swag

I'm looking at flying DAL to MCO, using the MSY special available today. Booking separate tickets DAL-MSY roundtrip & MSY-MCO roundtrip, with the special, is cheaper than any single ticket DAL-xxx-MCO roundtrip.

Looking at the return flights, I see a flight that lands at MSY at 8:45pm, and the last flight MSY-DAL leaves at 9:05pm. Normally, 20 minutes is illegal as a single-ticket connection, and way too tight to risk. But looking more closely, both are flight #103, that seems to fly MCO-MSY-DAL. (I didn't realize even WN could turn a plane in 20 minutes).

So given that it's the same flight number, and that WN will sell me a single ticket on that flight MCO-DAL, is there any risk in booking this 20 minute "connection" on 2 separate PNR's? If I do, should I expect to get one RR credit, or two?

nsx

You'll get 2 credits. Just hand your BP to the FAs when everyone else gets off. Otherwise their through pax count will be in error.

You are at risk if the flight to MSY is canceled. Other than that you should be fine.

swag

Cool, thanks.

jan_believes

...but don't check a bag!

MikeMpls

Do WN FA's normally act as gophers in this situation? On my customary legacy airlines, their likely response would be, "What the )(** am I supposed to do with this?"

swag

I never check bags (except for ski trips). But I do remember a trip years and years ago, when WN did thru-check a bag for me on request, when I had separate tickets. And that was a texas-two-step trip, too, when they were specifically prohibited from doing so.

I figure I'll ask the GA at MCO what I should do, and then ask the FA's as well.

Does anyone know if I can check in for MSY-DAL at the MCO airport, just in case I don't have net access for OLCI?

tusphotog

Nope. You can only print the BP for MSY-DAL at MSY.

And checking bags via the "Texas Two Step" is no problem. Just give them both PNRs.

rove312

I was ready to say check-in online, with a Web-capable cell phone or ask a friend, but if this is done can the BP out of MSY not be printed at MCO, either at the kiosk or by an agent?

tusphotog

MCO's computers can only print out a BP that originates at MCO. They can print a BP that is for a connecting flight (i.e. keeping MCO-MSY-DAL on one PNR), but if there are two PNRs, they are treated as two reservations. Agents can see your reservation for MSY-DAL but they won't be able to print a BP. Just walk up to the gate in MSY and tell them you need a BP reprinted.

With CS2, this might be different. Does anyone know for sure?

ljwobker

First: apologies. I'm a corporate flyer and the company flies UA, so I don't know all the tricks for WN.. up until now have never had to do a trip on WN that involved a plane change AND a checked bag, so I'm wondering:

If I do LBB-ELP-LAS, the connection time at ELP is 40 minutes. Is there any reason to think that checking a bag on this itinerary entails any more risk than a 75-90 minute connection on UA at O-hare? ;-)

Seriously -- I can't imagine that the ramp at ELP is really all that busy, but I did want to sanity check with folks who would know a lot more than me.

curbcrusher

Your bag will transfer without incident.

Learning all of the tricks is as simple as familiarizing yourself with the Wiki FAQ.

Welcome to our corner of FlyerTalk!

ljwobker

Thanks. I actually checked the wiki (which is really well done, BTW) but didn't find anything close enough to totally convince me. I'm still getting used to flying around on an airline where things "work" 80% of the time instead of the 20% or so that I'm used to. ;-)

HPN-HRL

Hi all,

I just booked a ticket for my mom to Vegas and was very surprised to see that she has a 25 minute connection in AUS:

1504 Depart HARLINGEN TX (HRL) at 1:10 PM
Arrive in AUSTIN TX (AUS) at 2:10 PM
2806 Change planes in AUSTIN TX (AUS) departing at 2:35 PM
Arrive in LAS VEGAS NV (LAS) at 3:25 PM

Is this the shortest WN connection that anyone here has seen? I certainly can't remember anything under 45 minutes or so.

expert7700

connection time minimum varies by airport. I was surprised when the website route gave a 25 minute connection in Baltimore last year. Inbound arrived exactly on time, I was in the 3rd row. I ran as fast as I could from the far end of one terminal to my connection's gate at the far end of the other terminal. When I was one gate away I heard the agent paging me (the closest I've ever been to having my ticket deleted as a no show!).

SWSNA

I had an unpleasant experience when I booked my in-laws with a 25-minute connection in SJC. The outbound plane was running a little late (20 minutes) or so, but I called CS twice and they assured me they would hold the plane in SJC.

It turned out to be 30 minutes, and they didn't hold the plane, so they wound up with a 2.5 hour connection in SJC instead.

Not the end of the world, but I heard about it for days (somehow it was my fault :-). In any case, a good reason to avoid those types of connections.