Is it advisable to ‘self-connect’ between flights?

“I’m off to Lebanon and Syria,” declares Jeroen van Marle casually. (I ought to stress that the Foreign Office warns against journey to elements of the previous and all of the latter). After his go to he will probably be heading from Damascus to Berlin.

“While planning travel I came across offers for ‘self-transfer’ tickets that were attractively priced,” Jeroen reviews. “The best flights were from Damascus via Istanbul to Berlin on Turkish Airlines. But booking through companies like Mytrip and Gotogate was much cheaper – if I was prepared to accept the hassle of checking in again at Istanbul.”

While I’m not the best fan of online journey brokers (OTAs), I’ve booked through both Mytrip and Gotogate without undue issues; Mytrip refunded a cancelled flight swiftly and in full.

Such OTAs exist because airways need extra gross sales energy. In a excellent world, Turkish Airlines would promote all its tickets direct. But that shouldn’t be how the aviation business works. The provider desires to be related in the intensely fare-sensitive half of the market, such as people who search on Skyscanner and other price-comparison websites.

In the absence of any direct flights between the Syrian and German capitals, the plain connecting level is Istanbul: partly because it is a large hub, and also because it lies straight on the route.

After Jeroen contacted me, I made a take a look at reserving from Damascus via Istanbul to Berlin through Turkish Airlines on 8 October. The fare quoted is £532. The two online journey brokers Jeroen mentions both quote virtually £200 less – for somebody ready to take the risk that the first flight will probably be late. There is a connection window of one hour 55 minutes, which needs to be enough.

Jeroen continues: “I’m curious how it will go, and if they’re going to require me to go ‘landside’ and back through security at Istanbul.”

With cabin baggage only, and having checked in ahead on Turkish Airlines, Jeroen should be able to follow the transfer procedure at Istanbul: going through a security check and then heading straight for the gate for the flight to Berlin while remaining airside.

This is just as well, because last time I was in Istanbul getting through passport control took nearly an hour.

Online travel agents often sell “guaranteed” self-connect, offering some degree of cover for a new flight if you miss the connection. But looking at the Mytrip guarantee, for example, “extreme weather conditions” and strikes are not covered. In my experience these are two of the most common causes of a missed connection.

Much better to build in a buffer and make the most of Istanbul – one of the world’s best cities. I occur to be flying from Beirut to Bucharest in a couple of weeks; I’ve booked a “self-connect” via Larnaca on Cyprus Airways and Wizz Air, but with an in a single day keep on the island constructed in.

Why, though, the distinction in fares? It is uncommon certainly in aviation for a ticket from A via B to C to be more costly than the sum of flights from A to B and B to C. So I dug deeper.

The deal through Turkish Airlines is for a totally versatile ticket (with a full refund if you ask for one) and a checked baggage allowance of 30kg. It also comes with a guarantee that if the first flight from Damascus to Istanbul is late and you miss the connection, Turkish Airlines will look after you – rebooking you on the next accessible flight to the German capital.

If you’ll be able to journey with cabin baggage only and are tempted with self-connecting to save money, beware a couple of pitfalls: first, you must be correctly documented for the intermediate airport.

For instance, a self-connect from the UK to Kathmandu in Nepal via Delhi wouldn’t work unless you’ve got an Indian visa. Even though you’ll keep “airside”, the airline flying you on the first leg wants to know you’re have permission to enter India.

And if issues unravel, with a missed onward connection, rescuing the journey can show extraordinarily costly – as I found in Singapore earlier this 12 months, when my British Airways-Jetstar self-connect fell aside and I ended up spending the equal of £1,000 on business class on Emirates, the only flight I might discover.

Read more Plane and Train Talk from Simon Calder