Please dont flame me for trying to do this on the cheap!
OK I am going to NYC in the Summer. Flights direct from the UK seemed to be over the £500 mark. So, I did a creative bit of research and found that flights to and from Ireland are so much cheaper than flights from the UK. So for my return flight I am flying Aer Lingus JFK-DUB-LPL, which is great, one way ticket and it cost about £130.
The problem is the outbound flight. I found this itinerary on expedia DUB-LHR (with BMI) LHR-JFK (with AA). I booked this purely because of the AA flight and this cost £228. The problem is I dont really need the BMI flight as I live in Manchester. To book the AA flight on its own was £445 from LHR-JFK, but if I start from DUB the cost was reduced to £228. So, my questions are:
Do I really have to take the BMI flight (expedia said I would have too as AA would not let me check in if I dont check in the for BMI flight)?
Why is the AA flight so much cheaper with the BMI flights from DUB?
(Now the really cheeky, and probably highly unlikely question ((and dont flame me for this, you dont get if you dont ask))) Do you think BMI would change the flight to MAN instead of DUB? (ok probably not)
Thanks for your help
[Edited 2005-04-01 00:28:07]
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- Starlionblue
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RE: Weird Itinery, Help Needed!
| Quoting Catatonic (Thread starter): Do I really have to take the BMI flight (expedia said I would have too as AA would not let me check in if I dont check in the for BMI flight)? |
Yes you will have to if it's the first leg. Technically you have to take all the legs of course, but if you miss the first one that's it.
| Quoting Catatonic (Thread starter): Why is the AA flight so much cheaper with the BMI flights from DUB? |
The mysteries of fare calculation...
| Quoting Catatonic (Thread starter): (Now the really cheeky, and probably highly unlikely question ((and dont flame me for this, you dont get if you dont ask))) Do you think BMI would change the flight to MAN instead of DUB? (ok probably not) |
Nope. Airfare will be totally different since you go from another country.
Just out of curiosity, what's up with wanting to fly AA? Granted I fly AA all the time but I would hardly call them the best across the pond. You can fly direct MAN-JFK on BA, or even with an AA codeshare (AA6679).
"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots." - John Ringo
RE: Weird Itinery, Help Needed!
| Quoting Catatonic (Thread starter): Do I really have to take the BMI flight |
You probably do need to take this leg. Most airlines will cancel all down line space if you don't show up for the first leg of you journey. They assume you aren’t coming.
RE: Weird Itinerary, Help Needed!
| Quoting Starlionblue (Reply 1): Just out of curiosity, what's up with wanting to fly AA? Granted I fly AA all the time but I would hardly call them the best across the pond. You can fly direct MAN-JFK on BA, or even with an AA codeshare (AA6679). |
Well the BA flight you are referring to cost about £600. Would probable be about £450 one way. Besides I do prefer AA and it is a 777! The total for this trip is £375 so its not all that bad. Incidentally, how would AA know if I dont show for the BMI flight? Are they code share partners?
Equally Cursed and Blessed.
RE: Weird Itinerary, Help Needed!
| Quoting Catatonic (Reply 4): how would AA know if I dont show for the BMI flight? Are they code share partners? |
They may be partners, but it really wouldn’t matter. Normally when a fare is quoted it is a combined itinerary all in one record. The first flight might be BD and the next AA, but the segments will probably all be linked under the same record. They are also lumped in one record so you can thru check any bags you may have, and get all the boarding passes at the same time. That is the way AA would know you are coming in.
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- Starlionblue
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RE: Weird Itinerary, Help Needed!
| Quoting Catatonic (Reply 4): Besides I do prefer AA and it is a 777! |
Well the BA 777s have 3-3-3 so I find the AA 777s with 2-5-2 vastly superior. But it's only 7½ hours westbound. No huge deal whichever plane I fly, and I have done this in 346/772/741/742/744/762/763/773. BTW AF, AY, FI KL tend to have good deals over the poind, and since you have to connect anyway...
| Quoting Catatonic (Reply 4): Incidentally, how would AA know if I dont show for the BMI flight? A |
No, and that brings up a good point. If the trips are on the same ticket, you would have to do both legs. If they are on separate tickets, you would probably get away with not doing one leg. But given that the fare calculation was done with the BMi leg in mind, they are probably on the same ticket.
BTW let me know which AA LHR-JFK flight you choose. You may well see me on it, most likely in my beloved 31j.
"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots." - John Ringo
RE: Weird Itinerary, Help Needed!
Do you think it would be useful phoning AA to tell them that my extremely important buisness meeting in Dublin has now been cancelled and that I still need to go to NYC for another extremely important buisness meeting and will be getting on at LHR, or do you think they will smell bullsh*t?
Equally Cursed and Blessed.
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- whiskeyhotel
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RE: Weird Itinerary, Help Needed!
Starlion, what routes are these cheap transat AF fares on? I can never find anything cheap on AF from EDI to IAH/MSY/BNA (I know BNA/MSY would involve codesharing on DL...seems even though NW and CO are skyteam the AF website never offers any connecting flights within the US on anyone other than DL). I would love to try out AF transatlantic, but KL,NW,DL & CO are always significantly cheaper (by $200-$300)
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- Starlionblue
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RE: Weird Itinerary, Help Needed!
| Quoting WhiskeyHotel (Reply 8): Starlion, what routes are these cheap transat AF fares on? I can never find anything cheap on AF from EDI to IAH/MSY/BNA (I know BNA/MSY would involve codesharing on DL...seems even though NW and CO are skyteam the AF website never offers any connecting flights within the US on anyone other than DL). I would love to try out AF transatlantic, but KL,NW,DL & CO are always significantly cheaper (by $200-$300) |
Don't fly Eastbound on a Sunday night or Westbound on a Monday morning. Don't fly either way on Fridays when we're all going home. Middle of the week should be best for good prices.
Ok maybe things have changed but I took AF quite a bit a few years back and always found a decent fare.
| Quoting Catatonic (Reply 7): Do you think it would be useful phoning AA to tell them that my extremely important buisness meeting in Dublin has now been cancelled and that I still need to go to NYC for another extremely important buisness meeting and will be getting on at LHR, or do you think they will smell bullsh*t? |
If you have status and/or are flying full fare Monkey or higher, this might fly. For discounted tickets I think not
"There are no stupid questions, but there are a lot of inquisitive idiots." - John Ringo
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- FlyingTexan
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RE: Weird Itinerary, Help Needed!
| Quoting Catatonic (Reply 7): or do you think they will smell bullsh*t? |
They may not smell it, but will try and reissure said ticket with jaw dropping $200 (or equivalent currency) change fee plus o/w full Y over the drink.
"Wouldn't your boss like to fly home nonstop at 4:30 on a Friday afternoon?" -Airline Exec to Congressional Staffer
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