So, we're finally back from our (amazing) trip and I'm happy to report that things basically went as per B747-437B's message!
That said, there were a few minor hiccups:
- I wasn't able to check in online for either booking and instead received the same error message for both. indicating that there was an issue with my ticket(s) and that I should contact an Ethiopian ticket agent...
- After calling several Ethiopian contact numbers - it appears that the general call center only has access to ET's website and can simply raise a ticket to escalate an issue(?!), I was able to reach someone at the London office number who reassured me that both bookings looked fine and just required document checks, which makes sense since they were one-way tickets.
- Upon arrival at LLW, the check-in agent was initially quite taken aback by the 2 separate bookings. He informed me that ET generally does not "accept" separate bookings at check-in and that he would need to speak to HQ. He made a call and his demeanor changed - possibly also when he noticed that we were in business class. He proceeded to check our bag through to GVA and printed out all 3 boarding passes.
- Our ADD-FRA flight was scheduled to depart from gate A11 - a contact gate very close to the Cloud 9 lounge - however shortly (maybe 10 minutes) before the 23:20 scheduled boarding time (the flight had been re-scheduled to depart at 00:05) there was a gate change to A12. We left the lounge about 5 minutes after the scheduled boarding time, even though the monitors in the lounge were still showing "on time" and not "boarding". Gate A12 is actually a common gate for all business class passengers whose flights are departing from a bus gate, There are a few hilarious large red leather seats there, as well as a single very stressed out agent calling out flights one by one and herding those passengers into an elevator down to a waiting bus (I assume). When we were finally able to get that agent's attention, she informed us that we actually needed to get to gate B6 for our flight ASAP! So either we had already missed the business class bus for our flight or they hadn't even organized one due to the last-minute gate change / aircraft re-assignment.... Anyway, we ran to gate B6 (not that close..), which was a complete mob scene, with boarding only just starting.
So, my key learnings are:
1) Not to worry (too much) if online check-in fails on one-way tickets
2) To politely insist if you get a reluctant agent when checking in on split tickets
3) If you are in business class departing ADD and are assigned gate A12, show up there BEFORE the boarding time indicated on your boarding pass, in order not to miss the dedicated bus for your flight.
Hope the above was helpful, happy to answer any questions. And thanks again to B747-437B!
Originally Posted by
Andre
Hi all - and especially
B747-437B 
What is your view on the following layover, with 2 separate tickets, in business class and with hand baggage only:
1st ticket: ET 877 LLW-ADD (with stop in FBM), arriving ADD at 21:05
2nd ticket: ET 706 ADD-FRA (with onward connection to GVA), departing ADD at 23:40
I've split the booking due to the fact that Miles and More requires a 3-region award otherwise. Am trying to find award space on the nonstop ADD-GVA (our final destination) that leaves at 00:10 the next morning or the ADD-VIE flight that leaves at 00:35, but these are the bookings we can ticket now.
We're willing to take some risk, but I wanted to check the consensus view here - I noticed on flightstats.com that the LLW-FBM-ADD route did have some cancellations recently and don't see the point in booking something where there is a high likelihood that we'll need to scramble and potentially pay a lot to get home.
If we decide that it's too close for comfort and book the LLW-ADD leg for the previous day, should we apply for a 48-hour transit visa in advance, or is it easy to just get one at the airport (Swiss and UK citizens)?
Originally Posted by
B747-437B
Firstly, don't worry about ET877 being cancelled on some days. That is a flight number anomaly - on the days the flight operates ADD-LLW-FBM-ADD it is ET877 all the way through but when it just runs ADD-LLW-ADD, the flight number changes to ET876 for the return. So you may see that ET877 is cancelled, but ET876 has operated on that date instead. The flight has operated every single day in memory this year and I don't recall a single cancellation since pandemic times.
Secondly, you won't have any problems with separate ticket transit at Addis, even with checked bags. ET is quite happy to check you in all the way to final destination on separate tickets.
Finally, if you are going to arrange your own stopover get the eVisa in advance. At that time of night, you can be stuck for hours waiting for your Visa On Arrival approval which is not worth the hassle. But unless you really want to stay in Addis, this isn't particularly necessary.