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massive price discrepancy - single vs separate bookings

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Old Nov 12, 2017, 3:55 am
  #1  
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massive price discrepancy - single vs separate bookings

I am looking at a trip MAN-YVR & return at the end of February. Out in club and back in F. BA.com quotes me £3500 for this entire trip - certainly no small amount.

However if I look at the exact same flights, same dates, same cabins for just the LHR-YVR leg it quotes me £2100. Booked separately the MAN-LHR hop is just £190 in business, so I can do the exact same journey on the same aircraft for £2290 - a £1210 savings. Surely there is some mistake here?

What are the pitfalls of booking each leg individually? Will they check my bags through if I present my onward boarding pass at the bag drop? What happens if there's a disruption?

Thanks.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:02 am
  #2  
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Originally Posted by wind-blownmind
I am looking at a trip MAN-YVR & return at the end of February. Out in club and back in F. BA.com quotes me £3500 for this entire trip - certainly no small amount.

However if I look at the exact same flights, same dates, same cabins for just the LHR-YVR leg it quotes me £2100. Booked separately the MAN-LHR hop is just £190 in business, so I can do the exact same journey on the same aircraft for £2290 - a £1210 savings. Surely there is some mistake here?

What are the pitfalls of booking each leg individually? Will they check my bags through if I present my onward boarding pass at the bag drop? What happens if there's a disruption?

Thanks.
price difference is normal for different origins, no suprise there.
through check unlikely.
no protection if your man Lhr is delayed you may loose the Lhr yvr flight altogether
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:02 am
  #3  
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Originally Posted by wind-blownmind
What are the pitfalls of booking each leg individually? Will they check my bags through if I present my onward boarding pass at the bag drop? What happens if there's a disruption?

Thanks.
No, they won't through check your bags on separate tickets even both BA and you won't be protected if your first flight is delayed and you miss the second which you will therefore lose. There are lots of threads on that with a lot of additional information which you might find useful. If I were you I would call BA and ask if they can offer a solution but maybe the fare you see ex-LHR is just a point to point sale fare (unusual to not have a domestic equivalent but not unheard of) or married segment availability issue.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:03 am
  #4  
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Booking separate tickets - if done right - works most of the time. Book longer layover in LON (IMHO 3 hours minimum - maybe even 4?)

Baggage can be checked through as this within oneWorld.

But if your MAN-LHR flight is late nobody will help you.

The final choice is yours. You need to asses the risk.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:04 am
  #5  
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Originally Posted by wind-blownmind
Will they check my bags through if I present my onward boarding pass at the bag drop?
No, BA won't through check bags, even on BA to BA connections. As ridiculous as it sounds, unfortunately, that's their current policy.


Originally Posted by wind-blownmind
What happens if there's a disruption?
They might help but are not obliged. So work on the assumption you are on your own and might need to pay high change fees/buy a new ticket.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:05 am
  #6  
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Originally Posted by orbitmic
No, they won't through check your bags on separate tickets
Why?

This is within oneWorld and I think the universal rule is that within oneWorld through baggage check-in (even on separate tickets) is still permitted...
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:06 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by TPJ
Baggage can be checked through as this within oneWorld.
Eh? Not by BA. Other OneWorld airlines are much more flexible, but BA isn't one of them.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:07 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by TPJ
Why?

This is within oneWorld and I think the universal rule is that within oneWorld through baggage check-in (even on separate tickets) is still permitted...
I think you might have been missing about 18 months of very intense debate on that very issue on this forum!!!
NickB, gms, trooper and 4 others like this.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:08 am
  #9  
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Originally Posted by TPJ
Why?

This is within oneWorld and I think the universal rule is that within oneWorld through baggage check-in (even on separate tickets) is still permitted...
BA changed the rules some time ago. From the BA website:
If you have booked two separate flights to reach your final destination, for example Edinburgh to London followed by London to New York, you will need to:

Check in your bags for your first flight e.g. Edinburgh to London.
Follow the signs for 'Arrivals/Baggage reclaim' in London to collect your bags.
Check them in again for your second flight e.g. London to New York.
Allow sufficient time to connect to your next flight – see recommended check in times.
If you're not sure, please ask a member of staff when you check in your bags in at the start of your journey.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:10 am
  #10  
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My bad then Weird policy, though...
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:13 am
  #11  
 
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Both of these are Dual Inventory Fares. The £3,700 one (ANN8C1S6) is more of a normal discounted A level - like many BA long-haul fares this is available at the same level from LHR, MAN and other domestic starting points.

The £2190 fare (ALX2C1S4) is a special low fare which unfortunately, does not seem to be available from MAN is in fact filed for MAN but, because of the way Dual Inventory Fares work, is not showing any inventory with MAN as a starting point. I don't think there's much you can do about that I'm afraid, other than take on the risk/inconvenience of separate tickets as described above.

N.B. that cheap fare must be booked and ticketed by 14 November, so don't hang about if you want it.

Last edited by Ldnn1; Nov 12, 2017 at 4:26 am
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:15 am
  #12  
 
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Travel with hand luggage and buy some clothes with the £1200 savings
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:21 am
  #13  
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Okay well not wanting to rehash old arguments but not through checking bags from your own airline sounds insane. Still for £1200 I can visit bag claim and do a landside connection T5 > T3. My time is valuable but it's not *that* valuable.

I have heard in the dim and distant past about the ability to link separate bookings in the system so that in case of irrops staff at least visibility of your entire journey. Whether that gets you anywhere is another matter. Is this still possible?
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:24 am
  #14  
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Originally Posted by Ldnn1
...N.B. that cheap fare must be booked and ticketed by 14 November, so don't hang about if you want it.
Thanks that is good to know.
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Old Nov 12, 2017, 4:24 am
  #15  
 
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Can one first buy the LHR-YVR ticket then ask BA to insert the second MAN-LHR ticket into the PNR created for the first ticket? I seem to recall mention of this being something a BA ticketing agent can do, but only at the time the second fare is purchased, not later. So the purchase has to be done with a person who can edit the first PNR, not a website that cannot.

Cat any (BA) ticket experts comment?

Last edited by flatlander; Nov 12, 2017 at 4:34 am
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