question about connecting flights

In article , jenn wrote:

I had a US flight out of London and was told that if my intraeuropean
flight to get to London was late and I missed it I was out the ticket --
I flew in the day before so as not to risk it -- but I doubt that they
would have flown me [it was a very restricted ticket -- but how many of
us fly full fare?]

And I am pretty sure they would have flown you. Plenty of people miss
their flights because their cars break down, they get stuck in traffic
on the way to the airport, etc. What do you think happens - the airline
tells them to go home? In my experience (and it happened a few times
over the years), they sigh and let you go standby on the next flight.
Missing a flight because you are connecting from a different airline
is not all that different.

A couple of years ago Continental and a few other US airlines tried
some nonsense along these lines (``if you don't call us and miss your
flight, you lose the full value of your ticket''), but it did not last
long due to passenger backlash.

None of this applies to cheapo European airlines like Ryanair.
From what I hear, even if you are already standing in the check-in
line and some some ridiculous cutoff time (40 minutes before scheduled
departure? who on earth comes to the airport this early?) rolls in,
that's it, you are hitchhiking.

In article , jenn wrote:

I had a US flight out of London and was told that if my intraeuropean
flight to get to London was late and I missed it I was out the ticket --
I flew in the day before so as not to risk it -- but I doubt that they
would have flown me [it was a very restricted ticket -- but how many of
us fly full fare?]

And I am pretty sure they would have flown you. Plenty of people miss
their flights because their cars break down, they get stuck in traffic
on the way to the airport, etc. What do you think happens - the airline
tells them to go home? In my experience (and it happened a few times
over the years), they sigh and let you go standby on the next flight.
Missing a flight because you are connecting from a different airline
is not all that different.

A couple of years ago Continental and a few other US airlines tried
some nonsense along these lines (``if you don't call us and miss your
flight, you lose the full value of your ticket''), but it did not last
long due to passenger backlash.

None of this applies to cheapo European airlines like Ryanair.
From what I hear, even if you are already standing in the check-in
line and some some ridiculous cutoff time (40 minutes before scheduled
departure? who on earth comes to the airport this early?) rolls in,
that's it, you are hitchhiking.

On 17/09/2004, Vitaly Shmatikov wrote:

None of this applies to cheapo European airlines like Ryanair.
From what I hear, even if you are already standing in the check-in
line and some some ridiculous cutoff time (40 minutes before
scheduled departure? who on earth comes to the airport this early?)
rolls in, that's it, you are hitchhiking.

That's correct. I've seen them do this to a group of passengers in
front of me in the queue at STN.

It nearly happened to me recently at PIK. I arrived two hours before
the scheduled departure, and the queue was so slow that I almost missed
the 40 minute deadline. To add insult to injury the flight then
departed an hour late.

--
Simon Elliott http://www.ctsn.co.uk

On 17/09/2004, Vitaly Shmatikov wrote:

None of this applies to cheapo European airlines like Ryanair.
From what I hear, even if you are already standing in the check-in
line and some some ridiculous cutoff time (40 minutes before
scheduled departure? who on earth comes to the airport this early?)
rolls in, that's it, you are hitchhiking.

That's correct. I've seen them do this to a group of passengers in
front of me in the queue at STN.

It nearly happened to me recently at PIK. I arrived two hours before
the scheduled departure, and the queue was so slow that I almost missed
the 40 minute deadline. To add insult to injury the flight then
departed an hour late.

--
Simon Elliott http://www.ctsn.co.uk

Miss L. Toe wrote in message ...

IME (on both sides of the atlantic) US airlines are very likely just to
stick you on the next flight with few questions, European airlines tend to
be less forgiving.


Impossible to give a definitive answer. The above is reasonably accurate but
it does depend on a lot of variables. Southwest (a US LCC) for example will
not simply put you on the next flight without payment.
The majors probably would unless space is at a premium and/or the CSR is
having a bad day.
I never book an offline connection for less than 4 hours.

Miss L. Toe wrote in message ...

IME (on both sides of the atlantic) US airlines are very likely just to
stick you on the next flight with few questions, European airlines tend to
be less forgiving.


Impossible to give a definitive answer. The above is reasonably accurate but
it does depend on a lot of variables. Southwest (a US LCC) for example will
not simply put you on the next flight without payment.
The majors probably would unless space is at a premium and/or the CSR is
having a bad day.
I never book an offline connection for less than 4 hours.