[gil]

Yes, that is indeed a downside, plus if you have hold luggage you have to consider the extra time to get it out of the first plane and checking it in to the second one which might well not be possible if the transfer time is as little as 30 minutes.

But assuming you have margin for that and since we are comparing the two same flights, we can assume that our loss is also the airliner loss, hence they will make everything they can to make the transfer work for the people that bought a single fare.

Therefore I see the difference in price as insurance against something that the airliner themselves have an incentive to avoid. Additionally to the risk, as with any insurance, I also consider the cost of the worst case scenario.

Most of the time my decision is not to pay the "insurance", unless time is critical and missing the connection means more than hotel + extra flight.