Missing Self-Transfer / Separate-Ticket Flights

[herredro]

Missing Self-Transfer / Separate-Ticket Flights

Note: This issue is related to but distinct from #65 (Cheapest flight third-party booking). That issue focuses on booking links/options, while this issue addresses the complete absence of self-transfer flights from results.

Problem Description

The fast-flights library does not return self-transfer flight combinations ("Eigener Transfer" in German UI). These are often the cheapest options available, especially on routes without direct or codeshare connections.

Evidence

Test Case: Casablanca (CMN) → Dubai (DXB), Sat Feb 14, 2026, 1 adult, economy

Flight	Google Flights (manual)	fast-flights scraper
Royal Air Maroc / AJet (self-transfer via MAD, ESB)	€311	❌ Not found
Transavia / AJet (self-transfer via AMS, ESB)	€319	❌ Not found
Royal Air Maroc / Ryanair / Etihad (self-transfer via FCO, PFO, AMM)	€326	❌ Not found
TUI fly / Transavia / Air Arabia (self-transfer via ORY, BEY)	€361	❌ Not found
Gulf Air (1 stop, BAH)	€740	€805 (price discrepancy)

Result: The scraper returned a cheapest price of €805, while Google Flights showed options from €311 — a 61% price difference.

Impact

• Budget routes that combine separate airlines (self-transfer) are completely invisible to the scraper
• These are often the cheapest options, especially on routes without direct or codeshare connections (e.g., Africa → Middle East/Asia)
• Secondary issue: even for flights the scraper does find, prices can differ from what Google Flights shows in the browser

What Are Self-Transfer Flights?

Google Flights combines separate tickets from different airlines into a single itinerary. These show up with:

• "Eigener Transfer" / "Self transfer" label
• A warning icon (triangle) in the UI
• The passenger is responsible for collecting and re-checking baggage between flights
• Each leg is a separate booking — if one leg is delayed/cancelled, the other airline has no obligation

Technical Analysis

After analyzing the library source code, I found:

1. Missing Data Structure Fields

The Flight dataclass in schema.py has no field for self-transfer status:

@dataclass
class Flight:
    is_best: bool
    name: str
    departure: str
    arrival: str
    arrival_time_ahead: str
    duration: str
    stops: int
    delay: Optional[str]
    price: str
    # ❌ Missing: is_self_transfer, transfer_warning, etc.

2. Limited CSS Selectors

The parsing logic in core.py only targets specific containers:

for i, fl in enumerate(parser.css('div[jsname="IWWDBc"], div[jsname="YdtKid"]')):
    # Only parses flights in these specific containers

If Google Flights renders self-transfer flights in different containers or with different jsname attributes, they will be completely missed.

3. No Self-Transfer Detection Logic

• Zero mentions of "self-transfer", "separate ticket", or "Eigener Transfer" in the codebase
• No logic to detect warning icons or labels
• No extraction of transfer responsibility information

Root Cause Hypothesis

1. Different DOM Structure: Self-transfer flights are likely rendered in different DOM containers with different CSS classes/attributes
2. Filtering: Google Flights may filter self-transfer flights into a separate section or tab that the scraper doesn't access
3. API Parameters: The library uses specific URL parameters (tfs, hl, tfu, curr) that may exclude self-transfer results by default
4. Hardcoded Selectors: The CSS selectors are hardcoded and may only match standard flight results

Additional Issue: Price Discrepancy

Even for flights the scraper does find, there are price discrepancies:

• Gulf Air flight: €740 (manual) vs €805 (scraper)
• Possible causes: currency/locale differences, timing issues, or parsing errors

Proposed Solutions

1. Expand CSS Selectors: Inspect Google Flights HTML to find CSS selectors for self-transfer flights and add them to the parser
2. Add Self-Transfer Detection:
   • Add is_self_transfer field to Flight schema
   • Extract warning labels/icons
   • Parse transfer responsibility information
3. API Parameter Investigation: Test if different URL parameters or filters can force self-transfer results to appear
4. Alternative Approaches: Consider using Google Flights API parameters that explicitly include self-transfer results

Environment

• Library version: Latest (as of Feb 2026)
• Python version: 3.9+
• Fetch mode tested: local (Playwright-based)

Reproduction Steps

1. Search for flights: CMN → DXB, Feb 14, 2026, 1 adult, economy
2. Compare results with manual Google Flights search
3. Observe that cheapest self-transfer options (€311-€361) are missing
4. Only expensive standard flights (€805+) are returned

Expected Behavior

The library should return all flight options shown by Google Flights, including self-transfer combinations, with appropriate flags/indicators to distinguish them from standard bookings.

Actual Behavior

Self-transfer flights are completely absent from results, leading to significantly higher "cheapest" prices than what Google Flights actually shows.

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Note: This issue significantly impacts users searching for budget flights, especially on routes without direct connections. Self-transfer flights are often the most economical option and should be included in results.

[dosubot]

Hi @herredro! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the flights team.

You're correct: the fast-flights library currently does not detect or return self-transfer (separate-ticket) flights. The parser is tightly coupled to specific DOM containers—specifically, it only looks for div[jsname="IWWDBc"] and div[jsname="YdtKid"]—and expects all flight results to be children of these nodes. If Google Flights renders self-transfer itineraries in different containers or with additional labels, the scraper will miss them entirely. There is also no logic to extract self-transfer warnings, icons, or labels, and the Flight dataclass lacks any fields for self-transfer status or warnings, so even if such data were parsed, there would be nowhere to store it in the current model. No API parameters or URL tweaks in the codebase explicitly request or filter for self-transfer flights either. To support these itineraries, the parser would need to expand its CSS selectors, add detection for self-transfer labels/warnings, and the data model would need new fields like is_self_transfer or transfer_warning to capture this info. See code details

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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