Question about Open Jaw ticket bough via OTA
 

Hello fellow travelers.
This is my first post here, so please forgive me for any mistakes regarding the section.

For personal reason, I need to leave NYC to Milan on a Thursday, and being back in time for work the following Monday. The best way to optimize my time away is to board a direct flight from JFK to MXP with Delta (I am a DL FF), and leave with the latest combination possible on a Sunday. The perfect combination would be DL172 from JFK to MXP (early arrive in Milan), and then a weird combo AZ238 (new ITA) + VS25 with layover in LHR, allowing me to leave Milan at 4pm, being in LHR at 6pm, 2 hours layover, and then hop on the Atlantic Ocean at 8pm.

Now, this combination is not directly sold by no one of the carriers in play. Not even from airlines in codeshare (AF, KL, ...)
Long story short, I did some research, and for a reasonable price (nothing above $2k) I was able to generate this exact combination through Expedia - problem is, I had to generate a three-legs-multicity-ticket as follow:
- Leg 1, JFK to MXP, on the Thursday
- Leg 2, LIN to LHR, on the Sunday
- Leg 3, LHR to JKF, on the same Sunday.

Now, how does it work? Is there the risk that I get to Milan Linate, and they don't see my ticket with a connection in LHR? Does it appear as two separated flight, so at Heathrow I have to pickup the bag plus going through security again (yes, I know I have to go through security either way)? What if I travel only with a carry on? What about miles and status?

And last but not least: is it a good idea or it's just bs?


Thank y'all.

If this is really one ticket, with only one ticket number, you should be fine. You would be protected in case of irrops, baggage will be checked through and of course they will see your connection at check-in in LIN. Miles and status depends on who is operating the flight, your flight number (codeshare or not), the program you want to credit to and so on. But the crucial part is one ticket. Not one PNR, not one booking, it needs to be one ticket with one ticket number.

Knowing Expedia, I am scared that it will generate three different PNRs. Maybe is there a way to link two PNRs together (say Leg 2 & Leg 3?)

A good TA might be able to link those PNRs but again, that does not help you much with regard to your concerns. You might get checked through or not, your baggage might get checked through or not and you are for sure not protected in terms of EU Reg 261 if something goes wrong with that connection.

Thank you. That was my main concern. I am puzzled because apparently the combination exists on VS app (not through website).
Maybe I can go to a travel agency and ask explicitly for that connection.

Have you tried calling DL (ideally during weekday business hours in order to get a more senior agent) and telling the agent exactly the segments and dates you want? They can put together combinations of segments that cannot be booked through their website. I'd rather not deal with Expedia and it can be hard to find a good real live human travel agent.

I did, and they told me that they weren't able to create the combination.
I was able to generate the combination through Expedia, but only if I buy a OJ ticket, from LIN (not MIL, the area code of Milan, but LIN) to JFK, and then any possible return.

RT ticket didn't do the trick, any ticket with origin in the US didn't to the trick, so I had to try, try and try again. No idea honestly, it's a booking mystery.

The surest way to find out if you get it all on one PNR is to just book on the OTA. You will have 24 hours to cancel if it does not turn out the way you like it, and it will give you some insight on exactly how it is being booked.

I'm not convinced that this would work. If there's a service fee, the OLTA might not refund it if the ticket is cancelled after it's issued. Also, the DOT rule about having 24 hours to cancel a plane ticket and get a full refund applies to airlines (direct purchase), not OLTAs or human TAs. The result could be an OLTA credit (with restrictions on how it can be used) minus a fee.

If that is the case, then the OP has the choice: bite the bullet or call a real TA to make the booking (even if it is nonrefundable, at least the TA will be there to deal with any fallout). Never hurts to build a relationship with a TA.

I think the OP should first call DL again and in fact maybe try a few more times if possible. Maybe a different agent can put the AF segment on the same ticket/PNR. I don't understand why this cannot be done although depending on how much time would be spent in Paris, it might require a fare that allows a stopover and not the cheapest RT fare.

Folks, thanks for your help.

At the end of the day, planes slightly changed so I ended up booking a real OJ ticket (outbound from Milan, landing in Venice on my way back).
I got three PNRs from Expedia - as expected - one with AZ where I see LIN-JFK as a trip, one with DL where I see LHR-JFK & JFK-VCE, and one with VS (since the ticket is marked #093) with the entire trip and the correct "connection" in London.

I should definitely build a relationship with a TA, could be useful for the future..