Travel question: Should we fly earlier to avoid a tight connection?

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Dubai: booking packages with a travel agent allows customers to relax (Getty)

Q My sister and her fiance have booked a honeymoon from Northern Ireland to Australia for a month. They booked it as a package holiday (a number of flights and hotels) with a local travel agent. They are due to fly from Belfast to Glasgow with Flybe then Glasgow to Dubai with Emirates for a few days’ stopover before they fly on to Australia. The connection time is quite short (90 minutes) and they are conscious Flybe flights are regularly delayed or cancelled from Belfast and they really don’t want to miss the flight from Glasgow to Dubai.

They have decided now they would prefer to fly to Glasgow the night before for peace of mind. They have been told by the travel agent the cost to change the Flybe flights to the day before would be £200 per person! If they book easyJet flights themselves online, the flights and luggage will only cost a total of £110. However, the travel agent has told them if they make their own arrangements and don’t board the Flybe flight from Belfast that all their other flights will be cancelled. Is this legally correct? Can they not just advise Emirates that they won’t be taking the Flybe flight from Belfast but still intend to board the Emirates flight in Glasgow and check in there?

Name withheld