Kiwi.com explained: self-transfer and Guarantee

On many routes there are two ways to get there: one ticket from an airline or alliance that takes you to your destination with a connection – or two single flights that you connect yourself. Kiwi.com has turned the second way into a business model. That can open up new routes and lower fares, but it shifts responsibility to you. This article explains how it works, what the connection involves, what the Kiwi.com Guarantee does according to Kiwi.com, and when you are better off with a normal ticket.

What is Kiwi.com?

Kiwi.com is a flight booking platform based in Brno in the Czech Republic. You search and book on the website or in the app, and Kiwi.com then books the individual flights with the airlines. According to Kiwi.com, the total price is made up of the airline's ticket price and a Kiwi.com service fee.

What makes it different is the search: Kiwi.com combines flights from airlines that do not normally work together. Kiwi.com itself calls this its most popular feature. In the industry, the principle is known as virtual interlining.

Virtual interlining: what is behind it

When airlines cooperate – in an alliance, through codeshares or an interline agreement – they sell connecting flights on one ticket. Your bags are checked through to your destination, and if a delay makes you miss the connection, the airline has to rebook you on a later flight.

Low-cost carriers usually do not do this. They sell routes from A to B without onward flights on other airlines. Kiwi.com puts these single flights together itself, for example a low-cost flight to Milan and a second one from Milan to Lisbon. In the search results this looks like a connecting flight. Technically, though, these are separate bookings – Kiwi.com calls it a self-transfer.

1. Hamburg
2. Milan
3. Lisbon

Base map: Natural Earth

The example is a diagram, not a specific connection: flight 1 from Hamburg to Milan and flight 2 from Milan to Lisbon are two bookings of their own, often with two different airlines.

What it means for you

A self-transfer is not an official connection. Kiwi.com itself says that the airlines take no responsibility for these connections. That has a few consequences you should know before you book.

Collecting and re-checking your bags. According to Kiwi.com, you collect your checked bags at the connecting airport from the belt of your first flight, leave the transit area and take them to the check-in desk or bag drop of your next flight. Then, just as at departure, you go through security and, where applicable, customs to the gate. If the connection is too short for this, Kiwi.com says it does not offer checked baggage at all – you see that before you book.

Even without a suitcase you may have to go landside. If you do not yet have a boarding pass for the second flight, Kiwi.com says you have to leave the transit area to check in. At some airports you go through passport control straight after arrival.

Visas and documents. Kiwi.com writes that if you need a visa to enter the connecting country, you also need it for the self-transfer – you need the same documents as if the connecting country were your final destination. If you connect outside the Schengen area or, for example, in the UK, check this before you book.

Delays. If a delay makes you miss your second flight, according to Kiwi.com only the airline that caused the delay helps you – and only with the flights on its own booking. It will not find a replacement for the missed connection or refund it. Compensation you are legally owed also applies only to the disrupted booking.

Large airports. Some large airports have terminals that are not directly connected. Plan extra time for changing terminals.

The Kiwi.com Guarantee

For this gap, Kiwi.com offers the Kiwi.com Guarantee, which you add when you book. Kiwi.com describes it as a package of protection against disruptions, automatic check-in, real-time updates and round-the-clock chat support. What Kiwi.com says about it:

• When it applies: when your trip is disrupted because airlines delayed, rescheduled, overbooked or cancelled part of it. For self-transfers, Kiwi.com also names Connection Protection for missed connections.
• What you get: instant compensation as Kiwi.com Credit, which you can use to book a replacement flight right away, or help with applying for a refund from the airline.
• What you have to do: for automatic check-in, your passport or ID details should be added at least 24 hours before departure.
• Without the add-on: Kiwi.com says it still helps you find alternatives, but does not cover the costs or guarantee a refund; that then depends on the airlines.

The exact conditions, exclusions and deadlines are set out in Kiwi.com's rules. Read them before you book, especially if the connection is tight. One thing always depends on you: if you yourself arrive too late for check-in or bag drop, that is not a disruption caused by the airline.

When a self-transfer makes sense

• Routes without a good connection: for example between two regional airports that no single airline serves together.
• Hand luggage only and plenty of buffer: if you travel with hand luggage only and have several hours to connect, you avoid the biggest risks.
• With a stopover: you can turn the connection into a deliberate stop – a night or a day in the connecting city takes the time pressure out completely.
• Flexible trips: backpacking without fixed dates at the destination copes better with a missed connection.

Whether a combination is worth it on price only shows when you compare. In the Kiwi.com flight search^* the results show whether a connection includes a self-transfer.

When a normal ticket is better

• Fixed appointments at the destination: a wedding, the start of a cruise, a business meeting, an onward train – reliability matters more than price here.
• Short connection time: the shorter the buffer, the bigger the risk. On one ticket the airline carries that risk; on a self-transfer, you do.
• Checked bags, children, reduced mobility: collecting bags, checking in again and going through security with children or little time is hard work.
• A connection that needs a visa: if you need a visa for the connecting country, the advantage often disappears.
• Long haul with only one onward flight a day: if you miss it, the next option may only be the following day.

Practical tips for a self-transfer

1. Choose a generous connection time. Count getting off the plane, the baggage belt, the walk to check-in, security and possibly passport control – and then a buffer for delays.
2. Look at the airport beforehand. Same terminal? How far is it to departures? Is there passport control at the connection?
3. Check in online where you can. With a boarding pass for the second flight and no checked bags, you may not have to leave the transit area.
4. Check the baggage rules of both airlines. Low-cost carriers often have different hand luggage rules. What is accepted on the first flight may not be on the second.
5. Sort out documents for the connecting country. Visa, entry rules, passport validity – as if it were your destination.

How YesTrip helps

In YesTrip you search for flights, hotels and tours in one place, with filters for departure time, stops and price. You book directly with the provider on their terms – YesTrip never books anything itself. You add your booked flight to your trip plan; the AI day plan then shows your arrival, the way into town and the first stops. If you plan a stopover in the connecting city, simply add a day for it. The packing list suggests what to bring based on the weather at your destination – handy if you want to travel with hand luggage only because of the self-transfer.

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