Why can't I book this specific combination of flights on Turkish Airlines?
I am looking to purchase tickets from London to Tbilisi for this summer on Turkish Airlines (for reasons out of scope for this question, this needs to be Turkish Airlines).
When I search on Turkish Airlines web site, I am offered various connection options, with different first and second legs of the connecting flight from LHR to TBS. There seems to be no way to select individual flights - only specific combinations. For example, there are these flights:
LHR to IST -- 11:30 - 17:20
IST to TBS -- 19:30 - 22:45.
This is a very reasonable connection time of just over two hours. However the airline's website doesn't give me an option of choosing these flights. There are definitely seats available for these flights, as I do have an option of picking different combinations including one or the other of these two flights, but not the two together.
I tried looking on other sites, including the usual expedia, kayak, etc. as well as on ITA matrix - no luck.
Of course, I could always book these on two separate tickets, however this isn't a viable option - I need all flights to be on the same ticket.
Is there any reason why they wouldn't offer me this option? And, more importantly, is there any way to choose individual flights for my connection?
P.S. I haven't tried the phone booking yet - possibly they would be able to do this for me.
Best Answer
A flight from London to Istanbul takes approximately 4 hours. The time difference between London and Istanbul is 3 hours. So the flight leaving at 11.30 should arrive at approximately 18.30. At least Skyscanner gives me this rough timetable. It might be possible that some of the sites you use still have the wrong timezones, as Turkey quite recently changed their timezone.
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Can I book 2 flights at the same time?
I'm going to give that United representative the benefit of the doubt and assume they were misinformed and not actively trying to mislead a customer. But the answer to the question is no \u2014 it is absolutely not against the law to book two tickets for the same day on the same route.How do I book a round trip with different airports?
On the Skyscanner homepage or app, select 'Multi-city' at the top of the search panel. Then: Enter up to six legs of your journey, selecting your departure airport, destination and dates from the drop-down menus.Can you book overlapping flights?
"Nested ticketing" or "nesting itineraries," sometimes also called "back-to-back flights," could help you save a ton on flights, but may be a little risky. It works best if you need to book two trips to and from the same destinations (say, going home to visit your family for Thanksgiving and then again for Christmas).Can you link two separate flights with the same airline?
A: It depends, but the general rule is NO. Some airlines will through check baggage onto separately ticketed flights, but some won't (even if both tickets are with the same airline). Some airlines will take pity if your delay is due to them, but others don't.Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Ann H, George Milton, Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska