Cheaper to book with code-share partners seperatly!?!
Jul 25, 2013, 8:31 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 2
Cheaper to book with code-share partners seperatly!?!
Looking at flying Christchurch, NZ to Detroit DTW in august (made this flight before).
Virgin Australia will fly me from Christchurch to LA via Brisbane then put me on a code-share with delta.
Just out of interest I hoped on the delta website to look at how much they would charge for their part of the journey. To my surprise I could book the exact same flight from LA to Detroit for considerably cheaper saving myself a few hundred dollars in the process.
This didn't seem right.
Whats going on here VA?
Virgin Australia will fly me from Christchurch to LA via Brisbane then put me on a code-share with delta.
Just out of interest I hoped on the delta website to look at how much they would charge for their part of the journey. To my surprise I could book the exact same flight from LA to Detroit for considerably cheaper saving myself a few hundred dollars in the process.
This didn't seem right.
Whats going on here VA?
Jul 25, 2013, 12:30 pm
#2
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: TLV now - formerly LAS
Programs: King of Rental Cars, BA Gold, Virgin Gold, AA MM Gold, A3 Gold, SK Gold, Hotel SuperElite
Posts: 7,357
VA is charging you for the combined CHC-DTW fare. Seperating CHC-LAX & LAX-DTW will sometimes be less expensive and sometimes more expensive. Welcome to the world of frequent flyers. You will soon discover that sometimes the cheapest way from point a to point b is not what you are led to believe. Good luck and welcome to FlyerTalk.
Jul 25, 2013, 3:22 pm
#3
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: GLA
Programs: AF/KL FB Plat 4L, VA Vel Silver, BA EC, LH M&M
Posts: 1,825
Let me add that there are several possible reasons as to why the combined ticket can be more expensive or cheaper than two separate tickets, such as demand differentials, competition, or agreements between airlines where one airline buys seats in bulk from another airline.
Note however that if you book the flights on separate tickets, you will not be protected if a flight is late and you miss the connection.
Note however that if you book the flights on separate tickets, you will not be protected if a flight is late and you miss the connection.
Jul 25, 2013, 5:47 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SYD
Programs: |QF Platinum|DL Platinum|HH Gold|ALL Silver|
Posts: 1,738
Aren't there ways that you can link PNRs to ensure this doesn't happen? Or does that only work if you have two separate bookings with the same airline?
Jul 25, 2013, 5:59 pm
#5
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: MEL
Programs: QF Platinum, VA Gold
Posts: 417
Even if you could link the tickets in this manner, it doesn't protect you in case of a misconnect. The only way you're protected is if the entire journey is on a single ticket.
Jul 25, 2013, 8:01 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 2
You might be able to link the PNRs if they were both VA tickets (and assuming that you are able to find someone at VA who knows how to do it), but I don't think you'd be able to in this scenario (one VA ticket CHC-LAX, one DL ticket LAX-DTW).
Even if you could link the tickets in this manner, it doesn't protect you in case of a misconnect. The only way you're protected is if the entire journey is on a single ticket.
Even if you could link the tickets in this manner, it doesn't protect you in case of a misconnect. The only way you're protected is if the entire journey is on a single ticket.
Jul 26, 2013, 1:45 am
#7
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SYD
Programs: |QF Platinum|DL Platinum|HH Gold|ALL Silver|
Posts: 1,738
You mean Transit Insurance? I'll have to check mine, I have an upcoming trip with two different segments booked with different airlines and PNRs, will be good if this is covered. For some reason I thought it only applied to a transit within a booking...