I am planning a trip to Rome, Italy from Bangalore, India.
Looking at the flight tickets, it will be 30% cheaper for me to book the Bangalore-Frankfurt and Frankfurt-Rome legs separately rather than as one ticket. They are all on Lufthansa though.
If I booked the tickets separately, when changing planes at Frankfurt, would I have to claim my checked in baggage and recheck in? Would it be possible to check the baggage through to Rome at my origin airport, Bangalore?
When you buy two separate tickets, if you miss your connection the airline won't help you. As far as they're concerned, your first flight coming in late is like your car breaking down on the way to the airport - unfortunate, but nothing to do with them. When you buy connecting tickets, once you check in onto the first flight, you're theirs and they will look after you.
Changing planes in Frankfurt, especially from out-of-Schengen to Schengen, takes much longer than at many other airports. (I've actually added it to the list of airports I won't make a connection in.) An hour is a VERY tight connection in Frankfurt - I have done it and had to beg people to let me jump to the front of the line etc, and nearly missed my plane. There is customs, security, and plenty more. A two hour connection would give you enough time in the airport as long as the first flight was not delayed. On separate tickets I would probably only feel secure with a 4 hour connection.
You might have to claim your luggage because of the customs check. Ask your airline.
Yes, that should be possible. Just ask for your luggage to be checked through when checking in in Rome.
In my experience, it's generally possible to check through one's luggage if (and only if) both flights are operated by the same carrier. You don't necessarily have to buy the two flights in one.
