RRDD

Has anyone else done this....
* I need to fly PIT-MSP- PIT with an 8 day stay in MSP.
* DL wants $400+ for a round trip, even more for two one-ways.
* Flying PIT-DTW-ORD (DL), ORD-MSP (UA) and MSP-PIT costs $250 (DL) + $50 (UA).

kop84

That's a lot of extra flying and adding a second airline at ORD that can have horrible delays with any weather to save $100.

Up to you if that's worth it or not. I wouldn't personally.

ATOBTTR

All to save $100? I wouldn't risk the connection in ORD to another airline which will have no obligation to rebook you if you misconnect. You'd be out far more than $100 if that happens.

If you're looking at double connections and don't care about time, have you also looked at driving to another airport such as CLE-MSP? CAK-MSP? Or even CMH?


ETA: What does DL want on ORD-MSP? If it's not that much more than UA you could do that and at least be entirely protected if all legs/tickets are on DL.

WhiskeyBravo

I wouldn't do it for $100 in CHI. ORD/MDW are both terrible with any weather.

MSPeconomist

DL is often cheap between MSP and ORD (or DTW and ORD) for either OW or RT. I'd be willing to pay a bit more to have all segments on DL.

OTOH, OP doesn't seem to be striving for status on DL or any other carrier, so especially if this is business travel, I'd suggest just taking the nonstop RT for $400, which IME is a good price for MSP.

You might experiment with fares for something like PIT-MSP-MDW (throw away the final segment) purchased as a OW ticket and a separate OW ticket for MSP-PIT. This assumes that you do NOT check luggage on the outbound.

CJKatl

I do this frequently for international flights where the savings can be in the thousands. Often it is much less expensive to fly to Asia or even Europe starting in JFK or LAX and adding on the r/t to/fr ATL as a second ticket. You are taking chances - late flights can be on you - when you do this and you will have to point out the second ticket at both check-ins to have your bags routed correctly, as the agent will only see the first flight without extra data entry. It's never been an issue, even when I've flown from JFK and back to LAX, with separate flight to/fr ATL tacked on.

Is it worth $100? Probably not. Is it worth $1k? Yes.

MSPeconomist

If you're saving a thousand dollars and have the time, you can arrange an overnight between the two tickets to minimize the risk, especially on the outbound. This can be especially handy if you need a couple hotel stays to requalify for status and there are decent and relatively cheap airport hotels for your chain. In fact, sometimes the overnight stop is relaxing/fun versus taking a very early flight the next day, although it can be a bit of a pain to go between the airport and hotel with luggage, depending on the particulars.

IMO from this perspective, LAX is better than NYC (assuming you don't have enough time to go into the city for a couple nights along the way) but even on a single ticket, I'll sometimes overnight at the DTW Westin to avoid a tight connection from a very early flight.

CJKatl

Going out, I'm aways able to get a four hour or so layover, which has always proven enough time. Or I purposely overnight in LAX to visit family. Coming back, I try to do early morning into JFK and late night out and am usually able to SDC to an earlier flight. Recently I had to do eight hours or so overnight at JFK and just slept in the airport. Hotels are too expensive near the airport and horrible for what you pay for. My cousin lives near LAX so if I cannot get a good hotel rate near the airport I can stay with her, so it does work out better for me. Usually, though, the LAX Ren or Marriott had a decent rate. DTW never has good rates for when/where I want to fly.

MSPeconomist

YMMV but I've done well with airport hotels at LAX, including rates, and ATL, but JFK/LGA are indeed problematic. In fact, I've always been able to get a good rate at the DTW Westin when I've tried and IIRC I've always been given at least a tiny (and accessible) suite on the club floor. ORD is also usually pretty good for airport hotel choices and rates and DCA/PDX/SFO too. SEA I tend to avoid because of their stupid mandated fee to use your hotel's airport shuttle. [It reminds me of the Hoppa bus at LHR and this is not a good thing.]

dk240t

Double connect and the issues inherent with a 2nd airline for $250 compared with a 1-way? No thanks. My time is more valuable than that...

MSPeconomist

Is OP's primary goal to make the trip when scheduled, to save money, or to earn MQMs/MQSs? It would help to understand the objective here. Also, does the OP have spare time to devote to this endeavor, for instance spending most of the day making a trip by air of well under a thousand miles?

xliioper

To top it off, OP's proposed routing/prices appears to be Basic Economy fares (the cheapest non-BE fare I can find for PIT-ORD/MSP-PIT on DL is a $265 V fare), while the $400 non-stop option is not (U fare outbound, X fare return). Would have been nice to mention that.

OP, the U/X/V fares on PIT-MSP have a roundtrip and Saturday night stay requirement, so you can't purchase them separately as one-way's. The cheapest one-way fare you can purchase is an L fare ($263.20 one-way). This can all be found in the fare rules. This is typical where a legacy does not face LCC non-stop competition (WN does not fly PIT-MSP non-stop). Your cheaper fare is due to a WN fare sale and DL is fare matching WN's PIT-MDW prices on PIT-ORD/MDW, and UA is fare matching WN MDW-MSP prices on ORD-MSP. FYI, the WN sale ends today.

LAXRuss

In this instance, it really seems the lower price is the fact that you are traveling to/from MSP on a UA fare which may be less than DL, because MSP is non-hub airport for UA. If you want to save the $100, I would simply dump the PIT-DTW-ORD flight portion on DL and fly round trip on UA where you could net a PIT-IAD-MSP or a PIT-ORD-MSP roundtrip for the same $250 price.

In instances where I have split carriers to obtain a lower fare, I generally would not even consider staying loyal to DL unless I could fly at least one-way to my destination on Delta. In this case, you are proposing splitting carriers to net two short segments on DL. At that point, I'd just fly UA on a convenient itinerary if the $400 price point is more than you want to pay on DL.

xliioper

No, it wouldn't be the same $250 price. The cheapest UA option is $300 roundtrip (and that's a BE fare, the $400 DL fare is not BE) and there's no way of knowing whether that fare is actually available on OP's dates. OP's fare is due to DL/UA fare matching WN on the PIT-ORD and ORD-MSP routes and the only way to get his fare is to book those separately. Note that while MSP is not a hub for UA, ORD is. It's just that UA is more aggressive in fare matching WN on CHI-MSP than DL is. WN's cheapest fare is $42 which UA is matching. DL cheapest fare is $60 and is only available on morning CHI-MSP flights. Afternoon/Evening flights on DL are $100+.

RRDD

OP here....
Thank you for your thoughts. Here are a few more points ...

* The Basic Economy seats don't bother me, at least for short flights. I use them all the time.
* I'm paying for this trip.
* I need a few more segments to make GM, thus the extra legs don't bother me.
* I can do my job just as easily on an airplane or at an airport gate as I can do it in the office. I'm lucky in that I have only a minimum commitment to be in the office.
* My flexibility gives me opportunties for bumps and flight delay (or cancelation) changes that can work to my advantage.