re: MSY to Europe Flights - help needed (May 24-Jun 2 window)

Count me as a person who never books separate tickets, mainly because I (or my traveling companions) have hard obligations upon return. When you book a separate ticket, you risk difficulties if delayed by weather, mechanical problems, etc. If your Euro leg is late, you're SOL for the last leg home. Okay if you have time & money to waste getting rebooked, but sux if you really need to be home as scheduled (pets, work, family obligations, etc).

I'd rather shop carefully for a RT that gets me all the way home. If you're ticketed home, the airline will often go out of its way to get you where you need to go. Coming home from Dublin, the inbound aircraft was delayed out of Dulles: I arrive at the airport to discover that it hadn't even left the US yet. Since I was bound all the way back to MSY, the ticket agent cheerfully re-routed me through a different city and I ended up home earlier than scheduled, despite the 15 hr delay of my original flight.

You get what you pay for (service). You need to decide if the risk is worth it. For me, it definitely isn't.