Booking separate flights cost one family nearly $3,000 on a trip to Iceland

A traveller's cut-price plan for a trip to Iceland unravelled earlier this year when a storm in New York stranded their family and wiped out the flights they had booked to Europe. The mistake — booking separate itineraries with only a five-hour buffer — ended up costing nearly $3,000 and a day of travel.

The trip began as a bargain: a $317 one-way Icelandair flight to Ireland with a multi-day layover in Reykjavik. The catch was that the flight departed from New York, while the traveller's family of three was flying up from their home airport in Florida.

Key facts

• Original fare: $317 one-way on Icelandair to Ireland, with a stopover in Reykjavik
• New tickets bought at short notice cost $2,573 in total
• Change fee on the original booking: $250 per person, with no refunds
• Card trip-cancellation cover reimbursed $952 for the unused Icelandair tickets
• The family's airline-covered hotel after the diversion cost $185

What went wrong?

A storm in New York cancelled the family's JetBlue flight from Florida. Their replacement flight could not land and was diverted to Virginia, and because the family was then marked as no-shows, their Icelandair flight to Europe was automatically cancelled.

Missing the first flight on this stopover itinerary also cancelled the onward leg to Dublin, which the traveller describes as standard airline policy. The family reached New York the next morning and flew to Iceland that evening, arriving about 24 hours later than planned.

How much did the mistake cost?

Getting the family back on track required buying new tickets: two basic economy seats at $734 each and one standard economy ticket with extra baggage allowance at $1,105, coming to $2,573. Changing the original tickets was not much cheaper — the fare carried a $250 per-person change fee plus any fare difference, and no refunds.

Who is responsible when flights are booked separately?

With connecting flights on a single itinerary, the airline is responsible for getting travellers to their destination and will rebook them at no extra cost if they miss a connection through no fault of their own. With separate bookings, the traveller is responsible for each connection — and the airline operating the next flight is generally not obliged to help if an earlier airline caused the miss.

Despite repeated calls, neither airline took responsibility in this case. The traveller notes that travellers who miss a connection on a single booking can research alternatives themselves and raise them with an agent, who may be able to accommodate them on a partner airline.

What did credit card insurance cover?

Trip cancellation and interruption protection on a Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business reimbursed $952 for the unused Icelandair tickets — covered prepaid expenses, not the cost of new tickets. Trip-delay protection on an American Express Business Platinum Card did not apply because the outward and return flights were charged to different cards, and its terms require the full round-trip fare on the eligible card. That left a $103 dinner after the diversion uncovered, though the airline reimbursed the $185 hotel stay for the night of the diversion.

What this means for travellers

• Build in at least 24 hours between separate bookings, particularly before a long-haul flight or fixed commitments such as a cruise or concert.
• Read the change and cancellation terms before paying — the traveller says almost every fare class they looked at had punitive policies.
• Book all trip expenses on one card with travel protections, and keep receipts for added costs during a disruption.

The traveller says the extra hotel night is a small price compared with rebooking international flights, and plans to book that buffer on future trips.