itinerary was booked on the one ticket we could change the connecting flights to something more suitable. If the connecting flight was ticketed separately, or on another airline there was no obligation to make the change, and the fare rules of the booking applied.

Yes, that's another very good point Jade. I too am a former airline employee (QF actually!) so should have thought about that. The risk of schedule changes is particularly higher for us because I'll be booking the flights so far in advance. I don't expect QF will change theirs as it's been like this for ages now and also the flight connects with the QF flight to NYC as it's the same aircraft. However the domestic U.S. carrier might easily change theirs

If you do decide to overnight in LA, you will probably need to book the hotel room from the night before. We arrived at 7am and could not check in until 3pm.

Another good point and very true but yikes, that's two rooms (family-of-five) for two nights for us - would certainly hike up the budget

 

[Jade+3]

What about getting a day room at an airport hotel, then catching the red eye. That would be cheaper and you wouldn't have to worry about schedule changes. I know I said the red eye was awful, but my kids were only 4, 3 and a baby.

I have no idea how you go about getting a day room though.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Princess in Oz, on your May trip, even though you stayed two days in L.A. on the way over, did you stop there on the way back too? Or did you connect straight through? If you connnected straight through, how did it go being on separate tickets?

I'm risk adverse. So, I stopped over for 3 nights on the way home. I have an aunt in the San Diego area that I can stay with and I love catching up with her. This way, I can rest easy, do last days shopping and not feel stressed about having to make connections.

 

[DVCAustralia]

Whatever you do keep going, by the time you get to the room in Orlando it should be after check-in time and you can dump everything at a more appropriate time (including yourself ). Then the next day you can be awake the whole day, even if it is only shopping and relaxing by the pool rather than a park, and be time-adjusted for the parks from then on (hopefully).
As far as the ticket another problem with splitting is that you will lose your baggage allowance with most carriers. Despite this I do not recommend the alternative on offer, maybe try to get an exemption from a manager for the five minutes or see if SF is an option.

 

[emilyd]

As many of you know, I'm hoping to get two QF FF tickets from Wellington to Orlando for two in our family. However, I'm very frustrated because the Qantas flight from Auckland gets in at 6.30 am and, at the time of the year we are going, the only direct AA flight from L.A. to Orlando departs at 8.25 am - 5 minutes under the legal connecting time So, if we stick to the plan to use FF points all the way through to Orlando, we will need to fly AA via Dallas which adds a lot of travelling time. We'd leave L.A. at 10.40 am, arrive Dallas 3.50 pm, depart Dallas 5 pm and arrive Orlando 8.35 pm so 6 hours, 55 minutes from L.A. to Orlando. Not even counting the travelling time from Wellington to Auckland, that would be 23.30 hours from Auckland to Orlando - those domestic U.S. flights sound hideous when travelling with tired children who will just want to sleep by then!

So, now I'm wondering if it would be better for us to just use FF to L.A. and then buy separate tickets on a direct carrier to Orlando. I see there is a Delta flight departing at 10.20 am and a United one departing at 10.40 am - both flights are under 5 hours. However, I'm not sure how it would be travelling on separate tickets and I wonder if anyone else has done it? I've only ever travelled on through tickets which give nice peace of mind

Any advise or shared experiences will be much appreciated

We are doing the la 2 hour layover(Jan) now, as booked on the 10.40 united flight but now they have cancelled that service and put us on a connection flight giving us 2 hours layover.

 

[Travel Mum]

We are doing the la 2 hour layover(Jan) now, as booked on the 10.40 united flight but now they have cancelled that service and put us on a connection flight giving us 2 hours layover.

So, are you booked on a through ticket to Orlando?

 

[cola]

One other thing to consider with having different tickets, you MIGHT get charged for checked in luggage on the internal flights. The rules on most of the airlines are if the itinerary originated or finishes outside of USA, no baggage fees are charged. Different tickets mean different itineraries, though there seem to be quite a few understanding people that treat it like it is all one itinerary, though I've had friends that got hit with the baggage charge. This could be of particular impact on the internal flight back (shopping anyone?)

The last trip I did, we had 65min between landing in LAX and leaving for Orlando via Chicago, it felt a bit rushed, but not as bad as previous years. The electronic passports are really beginning to make a difference now. When we landed in Sydney, it was through immigration and out through customs in 20mins, and most of that was waiting for the baggage

 

[Travel Mum]

One other thing to consider with having different tickets, you MIGHT get charged for checked in luggage on the internal flights. The rules on most of the airlines are if the itinerary originated or finishes outside of USA, no baggage fees are charged. Different tickets mean different itineraries, though there seem to be quite a few understanding people that treat it like it is all one itinerary, though I've had friends that got hit with the baggage charge. This could be of particular impact on the internal flight back (shopping anyone?)

True, that would stink if they didn't acknowledge our international baggage allowance!

The last trip I did, we had 65min between landing in LAX and leaving for Orlando via Chicago, it felt a bit rushed, but not as bad as previous years. The electronic passports are really beginning to make a difference now. When we landed in Sydney, it was through immigration and out through customs in 20mins, and most of that was waiting for the baggage

Wow, a 65 minute connection! Were you on a through ticket and the connection was that short because the first flight got in late? Or were you on separate tickets?

Oh, I love what we call here in N.Z. "Smart gate" It is so fantastic and totally does away with an immigration queue. We arrived into Auckland from Fiji last week and were carrying hand luggage only so it took about 10 minutes for us to get from the plane (we do walk fast mind you ) through Smartgate and, because we had no bags to wait for, out through customs and landside. Brilliant! However, we could only do it because it was just DH and I as children can't go through Smartgate

 

[PrincessInOz]

That's a good point Cola makes about baggage charges. And I suspect this will come down to the different carriers and individuals behind the counter.

In May, I had anticipated that I would be charged for the internal flights.

However, because I was flying AA internally and QF for the international flights, the AA counter actually waived the baggage fees for me both ways LAX to MCO (they noticed that we still had the MEL bag tags on) and from MCO to LAX. I guess the partner airline thing must count for something.

On the way back, we checked in at the counter; rather than using the ME check-through service. We showed our Australian passports for id and the agent asked when we were returning home (3 days later). All we had to do was show our MEL to LAX boarding pass AND the itinerary/e-ticket for the homeward leg and the fee got waived.

 

[cola]

Wow, a 65 minute connection! Were you on a through ticket and the connection was that short because the first flight got in late? Or were you on separate tickets?

It was a United through flight number, but plane change. When I found the tickets online, I even phoned United to make sure that it was OK with that short a change over and they said yes, I also checked on the 55min change over in Chicago and they said that was not a problem, turned out the gates were as far apart as you could get for 2 United flights, it would've been OK, if the flight hadn't been delayed in LA for 45min, but that's another story..... Let's just say that there were a lot of Australians staying at the Crowne Plaza Chicago Airport that night as guests of United.

 

[Travel Mum]

Let's just say that there were a lot of Australians staying at the Crowne Plaza Chicago Airport that night as guests of United.

That's a real shame that that happened but at least, since you were on a through ticket, the airline had to take responsibility.

I would prefer to go straight through to Orlando on the same day and even though we will arrive exhausted, we can crash into the beds at POR and then have a cruisy non-park day the next day in case we all sleep in. So, now I'm thinking that we might just have to take those awful AA flights via Dallas so that we can be on a through fare.

 

[emilyd]

So, are you booked on a through ticket to Orlando?

yeah QF to la and than on United(not a oneworld parntner) to MCO.We with united as they had a 10.40 flight out of lax and gave us a 4 hour layover in lax.But now they have cancelled that service and put us on the connection with a 2 hour layover so might be a bit rushed if qf flight is late.

 

[Travel Mum]

yeah QF to la and than on United(not a oneworld parntner) to MCO.We with united as they had a 10.40 flight out of lax and gave us a 4 hour layover in lax.But now they have cancelled that service and put us on the connection with a 2 hour layover so might be a bit rushed if qf flight is late.

Well Emily, that's a good lesson to me as to why I should be on a through ticket. For our 3 revenue tickets, I could (and would for the direct flight) book United for the U.S. sectors but for our 2 QF FF tickets, we have to stick with AA

 

[platypus67]

I don't think I've travelled on a through ticket for many years. We generally fly Qantas to LA and then use our seperate FF tickets to our destination. As we are using Qantas FF points we always use AA but they are always seperate tickets that I've booked online. I know that Qantas has never linked our tickets so we make sure when we leave Australia we give them our final destination. I've never had any problem thus far. Last year we had paid tickets to LA and then FF tickets on AA to Toronto. We got everything tagged to Toronto on departure. Cleared customs on arrival, picked up our bags and put them on the transfer conveyor. We then changed terminals to catch our AA international flight to Canada. I've never flown with Delta so maybe it is different as we are using a partner airline. I have seperate tickets again for this upcoming trip, but once again I'm flying AA from LA to Orlando. I just made sure I had a legal connection time between the flights I booked.