One-way tickets -- what do I do?
 

Hello,

I would like to book two one-way tickets for the SAME day.

1st flight is with Frontier and 2nd is with United (This comes out cheaper and with better times, than booking the ticket on one itinerary to the final destination).

My question is, what do I do at the 2nd airport? I won't have any luggage. At the 1st airport I check-in with Frontier. But, when I get to the 2nd airport, I'm already in the terminal, do I just go to the gate? Do I have to leave the airport and come back in (hope not only have 1 hour between flights). Sorry if this sounds stupid, but I don't fly much.

Thanks,
EC

One-way tickets -- what do I do?
 

I guess that if you check in online, and print your BP you are fine.

This might work unless your first flight is delayed even a few minutes. You will then lose the second flight, and unless booked on the same PNR, the second airline is not obligated to put you on a later flight - it is as if you just missed a flight by arriving late to the airport.

Make sure to plan plenty of stopover time between flights to avoid this. I would not schedule only 1 hour between flights as I would be worried than any delay at all would leave me stuck. Then you have to buy a walk-up fare at astronomical prices or pray that UA would take pity on you and reschedule you on a later flight. I'd estimate that might happen about 25% of the time.

Otherwise, just get from one flight to the other; depending on the airport, you may or may not have to go through security again.

Will you be checking a bag? If so, begin by checking whether there's an interline agreement between your airlines. Then ask the carrier if they check a bag through when there's a separate ticket.

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You are either brave or crazy if you do this.

You didn't say which airport, but assuming they are not on different concourses that require going outside of security to connect, you would just stay airside and go from one gate to the other.

Not according to the original post.

You'd check in for both flights from home. You'd have both BP's in your possession before you board the Frontier flight.

Which airport are you talking about? That would help us give more specific information. In some airports, it's a simple walk from one gate to the next. In others, it's a terminal change and potentially a 2nd pass through a TSA checkpoint.

I agree with the others about how a 1-hour turnaround is a bit risky, even for a same-terminal connection. Since this doesn't smell like a Mileage Run, I'm guessing you have some sort of real purpose in the destination airport? If your intent is to meet someone there, they may not be able to enter the secured area. (There are ways, and there are threads here dedicated to how to do it, I'll leave it to you to search if applicable.)

I'm also assuming that with these two particular airlines this is entirely within the U.S., right? If not, then all bets are off...don't even think about the 1-hour turnaround.

(bolding mine)
You think that 75% of the people that, say, miss their flight because they got a flat tire on the way to the airport are not reaccomodated by the airline and are forced to buy a separate ticket? :confused:

That seems rather high - 75%.

I believe United's process would be to either offer you standby, offer a same-day change (confirmed seat for $50 within the next few hours), or allow you to buy a new one-way walkup fare.

Since I haven't been flying them a lot post-merger, I don't know what fare buckets need to be available for them to sell you a confirmed $50 SDC. Usually *your* fare bucket is long gone. At some point, when flights are in oversell territory, you could be looking at buying full-Y to even have a shot of getting on the flight.

The flat-tire thing is probably no issue if it's a slow day with lots of empty seats. Gets thornier if flights are reasonably full and potentially impossible if the rest of the day is sold out.

For what it's worth, you'd just tell the UA agent the truth: your connecting flight from another airline was delayed. They don't "owe" you anything, but you don't need to make up a story about an actual flat tire. ;)

Depends on how full flights are on any given day.....

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, for example, I really doubt the odds would be even that good.

Just wondering, if you were to book the entire itinerary as a single reservation on a non-airline site like travelocity or expedia, wouldn't it come to the same price as the two one-way tickets, and wouldn't the entire itinerary be on a single ticket?

You realize you can't check your bag through?

Like (s)he said: no luggage!

I though (s)he was thinking the luggage would be checked through--no luggage at the second check-in. There was no statement one way or another about bags on the first flight.

As I read it, it's not a turnaround, but a 1-way, 1-stop trip cobbled together with the two legs on different airlines.

And given it's UA and F9, my money bets that the connecting airport is DEN. If so, DEN is pretty spread out, but there won't be a need to re-clear security.