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Here's my situation: Flying on Feb 12 to Punta Cana

I bought my ticket from Kiwi.com with the following routes

Cebu -> Manila (Philippines Airlines)
Manila -> Bangkok (Thai Airways)
Bangkok -> Munich (Thai Airways)
Munich -> Punta Cana (Eurowings)

I know usually for connecting flights, baggages are being checked in to the final destination.

The problem:

I have called Philippines Airlines They said I will have to checkin with Thai Airways - No Problem

I have called Thai Airways They have no agreement with Eurowings. I will need to check-in in Munich.

My conclusion: Kiwi.com booked all the flights on my behalf as separated tickets.

I am an Haitian Passport holder, I don't have a US nor a Schengen Visa.

I am thinking about these two options:

  • Rebook my flight with a safer destination and forget the money (900$)
  • Take the risk and flight anyway and be ready for whatever happen

What would you suggest?

drat
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Phil
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    Kiwi.com indeed sell trips composed of multiple separate tickets, but they usually tell you in advance when they do (it may not be very explicit though). If you have hold luggage you will indeed have to reclaim and re-check your luggage, which means you need to enter the Schengen Area and thus need a Schengen visa. You probably won’t even be allowed to board your earlier flights without one. – jcaron Jan 22 '19 at 08:48
  • The first thing that I would do is to check if it's really booked on separate tickets. The Thai Airways representative may not know about an agreement with Eurowings. But I see the possibility that the whole ticket is booked on Lufthansa ticket stock. If you log into the Eurowings website with your confirmation code, do you see any other legs of your journey? – DCTLib Jan 22 '19 at 09:22
  • True. I have contacted Eurowings, I can get my boarding pass online 24 hours before my flight and check in online. I have chose to travel with hand carry baggage only. I think that's the safest way to go with this route. – Phil Jan 22 '19 at 09:24
  • @Phil There is still the risk that Philippines Airlines or Thai Airways will deny boarding because you do not have a visa to enter your destination country (which is Germany from their perspective if the trip is really booked on two tickets) – DCTLib Jan 22 '19 at 09:27
  • @DCTLib Thanks for you input. Yes I have two different PNR for the flights and there is no reference to Lufthansa in the booking details on the web portal. I agree... There is still a risk... But I will have my boarding pass, I benefit from the TWOV – Phil Jan 22 '19 at 09:46
  • @Phil If I were you, I would try to get written confirmation from Philippines Airlines and Thai Airways that they will accept a print-out of a Eurowings boarding pass to allow you to take the flights to Manila and Munich. You may experience gate agents who will claim that this is not enough (see https://travel.stackexchange.com/questions/81526/how-to-plan-a-transfer-through-the-schengen-area-on-separate-flights-without-hol). It doesn't suffice to follow the rules, but the airlines involved must also be convinced that you do. Also, you can't bring checked luggage if you follow this route. – DCTLib Jan 22 '19 at 09:57
  • @DCTLib Thank you very much. The link was useful. I will also print this https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/annex_7b_atv-national_lists_en.pdf – Phil Jan 22 '19 at 10:10

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Everything went well !

My flight from Cebu to Manila was a domestic one. No issue there, as expected.

I checked in 24 hours before my flight from Munich to Punta Cana and I was issued an electronic boarding pass.

I presented the boarding pass to the Thai Airways agent in Manila and after checking, she asked me if I had check in baggage (I said no). She printed my boarding passes (MNL-BKK-MUC) and didn't even weight my hand luggage.

The web Check-in and traveling with only hand luggage were really key in making this trip a success.

Phil
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  • Every Kiwi answer gets this comment: check travel.stackexchange.com/q/134484/4188 before using their guarantee. –  Mar 30 '19 at 15:28