Can BA put two separate tickets on a single one?

[Michael_S]

Here’s my issue

We have booked an open jaw return ticket, with 2-4-1 voucher: LHR-Mumbai, Riyadh-LHR

We’re currently in Sri Lanka and I’ve booked one way tickets to Riyadh with Sri Lanka airlines (oneworld). Connection time is around ~5 hours, so if Sri Lankan flight doesn’t get delayed a lot we’re fine

But now i’m wondering if they will even let us board from Sri Lanka to Riyadh given Riyadh-LHR flight is not on the same ticket and we don’t have visas for Saudi Arabia. This might be at the mercy of check-in desk in Sri Lanka, honestly once we get to Riyadh we’ll be fine. Saudi Arabia also allows for visa-free transits up to 12 hours connection time, for what it’s worth, but what connection means (and what sri lankan think it means) is a question

Is there any point ringing BA to try to put these two separate tickets on the same one? Any other advice?

[SamG]

Interesting routing!!

BA won’t be able to do anything, as you say you’ll need to deal with check in at Sri Lanka. Can’t see it being an issue personally, not an uncommon situation for passport holders in that area of the world to need visas to get to many places

The Timatic wording that they’d most likely consult says

TWOV (Transit Without Visa):
Passengers transiting through Dammam (DMM), Jeddah (JED) or Riyadh (RUH) with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 12 hours. They must stay in the international transit area of the airport and have documents required for the next destination.

Only one transit stop-over in Saudi Arabia is permitted.

Which you meet the criteria for

[TGLoyalty]

Actually for me the only issue is if they won’t through check any luggage … as you’d have to clear immigration, collect your bags and re check in.

Fingers cross Sri Lankan acting like Qatar and happily though check luggage on seperate itenaries also long as they are oneworld carriers.

[Michael_S]

Oh we don’t have check-in luggages and we’re flying with just one carry-on bag and one personal bag, business in both legs (so unlikely to be forced to check in luggage)

The funny thing is I did the same exact route last year but I think I booked it with BA as one single flight. With 2-4-1 involved this year, I replicated it with one ways and open jaw, but missed this connection issue, until 4 days to my flight now

Another funny thing, saudi airlines terminal is different than ba / sri lankan, so unless you fly saudi, there’s no connection per se. But you find a ground agent and they happily chaperon you from arrival to departure. As I said once you get there it’s all fine

I guess our best bet is to go to sri lankan business check in and if they raise the issue, show them TMOV wording above. Where do you see that? Is there an official website?

[SamG]

Likely they’d check the bags through anyway, most full service airlines still will. If you have any issue then ask them to check Timatic, more than likely they’d be using it. You can see the results yourself here – https://www.emirates.com/uk/english/before-you-fly/visa-passport-information/ but not sure they’d accept that as a source!

[TGLoyalty]

That’s good you have no checked. Sounds like you’ll be fine

[Matt]

Sri Lankan will check baggage across separate Oneworld bookings.

Airlines should follow Timatic, so if you’re within those rules you should be fine. Obviously the risk is if the first flight is delayed.

[Michael_S]

UPDATE FOR ANYONE HAVING SAME QUESTION

Sri Lankan Airlines didn’t ask anything about Saudi visa. We told them we’re connecting. They asked us if we have the onward flight boarding pass but they didn’t even ask to see it. Check-in was a breeze

Connection in Riyadh was a mess, because there’s no direct connection facility in the terminal where BA and Sri Lankan operates. You find an airport employee, who then liaises with a Swissport employee to chaperone you through a back door, via an additional security machine back to departure area. A 3 minute connection ended up being 2 hours because these guys operate on their own time and disappear and come back every 15 minutes while you’re waiting

[irenenatalie2]

I’m not sure if British Airways could combine the two separate tickets into one, but it might be worth giving them a call to ask. In the meantime, it must be a good idea to reach out to Sri Lankan Airlines and see if they have any advice or information on handling this situation.

[irenenatalie2]

irenenatalie2 wrote:

I’m not sure if British Airways could combine the two separate tickets into one, but it might be worth giving them a call to ask. In the meantime, it must be a good idea to reach out to Sri Lankan Airlines and see if they have any advice or information on handling this situation.

Also, you can consider business class flights from other airlines as an alternative. I hope that helps!

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

irenenatalie2 wrote:

I’m not sure if British Airways could combine the two separate tickets into one, but it might be worth giving them a call to ask. In the meantime, it must be a good idea to reach out to Sri Lankan Airlines and see if they have any advice or information on handling this situation.

BA cannot combine separate BA bookings let alone bookings involving another airline.

There is no point in calling BA.

[tiriavpo]

irenenatalie2 wrote:

I’m not sure if British Airways could combine the two separate tickets into one, but it might be worth giving them a call to ask. In the meantime, it must be a good idea to reach out to Sri Lankan Airlines and see if they have any advice or information on handling this situation.

This flight has taken place! The OP updated the thread and posted their account of events on 18 April.