Has anyone skipped a leg of a flight for better price?

[wbhoward]

Just wondering if anyone has done this, and what the airlines thought about it.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. We live in Indianapolis, and are looking for a flight to Honolulu next January. I connecting flight from Indianapolis is $560pp.

However, I could buy a ticket from Cincinnati to Honolulu (connects in Chicago) for $470pp. At that point, I could just choose to drive to Chicago and catch the second leg of the flight.

Has anyone tried something like this? Thanks!!

[ss-sunset]

My family does this quite often. We looked at driving down to Charllote and atching the fly from there to Miami but the prices dropped another city. I live in Columbus and usually fly out of Dayton beause it is cheaper. If he drive is about the same from Indy to Chicago and Cincy, I would fly out of Chicago.

[HappyStamper]

Wouldn't the airline give your seat to someone else if you don't show up at the first airport?

[sdcruiser]

Unfortunately, with the tighter security these days, the airlines have made it a point to cancel your remaining itinerary if you do not show up for the first leg of your flight.

COuld you drive to Cincinnati and catch the cheaper flight there? Or better yet, book a ticket from Chicago to Honolulu and drive to Chicago to catch a flight. Maybe it's even cheaper..

SDCruiser

[billybob123]

If you miss the FIRST leg of the flight, your itinerary WILL be cancelled by the airline (i.e. both going and return) and you won't be able to get any money back... they won't let you check in for the second leg. However, if you skip the SECOND leg, the airline may not notice (if you don't check your luggage, of course) but if they do, they can ding you for the difference in fare. Be careful - some airlines like Delta have a department that actually checks for stuff like this. Look into seeing how much it would cost to fly from Chicago -- it might be cheaper again than Cincinnati.

[Julees]

Your profile says you are from Indianapolis, I am too. Were you able to find any direct flights? I've had no luck. The last time I flew to Hawaii, I had to stop in Chicago and L.A. Can you recommend any airlines that have less than 1 stop?

Thanks!
Julees Smith
[email="juleessmith@hotmail.com"]juleessmith@hotmail.com[/email]


[quote name='wbhoward']Just wondering if anyone has done this, and what the airlines thought about it.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. We live in Indianapolis, and are looking for a flight to Honolulu next January. I connecting flight from Indianapolis is $560pp.

However, I could buy a ticket from Cincinnati to Honolulu (connects in Chicago) for $470pp. At that point, I could just choose to drive to Chicago and catch the second leg of the flight.

Has anyone tried something like this? Thanks!![/QUOTE]

[Dustin]

What you are refering to is actually called a hidden city and yes if you do miss your original flight all remaining segments will be cancelled and if you do show up at the connection city to try and check in your original ticket is voided and you will have to purchase a new ticket to get to your destination. I am a supervisor for an airline and you would be surprised how often we catch this and how much it cost the people to get where they are going. If you can do this and pull it off....your good...but I wouldn't recomend it as it can be quite expensive!

[sultan_sfo]

Dustin or Anyone:
What are the current rules for buying a roundtrip ticket, SFO to Copenhagen(CPH) to SFO, and simply throwing away the return portion? Our cruise will start in CPH and end in Fort Lauderdale. /Sultan

[mcboo]

sultan_sfo,
Technically nothing stopping you from doing that as long as you board the SFO-CPH flight. As you know you will need to factor in a one way ticket from FLL-SFO or do the same if the roundtrip fare is cheaper. Have you checked the cruise line air price for this open jaw trip? Probably not good but you never know.
mcboo

[greatam]

Sultan,

Do not do this on any airline where you have a bunch of FF miles. They can make life hard on you. Otherwise, you should be OK. And is often the cheapest way for a one way to Europe. Have you tried pricing out an open jaw ticket from SFO/CPH/FLL or Miami/SFO? And look at alternate airports. Lots of times cheaper to fly out of Los Angeles airports and buy a RT cheapie from SFO to LA. SFO seems to have really high fares to Europe.

Who's to doubt you that you had to fly home with Aunt Rhoda on her private plane? LOL

[Globaliser]

[quote name='sultan_sfo']What are the current rules for buying a roundtrip ticket, SFO to Copenhagen(CPH) to SFO, and simply throwing away the return portion? Our cruise will start in CPH and end in Fort Lauderdale.[/QUOTE]Strictly speaking, the airline could come after you to collect an additional charge. The usual advice, though, is that if you only do it once or twice you are most unlikely to trigger any investigation, if for no other reason than that it's difficult for the airline to prove that you never intended to use the return half. They usually only go after people who make a habit of doing this and are also stupid enough to do it all on one airline, logging all their travel in their frequent flyer accounts. But there are no guarantees.

[sultan_sfo]

This is for Sep 2005. As of now, cruise airfare is about the same. But when we add $75 pp air deviation (we want to fly 3 days earlier) plus flight choice, based on 2004 prices, cruise air gets more expensive. On our own, one way now is 1.5 times RT! The good old days when one could even sell the return half are gone!/Sultan


[quote name='mcboo']sultan_sfo,
Have you checked the cruise line air price for this open jaw trip? Probably not good but you never know.
mcboo[/QUOTE]

[mcboo]

Spend the 75.00 per person ASAP.
You are getting exactly what you want for a very fair cost.
Just my opinion.
Mcboo

[Dustin]

As far as buying a ticket and using only the first portion it is also an illegal practice for the airlines and if you tell us that is what is going on we are not supposed to sell you the ticket. I really don't think the corporate security guys are going to come chase you down for giving the airline extra money and then letting us give your seat to someone else, as many flights are overbooked quite often. Just remember you will loose any credit you had for the return portions of your ticket if you no show the flights....hope this helps...if you need to know anything else let me know

[sultan_sfo]

Thanks to everyone for their advice and comments. We also think cruise air is best upto $125 pp total differential on an airfare of $1000 pp because cancellation of air is included in the cruise insurance (except for losing the $75 pp deviation fee). However, Cruiseline will book air only upto 11 months in advance; so we still have time to decide.

The title of this thread was a great fit for our dilemma prompting us to seek early advice.Thanks.
/Sultan

[Coolmama_1]

A friend of mine has a daughter that lives in Dallas. She used to take a flight to Houston that stopped in Dallas and just got off the plane and boarded in Dallas coming back because it was alot cheaper.. Years ago that was normal although the airlines didn't like it. Now with heightened security, it is not possible. I don't think the plan would work.

[wbhoward]

Thanks for all of the responses. I've researched "hidden city fares" since I first posted the topic, and now understand that there is no way I'm avoiding a drive to Cincinnati for my flight in January. But, for the $300 I'm saving on airfare, I can accept it. It's about a 2-hour drive to Cincinnati airport versus a 1-hour drive to Indy, so it's not that big if a difference.

Happy traveling!

Bill