What's the difference between same-ticket and separate-ticket connections?

This is the single most important thing to understand about connecting flights, and most travelers don't know it until it's too late.

Same ticket (one booking, one confirmation number): The airline is responsible for your entire journey. If they delay your first flight and you miss your connection, they must rebook you on the next available flight at no charge. If the rebooking isn't until tomorrow, they must provide a hotel. If you give up and want to go home, they must refund the unused portion. You're protected.

Separate tickets (two bookings, two confirmation numbers): Each airline only cares about their own leg. If you miss your second flight because the first was late, the second airline considers you a no-show. You lose that ticket. You buy a new one at walk-up prices. No one is responsible for the gap.

How to tell: If you have one confirmation number and one itinerary email, it's one ticket. If you have two separate confirmation emails, two different booking references, or you booked each flight individually (especially through different airlines or separate OTA bookings), they're separate tickets.

This matters most for budget carrier connections. Frontier + Spirit, or a domestic + international on unrelated airlines booked separately — these are separate tickets even if a website sold them together. Self-transfer services like Kiwi.com sell separate-ticket itineraries that look like single bookings but aren't.

Rule of thumb: never book a connection under 3 hours on separate tickets. The risk isn't worth the savings.