greggarious

So I am travelling to Amsterdam for work, but I booked a much earlier flight so I'd arrive a couple weeks before my conference and can explore Europe.

However, I have been to AMS before, so I'd prefer to head for a city I haven't been to soon after arriving. If I book say, an Easyjet to Zurich on the same day, will I lose my full fare if my AMS flight is late?

(the flight to Amsterdam is a direct flight, so barring some major catasrophe I don't think it will be late, but I want to be careful)

What would happen if I missed the flight I had booked in AMS? Would they allow me to rebook, or would I have to buy a whole new ticket?

onobond

Some info is lacking to give a precise answer:

1. Where does your travel start? West of the pond?

2. Had all flights been booked on the same PNR, you'd propably be protected. Given the second carrier is Easyjet, this is not a likely scenario.

3. Despite if the positioning flight to is AMS booked on a flexible fare, it's the next flight that needed the flexibility .

To sum up: A flexible fare to Zurich or prepare to buy a new ticket if worst case scenario delays you

GUWonder

Depends on the airlines involved and/or the fare rules of the separate tickets and/or the causes of any applicable delays.

Personally, I find this to be a buyer beware situation and only do this kind of stuff -- which I do a lot -- under certain conditions.

What kind of conditions? Padding enough time between flights, booking intra-alliance, considering online check-in and checked baggage possibilities, considering airport layouts/formalities etc.

Often1

OP, the general answer is that if you purchase separate tickets to AMS and then onward from ANS and then noshow for your AMS-XXX flight, your ticket will be cancelled (and any return if there is one). Whether your ticket retains any value will depend on the fare rules of that ticket. That's what I take from your post, but the details matter and can change this general answer.

But, to give you an exact answer, we need to know your routing and carrier(s).

jrl767

in two similar situations (2004 and 2008) I asked my company travel offices how best to handle it within policy; in each case they basically said they would reimburse up to the roundtrip airfare ... I was able to book IAD-CDG//GVA-LCY//LHR-IAD and a rail pass for approx $150 out of pocket over WAS<-->TLS; the second trip was BWI-BRU//AMS-DCA with a rail pass for about $75 in personal funds over WAS<-->AMS

as most others have said, you book on a separate ticket at your own risk

the continuing airline (and particularly the Easyjets and Ryanairs of the world, which have no interline agreements) does not care how you are planning to get to the airport for their flight; if you miss it, they will treat you just like any other no-show, and you will in all likelihood forfeit what you paid for the ticket

milepig

This. Or if you're really lucky and you show up at the airline's desk in AMS they may credit the amount paid for your original ticket to the cost of a replacement. But, remember, when you're a no-show your entire ticket (including the return) will be cancelled.

Happened to me with LH and I got squat.

Also happened when I was going ORD-LHR (UA) and then LHR-AMS (BMI (RIP)) and then the same route on my return. My ORD-LHR flight wound up in MAN due to fog, but I was able to call BMI from MAN before the LHR-AMS flight departed, and they were able to rebook me for a fee since it was still considered a flight change, and my return was still valid. Had it happen after the LHR-AMS flight departed I'd be looking at a whole new ticket.

This is why I no longer fly on 2 tickets unless the layover is HUGE.

zkzkz

There are three cases.

1) If they're on the same réservation then you're definitely protected.

2) If the airline the subsequent flight is on has a policy to protect you then you might be protected even if they have no legal obligation to. this is common on major US airlines but less so with European ones.

3) Low cost airlines like easyjet or Ryanair will do nothing for you. Not selling connections is a major part of their business model.

I would suggest considering a train ticket. There are plenty of other interesting places in the area aside from Amsterdam. Train tickets tend to be more flexible than airplane tickets and the cost if you have to buy a new ticket tends to be more tolerable.

greggarious

Thanks, that is a good idea. I am from America so the thought of taking a train didn't occur to me

And yes, I have one PNR for IAD -> AMS, any trip afterwards would be a different PNR.

jrl767

you are likely to find some very useful info in the European Rail Travel thread

Cymro

IAD - AMS - ZRH may actually cost less than IAD - AMS because direct flights generally do, on the basis that you really wanted to take Swiss to ZRH (if they fly that route) but were prepared to save money with a layover.

You could then either return from ZRH - AMS - IAD if it's cheaper, or do an open jaw (whereby your outbound leg ends in ZRH, but your return starts in AMS), and just buy the one-way fare between ZRH-AMS.

I believe that EasyJet doesn't actually sell any returns - i.e., all their tickets are two one-ways - so you would only lose the first leg if you missed it, but that position may have changed.

Having said that, assuming you're arriving in the early morning into AMS and you've already bought the ticket, I'd allow at least five hours before connecting to a different PNR I couldn't afford to lose, and use the time for a leisurely breakfast or stroll in Amsterdam - or just spend one night in Amsterdam and travel the next day.

If your long haul flight is more than four hours late (except due to 'extraordinary circumstances' you are entitled to compensation of €600 - plenty to get you to Zurich). Extraordinary circumstances might include things like bird strikes, volcanoes, weather, air traffic control, or passenger sickness, but don't include technical faults with the airplane or the flight or ground crew getting things wrong.

ft101

If you chose easyJet, they offer a "rescue" fare if you arrive within 2 hours of your original flight's departure time.

There is a fee and you need to rely on schedule and seat availability, but could be better than throwing away your ticket.

If you're flying in from the USA, the comment on compensation will only apply if you arrive on an EU carrier.

shuigao

On a similar note, Travel Insurance generally doesn't cover you for these situations either, right? Looking through the documentation it seems this might fall under "missed connection," for which coverage is only at best a couple hundred bucks (wouldn't be close to enough if the onward connection is an international longhaul back home).

greggarious

Thanks all for your suggestions. I ended up reversing my itinerary so that the last leg is in Zurich rather than the first - I'll book at a train to Germany so that if my plane arrives late I don't lose the whole ticket.

lhrsfo

Of course, flights within Europe can be incredibly cheap so it could be worth simply buying a back up ticket in the first place. Often they are sub £20 - less than what you'd spend in an airport on a very long layover.

greggarious

My main issue is my luggage is too big for Ryanair, Easyjet, etc (Standard united size but IIRC they want smaller)

Or is it ok to put my roller beneath the plane for free? I'd heard horror stories about cheap tickets where the luggage fee makes it as much or more than a larger carrier's ticket