efanekoku

I'm flying BOG-MAD on Iberia and I want to add a connecting flight from SMR-BOG on LAN on the same day. The international flight departs at 1715 and there is a flight from SMR to BOG arriving at 1335.

A few questions:

1) How punctual are LAN Colombia generally?
2) I'm aware this would be risky, but how risky?
3) Will LAN be able to check my bags all the way through to MAD, as both carriers are One World?
4) Is there any way, given that both carriers are OW, that if I miss my connection (bearing in mind it's on separate bookings) IB/LAN will rebook me?

Many thanks.

bingocallerb22

Hi. Well, just an opinion:
1) pretty punctual
2) risk is measured by probability times consequence i.e. We can accept high probability if the risk is low. We will often reject even low probability if the negative consequences are high... only you can fill in the numbers for your comfort level. (My personal rule is to be in the city of a departing international long haul the day before.. the airline industry is not dependable).
3) yes
4) yes... oh, are you asking for free changes? If so, LAN follows the fare rules to the letter, no official exceptions but then you would have completed your Lan segment so they would be out of the picture anyway. If in SMR knowing you will arrive late, then yes the Lan agent will help you out... as far as the rules allow.

efanekoku

Thanks

Yes I meant free changes. Well, in the way that you usually get rebooked on the next available flight if an earlier connection (on the same airline/alliance) is late and you miss the flight through no fault of your own.

Obviously it's a bit more of a grey area if they're on separate bookings.

JohnnyColombia

I asked in the AA forum what happens on separate AA tix and it turns out they have a rule for it. It also appeared that the rule applies to AA/OneWorld flights where when booked on separate tix the carrier that causes the flight on the missed connection on a separate ticket is responsible for the rerouting.

Whether the above can be considered good for all OneWorld connections is anyone's guess.

My only experience is the other way around, take IB from LHR to MAD and then LA from MAD to LIM on a tight connection. I missed the MAD LIM segment and LA did indeed put me on the next available flight, however the next available flight in my fare bucket was 8 days later.

Anecdotally it seems that OneWorld carriers will be helpful but not very if you miss your connection. You should also bear in mind that staff of all airlines in BOG will be as unhelpful as they can get away with being without getting themselves stabbed in the eye with a dinner fork and also that the IB BOG MAD flight is always delayed anyway.

Edit to add: 3) Will LAN be able to check my bags all the way through to MAD, as both carriers are One World?

They are able to, but that is not to say that they will do. The reason I missed my connection in MAD above is that IB refused to check my bags all the way and it took 45 minutes for them to arrive at the belt. Although OneWorld airlines "can" check bags through to destinations on other OneWorld carriers on a different ticket, that is not to say they "will"

Although OneWorld claims that their alliance makes for easier connections and baggage handling, they do not expressly state anywhere that bags will be checked through to other OneWorld carriers on separate itineraries.

efanekoku

Thanks a lot for the information. I think I'll err on the side of caution and book the last flight to BOG the night before, just in case. Hopefully there's a decent airport hotel at BOG.