Travel · Advice & Questions · Oct 14

Is saving €94 worth a separate-ticket connection before a family wedding?

Travel

People, dialogue, itineraries and prices are fictional.

‘If the first plane is late, surely they put us on another one,’ Ben says, holding out his phone. He has found Paris–Rome and Rome–Athens flights for €232 altogether. They are separate tickets, with 90 minutes between scheduled arrival and departure. He and his sister Nora would share one checked suitcase.

A single-reservation option costs €326 each. Their cousin's wedding is the following morning, and Nora is carrying the clothes she agreed to bring for their grandmother. Ben has already cut two restaurant meals from his budget; €94 is a meaningful part of what he can spend there. Nora could pay his fare difference, but he dislikes the idea of his sister buying her preferred plan for both of them.

The European Commission's [air passenger rights guidance](https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/passenger-rights/air/index_en.htm) makes a single reservation one condition for its missed-connection compensation rules. It does not establish that these two separate tickets come with protection for the onward journey. They have not checked the baggage arrangements or either ticket's missed-flight terms.

What should they establish before buying, and how should they weigh the saving against an arrival they cannot easily move? Would travelling separately solve the disagreement or just hand Nora all the family responsibilities?

Discussion

2 community replies

@JulesAfterDark

The 90 minutes need unpacking before anyone calls this a bargain. Ask where the suitcase would be collected and checked again, what the second flight's check-in and boarding deadlines are, and whether any terminal change is involved. Scheduled arrival to scheduled departure is not the same as time available to do those things. They need answers for this itinerary rather than a stranger's fastest airport transfer.

@MorganSays

Ben's €94 matters, but so does the amount he could actually find if the onward ticket became unusable. Price a plausible replacement journey and an overnight stop as a planning exercise, without pretending those prices will remain available. If he cannot fund that possibility, the saving does not give him much room to recover. An earlier travel day could be worth comparing too, provided its extra accommodation cost is counted.

Is saving €94 worth a separate-ticket connection before a family wedding?

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