swiftaw

Looking to fly OMA-MAN round trip in early May. Pricing it on United.com gives me $1185.

However, I noticed that there are some cheap fares from ORD to BRU, in the range of $582. If I combine that with a OMA-ORD round trip at $238 and a BRU-MAN round trip at $108, I get a total of $929.

Obviously the major concern is delays leading to missed connections. Just trying to decide how crazy this idea is.

qszwdxefc

I've flown on 5 separate tickets before and in hindsight I think it depends on the following:

1) How long are the layovers?
I had at least 4 hours between the segments and even then I was stressing a bit when flights got delayed. I don't think you should fly on separate tickets with anything less than a 3-4 hour layover.

2) How much is the discount worth to you? How much is the extra time spent at the airport worth to you?
I was a student on holiday so I had all the time in the world and saving $400 was a big deal to me. Would I have done it if I took time off a full-time job to go on vacation? Probably not

Tennen

While I've done this many times, it's been longhaul premium travel, where I'd save $1000+. Personally, for ~$250, I wouldn't do it unless I built in a significant time buffer between each ticket. My threshold is 6 hours, but usually involves an overnight, which is an added cost.

Aside from IRROPS, you also have to consider checked bags (assuming you have any). You might not be able to check them all the way through, meaning you'd have to collect and re-check at each point. If your bags are delayed/lost, it adds another layer of complexity.

mauiUAflyer

I've done the 3 ticket thing before as well.

The worst two cases were IRROPS on VIE-LHR on OS, causing me to have to overnight in LRH, and re-book my UA ticket. The $200 change fee was still way less than what I saved.

Another was arriving late in EWR from DUB, and having to overnight. UA gave me a room, but the hotel was way far away, so I just dipped into the Hilton bucket and booked the airport Hilton instead. Got to fly out the next morning in F.

Like was said, leave a good 3-4 hours to connect, and even then... Expect to be burned a few times.

mduell

4 unprotected connections with UA... yow, no, I wouldn't do that.

However if you want to play this game, consider:

OMA-IAH RT on UA/AA typically runs $200-300
IAH-MAN RT on SQ runs $603
So all-in you're at $800-900, with only 2 unprotected connections, and 1-1.5hr longer on the overnight segment.

horse glasses

I do it a lot, never been burned yet. My minimum is four hours, but I can see where that would be stressful. Have you tried putting those flights into a multi city search individually and seeing how it prices? Then it would all be connected.

afrozenfyre

This is where matrix is really helpful to build the itinerary and read the actual fare rules in combinability etc. Just because ua.com doesn't come up with the itinerary doesn't mean you can't construct the right fare with matrix or Google Flights and book it manually. Even a $25 phone booking fee would be worth the peace of mind of having one ticket.

Or, more likely, the cheap fares don't allow end-on-end and you're taking a significant risk. Whether it's worth the savings...depends on your personal appetite for stress, risk, cost, and worst case scenario.

exerda

Too much hassle and too much risk for my taste to save $200. Just MHO.

The most recent time I tried something like this (to save about $650) worked out OK... well, OK other than some extensive TSA hassles, but that was mostly unconnected from the fact it was multiple tickets--except I had to reclear security because UA wouldn't through-check my bag even on all UA metal across multiple UA tickets that occasion... at which point TSA held me hostage for an hour and a half in a back room... thank goodness my connection was 3 hours due to the separate tickets.

o mikros

Another thing nobody has mentioned yet is that what you're asking to do is nested tickets, which are technically not allowed in UA's CoC. In theory, if they realized you were doing this to circumvent pricing, they could cancel your tickets or refuse transport until you paid the difference in fare. One way around this obstacle is to book your OMA-ORD as a one-way, then a r/t ORD-BRU, and another one-way ORD-OMA. (This way it's "end-on" ticketing which UA typically permits; of course, you have to make sure that the one-way price is half that of the r/t.) Your r/t BRU-MAN is presumably on SN, so you could book that with them directly and UA would never be the wiser.

If you can, I second the previous suggestion of trying to build this itinerary on matrix or hipmunk or google flights and seeing if it prices out the discount. You can also sometimes brute-force UA's website by making a multi-city ticket with all the connections, though that route has become far less reliable than it used to be.

Good luck!

(P.S. If all else fails, I would book the individual tickets for the $250+ savings. Your chances of major screw-ups aren't that bad, and usually you can find an agent nice -- or ignorant -- enough to help rebook you if you miss a connection due to a delayed inbound flight.)

xliioper

Nesting is only an issue when it is used to circumvent minimum stay/Sat night stay requirements typically present in cheaper fare classes. The practice is generally referred to as "back-to-back" ticketing. What OP is proposing is perfectly fine and not a violation of ticketing rules.

o mikros

I have been told that even if just trying to basically do end-on-end ticketing, doing two roundtrips (one within the other) is against UA's CoC. However, if you know otherwise, it's entirely plausible that the CSR made that up on the spot. I think we all have been on the receiving end of some blatant falsehoods....

PsiFighter37

Don't forget that the extra tickets get you $10 extra in TravelBank credit too

o mikros

That's the first thing I thought of!

lhrsfo

The savings you have identified are largely simply the UK APD. Have you tried an open jaw of OMA - MAN and then DUB - OMA. That will avoid APD and getting from MAN to DUB is very cheap indeed (and Ryanair is reliable if basic).

televisor

FWIW my (european) travel insurance covers missed connections (on separate tickets), as long as the scheduled connection is over 6 hours. I'm unfamiliar with the US equivalents, and a 6 hour layover is rather long (not worth it IMHO), but it's also something worth considering.