Advise on return journey with two difference airlines

[FrCrilly]

Hi All,

I’m planning to fly Dublin to Rome. For timing purposes, it suits me better to fly out with Ryanair and come back with Aer Lingus. I’m aware they use 2 different airports in Rome and that I’ll probably have to pay excessive luggage charges.

Can I ask is anyone aware of any hidden nasty with doing this that I haven’t spotted? Has anyone bad experience and if yes, what can be done going forward to prevent it?

Thanks In Advance

 

[zag]

Re: [Req] Advise on return journey with two difference airlines

There is no hidden problem.

You are aware that they fly from different airports, that's about all that could catch you out.

Most of the time you gain no benefit from booking a return with the same airline these days. It used to be the case that a return would cost say €200 and a single would cost €150, so in that case you would save money, but this rarely holds true these days. One exception I know of is CityJet to London City where a single can cost you €150 whereas the same flight booked as part of a return might cost you €50. They claim that a single fare indicates a business traveller, so they only sell flexible/expensive fares when you request a single.

z

 

[ROSS]

I did the same last weekend to Newcastle.
Did a day trip for a football match and went out with Aer Lingus and back with Ryanair. As it was a day trip we had no luggage but there are no hidden snags at all. It was interesting to compare the service. The beauty of online check meant we could arrive at security just an hour before departure which was great. Also you can preselect you seats when making the reservation with AL for I think 2 or 3 euro which makes the boarding so stress free ! Coming back it looked like everyone is checking in online with RA now to avoid the check in fee at the airport so the majority had priority passes. The usual scrum for boarding quickly ensued but there were enough seats for everyone !!
Like yourselves, we used the different airlines because the times suited better. One thing i would say which may not apply to you is the cost of a name change. Both AL & RA charge per booking and not per leg of journey. The RA fee for a name change is €100 for either a single or return flight and AL charge €75 for the same. So if you need to change a name the with both airlines total would be €175. We had hoped to change one passenger but didn't have to in the end luckily enough.
So make sure the passport names are used !!