Using only one way on a return flight

[luvcruisn']

It is less expensive to fly Vancouver to Santiago return, and then fly to Buenos Aires one way on a return Santiago/Buenos Aires ticket, than to buy a one way ticket to Buenos Aires from Santiago. My cruise originates in Buenos Aires, and ends in Santiago. Are there any kind of penalties for not showing up for the return flight from Buenos Aires to Santiago?

[CtheW0rld]

you should ask this over on the cruise air forum. very knowledgeable posters over there.

 

if you have two separate tickets, on different airlines it is unlikely you will get caught.

[Budget Queen]

Are you looking at a multi city booking option (open jaw)??

[hillslife]

We have only used one end on a round trip ticket before - but you have to use the first segment or they will cancel your ticket. It was the return ticket we didn't use and there were no repercussions for us - it was on a US airlines.

 

I don't think they have 'ticket' police to come track you down - it is a bonus for them if you pay for the entire RT ticket (which seems to be more reasonablly priced - don't know why) and then only use one end. They still get the $$$ for nothing and can put someone else in your seat. So a win win for them.

 

Just my 2 cents. Good luck with this. I know I was worried, but no one knocked on my door or called. They can't force you to fly the return. :p

[luvcruisn']

Are you looking at a multi city booking option (open jaw)??

 

I was looking at an open jaw, but it is $500.00 cheaper to fly return Vancouver to Santiago, and then return Santiago to Buenos Aires. It is the return part of the Buenos Aires to Santiago flight that I can't use, as our cruise travels from Buenos Aires, and leaves us off in Santiago (at the port of Valparaiso).

 

Thanks for your comments, hillslife. I have only done this once before, several years ago, and a travel agent sold me the return ticket, knowing I was only going one way. I haven't any idea what the airline policies are now regarding this.

[greatam]

Just for the record: The airlines LEGALLY can re-fare your ticket into a one way ticket if you ditch the return. It is clearly posted in the Contract of Carriage and the fare rules of your ticket. They have your credit card number.

 

The airlines have highly sophisticated computer programs that "find" unused return segments of tickets. Most legacy airlines have a department to track down these tickets IF they find repeat abuse of RT tickets being used as one ways. The practice is called "throw away ticketing". Car rental companies/drive away car delivery companies and RV manufacturers were large abusers of throw away ticketing. The rules were put into place to prevent frequent fliers from doing exactly what you are thinking of doing-avoiding Saturday night stays required on some tickets, avoiding 30 day restrictions on return flights, avoiding using "nested" tickets, avoiding the high cost of one way tickets. There are many, many rules.

 

The reality-if you do this very occasionally, you have little to worry about. It is not a smart idea to use your FF number in your reservation, so forget about any miles.

 

OP-have you checked GOL airlines? They have one nonstop per day from SCL to EZE-7:30AM. They are usually the cheapest for a one way ticket on that route if you can fly at 7:30AM. Otherwise, buy the LAN RT ticket and book the return out quite a ways-play with the dates, as once you get past the prime summer season, the prices drop considerably.

[newlondon]

Luvcruzin, You should check with your TA about an open jaw ticket bought through a consolidator. We're doing BOS-SCE and then EZE-BOS, and the savings were significant especially as we splurged on business class. If you do upgrade check on Seatguru as not all carriers to SA have true lie flat seats. I think LAN is the only one.

[Budget Queen]

Luvcruzin, You should check with your TA about an open jaw ticket bought through a consolidator. We're doing BOS-SCE and then EZE-BOS, and the savings were significant especially as we splurged on business class. If you do upgrade check on Seatguru as not all carriers to SA have true lie flat seats. I think LAN is the only one.

 

However, you are taking significantly more risk purchasing consolidator tickets. Many more restrictions you need to be aware of and accept.

[greatam]

However, you are taking significantly more risk purchasing consolidator tickets. Many more restrictions you need to be aware of and accept.

 

The "earthquake" cruise-March 2, 2010 out of Valparaiso, Star Princess, is probably the most glaring reason NOT to buy consolidator class/cruise air tickets. AT LEAST 500 people missed the cruise ENTIRELY just because of the class of tickets they had. Some had insurance, quite a few did not. Those with self booked, published fare tickets WERE allowed to change the routing, change to other airlines that WERE flying into Chile. Those with consolidator class tickets were essentially STUCK wherever they were.

[newlondon]

Obviously there are risk reward issues. We have been lucky using consolidater tickets many times. Sometimes, though, the airline itself will sell deeply discounted open jaw tickets; we would use those first.

[luvcruisn']

you should ask this over on the cruise air forum.

 

Thank you CtheWorld, I had never noticed that there was a cruise air forum.

[luvcruisn']

Thank you all for your information. I am going to keep watching prices, before deciding what to do.

[Fattony]

One airline or two? Normally if you don't board a flight the rest of your itinerary is canceled. But in this case you'd have two separately-booked itineraries, even if on one airline. Who would be able to say whether you'd get caught? The airline (assuming there's just one)? I doubt they'd tell you. It's not like you're the first person to try this. Many report doing it regularly. I have not done it, but then I haven't run into a case where r.t. was cheaper than one-way (I know they exist). I'd still look for options on your airfares. Perhaps you can find even cheaper ones with an imaginative routing. We live in Fortaleza, Brazil, and flew to B.A. for a cruise ending in Santiago (well, Valparaiso, obviously). The cheapest one-way flight, by far, was Avianca, with a change of planes in Bogota. As it turns out, our plane had to turn back an hour out of Santiago due to mechancial problems (I think it was just a computer glitch but am not sure), and my wife was too nervous to continue that day. Avianca ended up putting us on a non-stop fight on LAN.

[Fattony]

p.s. what are your dates? I found, just picking arbitrary dates (in October), $220 SCL-EZE r.t. on LAN, and as low as $205 one-way (on TAM, with a connection in Asuncion). Next cheapest one-way was $253 non-stop on Air Canada. LAN one-way was $359. I guess you know it will be a bit more complicated to change flights in SCL with separate itineraries (ít's not a connection anymore). BTW, if you need it, there's a very nice Holiday Inn directly across from the terminal at SCL. Not cheap, but convenient. Well, it was nice 2 years ago. I don't know if anything happaned as a result of the quake. Enjoy your cruise!