mdinadude333

Hi All,

I desperately and quickly need to book flights to Phnom Penh from Malta. I've searched flight comparison sites and come across 2 agencies - Tripsta and Onetravel. They both have the same flight schedule:

1. Air Malta (KM612) MLA 07:50L Malta - Luqa Int. Apt. (MLA) → FCO 09:20 Rome - Fiumicino (FCO) Flight duration: 1h 30min

2. Cathay Pacific Airways (CX292) FCO 12:25
Rome - Fiumicino (FCO) → HKG 06:50 Arrival Date Tuesday, 2 February 2016, Hong Kong - Hong Kong Int. Airport (HKG) Flight duration: 12h 25min

3,Dragonair (KA 208) HKG 08:50 Hong Kong - Hong Kong Int. Airport (HKG) → PNH 10:30 Phnom Penh - Phnom Penh Int.Airport (PNH)

Return flight:

Return › Tuesday, 1 March 2016
1.Dragonair (KA209) PNH 19:00 - Phnom Penh - Phnom Penh Int.Airport (PNH) → HKG 22:25
Hong Kong - Hong Kong Int. Airport (HKG)Stop duration: 01:55

2. Cathay Pacific Airways (CX293) HKG 00:20
Hong Kong - Hong Kong Int. Airport (HKG) → FCO 06:35 - Rome - Fiumicino (FCO) Flight duration: 12h 15min

3. Air Malta (KM613) FCO 10:20 - Rome - Fiumicino (FCO) → MLA 11:45 Malta - Luqa Int. Apt. (MLA) Flight duration: 1h 25min

I would like reassuring that:
1. On each flight, I am allowed to check in luggage.
2. My buggage will be checked through for the ENTIRETY of the trip i.e. I deposit my luggage in Malta and pick it up in Phnom Penh and vice-versa (when leaving Phnom Penh I pick up my luggage in Malta).
3. I will be transiting through the airports and not have to redo passport checks in Rome or Hong Kong.
4. If one of my flights is delayed, I will be put onto the next flight free of charge by the airlines in question.

I don't know how these websites work and how the flights are so much cheaper than going directly to the airlines in question. Is there some scam involved? The connections are tight therefore I need to make sure that I am transitting through all the locations mentioned.

I know Dragonair is owned by Cathay Pacific so there shouldn't be a problem with my luggage. However I can find my connection or relationship with airmalta and the other airlines.

I'm desperate to book these flights so if someone could answer my questions, I would be most appreciative. Please help a fellow traveller out!

Romelle

I can't offer a lot, but I once booked a flight via onetravel and didn't have any problems.

Regarding your need for assurance on the various issues, there simply isn't any sure thing when flying. Flights get delayed, luggage gets misrouted, etc., etc..

You can check with whatever your country has that is like the US's Better Business Bureau for complaints against the organization.

You can search here on flyer talk for the organization names and see if there is any history of issues.

You can pay with credit cards that offer some protection.

You could go to a travel agent and see if they can make the booking for you. The fee you pay might be worth it for the added protection.

If you do book the tickets, take all the reasonable precautions - check on-line to make sure you can locate your ticket, print out copies of everything and carry them with you, check in as soon as it is possible, print your boarding passes, show up at the airport on time, read each airline's rules about baggage so you know you are compliant. Probably some more precautions, but those are all that come to mind right now. Don't get on TSA's last nerve so they hold you up.

Any chance you can travel with just carry-on luggage? That simplifies things considerably, and I'd strongly urge you do make every effort at traveling that way.

Romelle

Often1

OP - It is possible that you will not be connecting at all. Rather, that these third-party vendors are booking you on multiple tickets. If you arrive late on one ticket and miss the departure of your next ticket, you would not be acommodated on another flight. Additionally, it is unclear that your bags would be checked through across multiple tickets.

Only the third-party vendor would know the answer to these questions.

Why not ask a few reputable TA's in MLA whether they can replicate the fare. If they can, far better to work with someone you know and trust. If they can't, there has to be a reason.

mdinadude333

Hi all,

I have followed through on your advice and contacted the third-party vendor before I paid for the tickets. I now have the following problems:

The flights are all on a single through ticket. I received an email from all airlines - that my flight had been registered.

However, I have multiple surnames - this was inputted into the ticketing system. In the "passenger name" section they have placed it as one long word 'Debonosantcassia" - is that going to be an issue? It is the same way in my e-ticket.

More importantly - I asked whether my luggage could be checked through from Malta all the way to Phnom Penh. I have spoken with the check-in agents in Malta. They told me they have an agreement with Cathay Pacific but NOT with Dragonair, and therefore my luggage will only make it to Hong Kong but not Phnom Penh. It is therefore impossible for me to get my luggage. I have only 2 hours between my flight arriving in Hong Kong and departing from Phnom Penh. Is it possible for my luggage to be checked through by Cathay Pacific airlines or Dragonair? AirMalta told me that they 100% CANNOT check my luggage through all the way to Phnom Penh, but only up until Hong Kong. I told them that this is ridiculous, as Dragon Air is owned by Cathay Pacific but they insisted that they only have an agreement with Cathay Pacific and no agreement with Dragonair.
I do not imagine I will be able to go out of the airport to pick up my luggage, passing through immigration and customs and then check in my luggage for the dragonair flight in 2 hours.

Urgently looking forward to hearing from the rest of the community.

mdinadude333

I looked at flyertalk and the consensus seemed to be that they were ok, provided you didn't need to cancel or change your flights - a situation where I accept the risks.

Ditto about the other points mentioned. I just need to solve the name issue.

Carry-on luggage is currently the only option available to me.