What is a connecting flight?
A connecting flight is a journey made on two or more flights booked as one ticket, with a change of aircraft in between. Because it is a single ticket, the airline is responsible for getting you to your final destination if the first flight runs late.
Connecting flight explained
The single ticket is the whole point, and it is what separates a connecting flight from two separate bookings that happen to follow each other. On one ticket the airline has accepted responsibility for the connection. Miss it because the inbound flight was delayed and they rebook you at their cost, usually on the next available service.
That protection applies even when two different airlines operate the two legs, provided they hold an interline agreement and the flights were sold together. Your bags are normally checked through to the final destination, and at many airports you never re-enter the public terminal at all.
The alternative is what booking sites call self transfer, where you buy two unconnected tickets. It often looks cheaper on screen. It also means that if the first flight lands late, the second airline owes you nothing and you buy a new ticket. Furthermore you collect and re-check your own bags, which eats far more of the layover than most people budget for.
For long haul premium travel the connection is frequently where the value sits. A one stop routing through a carrier's own hub can price well below the nonstop on the same dates, and on some routes it buys a materially better cabin. Whether that trade is worth it depends on the length of the layover and how the aircraft on each leg compare.
More on connecting flight
The connecting flight is the journey itself, made up of two or more legs on one ticket. The layover is the waiting time between those legs. One describes the booking, the other describes the gap in the middle.
Usually yes, when the legs are on a single ticket. Some itineraries require you to collect and re-check bags, most often when the connection crosses into a country that demands customs clearance at the first point of entry.
On a single ticket the airline rebooks you on the next available flight at no cost, because the connection was their responsibility. On two separate tickets you have no such protection and would need to buy a new ticket.
Often, and in premium cabins the gap can be substantial. A one stop routing through an airline's own hub sometimes prices well below the nonstop on the same dates, and occasionally buys a better cabin on the long leg.
The rest of the glossary
See all 28 termsFlights and connections
Aircraft and cabins