loudness

In march we going to Milan from houston tx with a group tour. We can purchase the land only package for the soccer group. The travel agency wont let us know what flight or stops or seating etc and no guarantee we will be seated together I have plenty of miles to use on the flight to save. Travel agency airline price is appox 1200.00 per person. Im sure it will have at least 2 stops.

here is my deal. flying from IAH(houston) to Milan, there are no nonstops and alot of weird connections and cramped seats unless you want to pay alot of $$.

How much a pain would this work? We book a direct flight from houston to new york airports in the am, then take a different nonstop evening flight to Milan?

I was wondering how this would work with our luggage and do we have to go thru security again?

plan was to fly on united or southwest using points from iah to jkd or ewr, then fly nonstop to milan in plus economy seats with whatever airline

wrp96

If you book separate tickets to get to the NY area from your flights to Milan, then yes you will have to collect your bags on arrival in NY, recheck in with the new airline, and clear security. AND if there are any delays on your flights to the NY area that cause you to miss your flight to Milan, you will be responsible for paying to buy a new ticket to Milan. If you book separate flights, then you need to give yourself plenty of time for contingencies.

jrl767

Southwest doesn’t serve JFK, and they don’t interline checked bags with any other carrier

if you were to take United from Houston to Newark (or Washington Dulles) on one ticket and onward to Milan on a second ticket, you would stay airside (*NOT* need to go through security) at the connecting point, and UA would *most likely* check your bags all the way through

they *most likely* would also protect you on other UA flights in the event of weather or mechanical disruptions

Qwkynuf

For an international trip, I would *only* do this if I allowed a full extra day at the connecting city, and I would *only* do it on a carrier that operated the route with enough frequency that there would be time and opportunity to recover from any delay or cancellation.

This is NOT a scenario where you want to try to save a few bucks by trying out Allegiant, or Frontier, or Spirit. I once overheard a conversation at the Allegiant counter where the agent was telling passengers who were trying to check in that their flight was canceled & they would be rebooked on next Thursday's flight because the Tuesday flight was sold out. This was on a Thursday, so a full week delay. I would hope that most of those people thought to drive the 100 miles to a bigger airport and try to get reaccommodated there, but I didn't hang around because my Alaska flight departed on time.

I would fly to NYC the day before, on one of the "Big 4", or *maybe* JetBlue, stay the night at a near-airport hotel, and have a no-stress, plenty-of-time-to-get-things-done departure the next day.

OskiBear

Since IAH is a major United hub and you're using United miles, can you get somewhere in Europe nonstop from IAH, either on United or a Star Alliance partner?
I usually prefer my international/across-the-ocean flight to be the first leg of a journey. I always figure that if something were to go awry, I'd still be in Europe or Asia and can figure out the logistics of local travel once I'm there. Seems a much better proposition than being stuck at PHX or CLT.
Milan is well-connected within Europe by train or flights so it seems that it might be safer to at least make sure that you get to Europe without any hiccups.

gaobest

Fully agreed to fly nonstop to Europe and then transfer there.

Annalisa12

You are paying someone to organise flights and they won't let you know what the route is?

Super Mario

I also overheard stories all year long where thousands of flights from the big brands have been cancelled. I can appreciate drawing caution to this activity, but I don't know that your specifics are as factual as you believe.

Back to the OP, It seems like there's quite a few unknown details, which is slightly concerning. I'd say it depends. For all of those who scream yes or not, it can depend on the scenario. A layover with plenty of buffer to save $750 is a different scenario than a 45 minute layover to save $120.

jrl767

this, this, and this again

YVR Cockroach

Seat wholesaling method often used by cruise lines: Get (cheapest) seats from whatever airline they can closer to date of travel. The fare (especially back cabin) may result in no miles, extreme rigidity in rebooking, and no flexibility even in the event of prospective (or even likely) circumstances where airlines offer proactive waivers.

Velocipediste

It is not clear to me: Is the OP wanting to arrange their own transport to NYC and then join the tour's flight? Or does the OP want to arrange their own flight(s) all the way to Milan?

The concern I have around Allegiant, Frontier, or Spirit is that the tour may be planning on using one of these to get their travelers to NYC.

Cloudship

I often book a separate flight to JFK and then onwards from there. I also do this sometimes with ORD and MIA. Yes you would need to exit security, recheck bags and go through security again. This is often not as bad as it seems.

A few concerns in your case, though.

#1 I would not fly a discount carrier. And think time of year. JFK has lots of flight delays in the winter. Domestic flights get cancelled or delayed much, much more frequently than international flights. So keep that in mind, as you would not be protected if your first flight is cancelled and your second one is not.

#2 UA does not fly to JFK. Well, not as of the middle of this month. That would meena long and expensive transfer from EWR. If is easier from LGA, but still time consuming. Plan 2 hours at a minimum just to get from LGA to JFK. At least 3-4 from EWR to JFK.

#3 Look at airports other than JFK. Try DFW, BOS, and ORD. They might be a little easier to navigate.

grbflyer

I wouldn't do these nested tickets the way you have them set up. I understand wanting to use the SWA miles to get you closer. But getting to Europe non stop from IAH is your best bet and use the SWA points for another trip.

Its hard to give up control of a big trip to an organizer and not get the details you want to move on with the rest of planning. My guess is the route they will take will not be as nice.

However you get there, have a great time!

Athena53

This is why I never buy flights from the tour company/cruise operator. I'm a bit of a control freak. I also like to book overnights en route for very long trips. A few caveats:

1. The tour/cruise company takes no responsibility of you arrive late and have to find some way to join the group after it's left.
2. If you schedule an overnight you WILL have to retrieve and re-check bags, and go through Security again unless you stay in some rare hotel inside the airport; years ago DTW had a hotel with direct airside access but I don't know if they do anymore.
3. Try and do the whole trip on the same airline alliance, preferably the same PNR. That way if you arrive too late to get your connection they'll accept responsibility. If United gets you to London too late to get a BA connection to somewhere else, you're SOL.

I like to do the overnight after the mission-critical transatlantic flight. Most recently I flew from MCI-ORD-LHR, overnighted at LHR and flew to Tirana the next afternoon.