Question about Transfers at airport on 2 separate tickets without entering country
 

Hi guys,

Does anyone know where I can find information on possibility of airport transfers at an airport without entering the country on 2 separate tickets?

Example below:

Let's say you cannot enter Japan but have a ticket Bangkok - Tokyo (you cannot enter Tokyo) with 1 airline and another ticket Tokyo - Frankfurt (you can enter Frankfurt) with another airline.

How can I check if transfer on the "air side" (without entering the country, collecting bags etc.) is possible?

The problem is that most likely you will not be allowed to board the first flight because the first carrier will view your final destination as the country (in your exampleJapan) where you don't fulfill entry requirements and the carrier is not allowed to let you board. To the first carrier your onward ticket with another carrier is immaterial. Traveling on separate tickets is currently not advisable

Right, so that's exactly why I was wondering if this would work.

I did hear of people travel via Doha on that basis (when entering Qatar was forbidden), however, I think both of their flights were with QR so even though on separate tickets they were able to sort it out, stay at the transit hotel on the airside etc. etc..

I believe QR/Doha was an exception and yes, it was only QR only involved.

I'm not saying that it will never work/be possible to travel on separate tickets as you suggest, but the risk that it will not work and you will not be allowed to board the first flight is significant and imminent IMO. So I guess anyone considering separate tickets needs to make his/her own assessment of risk, convenience, benefits etc.

It will depend on the destination. In general (and even more so now), if you are travelling on separate tickets you need to be eligible to enter the intermediate country to pull it off. Simply assuming that they will let you transit airside is not advisable. Remember, you don't have a connection.

It also depends on the specific airlines. For your Bangkok - Tokyo - Frankfurt example, if both flights are ANA, they will let you check in for both flights at the first airport so you don't need to leave Narita. But that is their own policy rather than a universal rule. (I think JAL allows this as well but not completely sure).

what about interline agreements? i was thinking of doing this ATL-FCO on Delta and FCO-Malta on Alitalia. Since Delta and Alitalia have interline agreements, could i get the boarding pass in Atlanta? and not have to recheck?

Unless you are on a single ticket, there is no requirement to follow whatever interline agreements may or may not be in place. You are at the mercy of the check-in agent. Assume it won't happen.

Not in general, but some pairs of closely partnered (not just members of the same alliance) have such policies, although it might be hard to convince airport agents to follow them at an outstation. YMMV, but do not assume anything on separate tickets; this is not the same as a connection (transit), and currently overnight connections can have different rules.

In the OP's case, If "Tokyo" means a combination of NRT and HND, it definitely will NOT work, even if it's the same carrier.

Keep in mind that the transit rules change depending upon the local situation. As I live in Bangkok, I always have to transit to get back to the US so I'm always checking the rules. For example, SIN allows transit, but only on certain approved carriers, and generally requiring a single ticket. Taiwan had completely restricted foreigners from transitting TPE, then relaxed the restriction if flying on CI or BR thru TPE, then went back to not allowing transit. I find it interesting that AA is selling (and has awards) through Japan requiring transfer between NRT and HND, as the latest rule I saw was that Japan required quarantine and didn't permit use of public transportation between the two airports. Like I said, things always are changing. Sometimes the airlines have current (correct) information like SQ provides, but not all are that diligent. To be on the safe side, make sure you are on a single ticket.

In some cases (USA is a major example), even if you have a single ticket for flights on the same carrier, you still must go through immigration. In a few cases (AFAIK ORD could be an example), you could need to go through immigration in order to change terminals, even on a single ticket and carrier. Finally, one would need to be extremely careful about codeshares as the airline operating the flight might use a different terminal, such as DL/AF-KLM codeshares at JFK.