Connecting flights with different airlines / bookings- what to do?

[SoTiredNeedHoliday]

Hi,
I need to book a connection for an internal flight in Japan. We will arrive in the morning and then I want to fly internally the same day.
How long should I leave between flights?

What happens if we are delayed?
I've never booked flights like this before.
thx

I always leave 5 hours between international and internal - it gives me an hour to get off the plane, do immigration, an hour to pick up bags and do customs, hour to get to the other terminal, recheck bag, hour to clear security etc and plenty of buffer time in there for delays.

If you book it as one ticket, then if you miss the flight they will rebook you - but if you book all separately then you don't get that protection

need to book a connection for an internal flight in Japan.

Connecting flight? Same airline? Same booking?

We will arrive in the morning and then I want to fly internally the same day

Arrive where? Small local airport or huge international?

How long should I leave between flights?

What do the airline recommend?

And What happens if we are delayed?

Through booking? They book you onto the next flight. Separate bookings? Your problem

I've never booked flights like this before.

It's not a good way to book flights.

CMOTDibbler many thanks for the comments, that is really helpful. Sometimes these types of bookings can't be avoided!

Are the airlines part of the same alliance? If its possible to book a through ticket within an alliance, do it - it doesn't need to be the same airline.

If you are switching from, e.g. KLM (Skyteam) to Jetstar Japan (One world) any delays are yours to sort out. Also remember that airlines can change schedules, and any issues arising from that are also yours to deal with.

I'd say 90 mins yo clear immigration coming off a big flight into Japan. They were slow, but very efficient, if that makes sense.

I'd say at least 4 hours, preferably 5. You'll have to clear customs, collect your luggage and then check it back in again.

Unfortunately if it's a separate bookings and you're delayed then you'd have to pay for a new flight.

OP is there any particular reason you thanked the pp and ignored all the questions I asked so I could try to help answer your question?

freshstartnewme don't take it personally. The other response managed to cover my questions without me disclosing where I am going and changing plans etc. Ive travelled a lot and however never been in the instance of needing to book something like this. If I wanted to disclose all my details for a specific answer I would have in my question.
I already knew everything you suggested / inferred.

thank you though.

Fair enough. Hope it works out for you.

I would phone the airline that you already have a booking with and see if you can add the second flight and change it into a connecting flight booking which will make all the issues with potential delays and cancellations the airline's responsibility.

If this is not possible or uneconomic, I would leave a few hours and hope for the best. ALso consider what other flights there are to your final destination. Obviously if there are several flights a day, it is easier and cheaper to deal with any problems than if there are only a few flights a week.

I've done connections of around an hour in massive hub airports (CDG, Schipol) and it's tight, sometimes involves needing to run, and there is little scope for delays, and it's always gone OK, but it's only ever been on one booking so no issues.