No show for flight?

[TeanneTX]

We have a TA cruise next year which starts in Amsterdam and ends up in Boston.  We live in Austin TX.  BA has a wonderful flight out daily to Heathrow and then on to AMS, but the cost of a 1 way flight is crazy.  Even the "open jaw" costs are insane.  What would happen if I bought a round trip (much cheaper) and then just didn't show up for the return flight.  Would my passport be flagged or something crazy like that.  We'd just end up taking Southwest back from Boston to Austin and the cost is less than half what a one way ticket costs.  Just wondering if anyone has done this.

 

Teanne

[GeezerCouple]

26 minutes ago, TeanneTX said:

We have a TA cruise next year which starts in Amsterdam and ends up in Boston.  We live in Austin TX.  BA has a wonderful flight out daily to Heathrow and then on to AMS, but the cost of a 1 way flight is crazy.  Even the "open jaw" costs are insane.  What would happen if I bought a round trip (much cheaper) and then just didn't show up for the return flight.  Would my passport be flagged or something crazy like that.  We'd just end up taking Southwest back from Boston to Austin and the cost is less than half what a one way ticket costs.  Just wondering if anyone has done this.

 

Teanne

 

Before getting into the difficulties of what you suggest, have you tried pricing it as one ticket, "multi-city": First part as planned, and then just BOS to Austin?

That makes it like an open jaw ticket, starting/ending in Austin, but there's a "missing leg" in there.

It's probably worth a try.

 

GC

[TeanneTX]

1 minute ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Before getting into the difficulties of what you suggest, have you tried pricing it as one ticket, "multi-city": First part as planned, and then just BOS to Austin?

That makes it like an open jaw ticket, starting/ending in Austin, but there's a "missing leg" in there.

It's probably worth a try.

 

GC

Yes I tried that and its either over 3K or doesn't even give me any options.  I even tried out of DFW and same thing.  Its just crazy.  The cruise is 11 months away so maybe the fares will go down soon. 

[CruiserBruce]

The better choice would to be check with your cruise line for air fares, as commonly recommended here. This is one place where the cruise airfares can be really beneficial- one way international flights.

 

Open Jaw fares have a key requirement. The "open jaw" portion must be the shortest leg of the itinerary.

[GeezerCouple]

37 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

The better choice would to be check with your cruise line for air fares, as commonly recommended here. This is one place where the cruise airfares can be really beneficial- one way international flights.

 

Open Jaw fares have a key requirement. The "open jaw" portion must be the shortest leg of the itinerary.

 

Thanks.  That explains why I've not seen any open jaw like this before!

 

GC

[thinfool]

• Your passport would not be flagged but recent reports have it that airlines are tightening up, some severely, on passengers who do what you describe.  One of the risks  is, apparently, being banned from ever booking a flight on that airline again....as in for your lifetime.
• Suggest that you check flights thru your cruise line.  Many have negotiated special one-way fares for their customers....reports are that they are very good prices.

[GeezerCouple]

2 minutes ago, thinfool said:

• Your passport would not be flagged but recent reports have it that airlines are tightening up, some severely, on passengers who do what you describe.  One of the risks  is, apparently, being banned from ever booking a flight on that airline again....as in for your lifetime.
• Suggest that you check flights thru your cruise line.  Many have negotiated special one-way fares for their customers....reports are that they are very good prices.

 

Right.

 

And you might was to look into paying a bit extra so that *you* can select the exact flights you take, and perhaps also the date of travel.  So if you want to avoid having possible bad connections or arriving a bit closer than you prefer to boarding time (or just prefer not on the same date, such as for some sightseeing), then this might be worthwhile, without having the outrageous regular one-way fares.  But do note any restrictions about changes, etc.

 

And one other "fix", for those who accumulate various "awards" points that can be redeemed for travel, these are typically not more expensive (in # of points) for one-way.  So it's a terrific use of points!

 

GC

[teacherman]

We just did a Rotterdam to Boston cruise this summer.  We booked one way business class from Detroit to AMS through our cruise line for about $1,500 each.  We booked Boston to Detroit through the airline.

[waterbug123]

13 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Before getting into the difficulties of what you suggest, have you tried pricing it as one ticket, "multi-city": First part as planned, and then just BOS to Austin?

That makes it like an open jaw ticket, starting/ending in Austin, but there's a "missing leg" in there.

It's probably worth a try.

 

GC

 

12 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Open Jaw fares have a key requirement. The "open jaw" portion must be the shortest leg of the itinerary.

 

Exactly, and in this case the open jaw, or unflown leg would be Europe to Boston, which is not the shortest leg.  That would be the BOS-AUS leg.   So the pricing likely won't reflect that it's an open jaw ticket.

[sumiandkage]

The airlines do realize that Stuff Happens and that plenty of people end up missing flights for perfectly legitimate reasons. Doing it as a one off is no big deal- just don't make a habit of it, especially if you attach a frequent flyer number to the ticket. 

 

There's also the option of booking the return of the ticket about 85 days out (or as long as you can within a visa-free time frame) and hoping for a schedule or operating carrier change that would let you cancel the rest of the ticket for a modest refund of the unused segment. 

 

As for why high one way ticket prices, unless the route is one where Norwegian directly competes, the cheap transatlantic fare buckets still generally require a Saturday night stayover in order for a ticket to be available for that fare type, and an one way doesn't meet the Saturday night requirement. 

[TeanneTX]

17 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

The better choice would to be check with your cruise line for air fares, as commonly recommended here. This is one place where the cruise airfares can be really beneficial- one way international flights.

 

Open Jaw fares have a key requirement. The "open jaw" portion must be the shortest leg of the itinerary.

I've treid that too and i keep getting notice that there are no flights available on that itinerary which makes no sense to me.  I may try to call air2sea and see what they say.

[thinfool]

6 hours ago, TeanneTX said:

I've treid that too and i keep getting notice that there are no flights available on that itinerary which makes no sense to me.  I may try to call air2sea and see what they say.

Just a caution...you may be too early to be looking for airfare.  Many airlines do not post fares more than 330 days before departure.  

[TruckerDave]

Nothing bad is going to happen.  Once you "no show" for the return leg home they (the airline) will just cancel the rest of your trip.  Now, if you make it a habit, then, they might say something, but as a one off it is no big deal.  I've done it a few times myself (though not internationally) when flights have been so delayed and missed my final flight home and just grabbed a rental car and drove home from Dallas to Houston or Charlotte to Charleston rather than sit until later the next day for an open seat home.  If you see a price you like, and don't care about earning the FF miles on the trip home, then grab it and don't worry about it. 

[travelplus]

If this helps my  Parents and I are flying out to Europe.  I got our flight for my Mother via Paris to see a friend and she will meet us in Barcelona for $300+$148 $448 from Tampa-San Jose CA. My Father and I are flying on Iberia(LEVEL) from SFO from SFO-BCN nonstop for $280+$148 on Southwest.  I opened up the Southwest Credit Card and got the flights with a $200 statement credit after using the card for the flight for $508  all in with Statement Credit for two of us with luggage, meals and seat assignments.

 

So for $956 for 3 all in with all luggage, seat assignments and meals we did very well. My Mother is on the Nonstop Norwegian from Oakland-Paris and Vueling from Paris-Barcelona nonstop.

 

This is the least expensive i have ever done flights for and yes its off season but  I  have flights for more!

[delaware32]

We did a transatlantic and found that our best deal was through the cruise line .That surprised me but we paid a deviation fee to fly out 5 days post cruise and had a very positive experience in terms of cost and actual 1 way flight .

[Voelfgar]

Just want to say, looking to book air travel 11 months out is not realistic. Most airlines don't post more than 10 months out. Then on top of that, when they first come out, they are at full price with any discounts not getting applied for a week or so. Even with international travel, I wouldn't book more that 6-8 months out.

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, Voelfgar said:

Just want to say, looking to book air travel 11 months out is not realistic. Most airlines don't post more than 10 months out. Then on top of that, when they first come out, they are at full price with any discounts not getting applied for a week or so. Even with international travel, I wouldn't book more that 6-8 months out.

Ah, no, most legacy airlines release their schedules at 330 days, which is 11 months. Yes, the fares that come out at 11 months are not usually the best prices, unless you are seeking award tickets. Then, frequently the best rates for award tickets, unless you have status with a particular airline, is in the first couple days after release. 

 

If you don't start researching early, how would you really know the direction prices are taking? So looking at airfares starting at 11 months is smart, even if you don't buy then.

[TeanneTX]

Someone on another post said that if I booked a RT ticket but was a no-show for the return flight the airlines would go ahead and charge my credit card for the full cost of a one way ticket.  Has anyone here ever heard of that?

 

Teanne

[FlyerTalker]

38 minutes ago, TeanneTX said:

Someone on another post said that if I booked a RT ticket but was a no-show for the return flight the airlines would go ahead and charge my credit card for the full cost of a one way ticket.  Has anyone here ever heard of that?

 

It has happened, and that is part of the contract of carriage.  Usually was for people who regularly abused the system. Sometimes for "first-timers".

 

So, can it happen to you - yes.  Will it happen to you - unlikely, yet still possible.

 

Do you feel lucky?

 

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, TeanneTX said:

Someone on another post said that if I booked a RT ticket but was a no-show for the return flight the airlines would go ahead and charge my credit card for the full cost of a one way ticket.  Has anyone here ever heard of that?

 

Teanne

I don't know about the US,  but that can't happen in the UK because your credit card details cannot be kept, once the original purchase has been completed.

Or should I say, in the light of the BA debacle,  SHOULD not be stored. 

Edited October 9, 2019 by wowzz

[alidor]

Chances are you will not be caught.  I have been doing airline tickets for about 45 years and, very, very rarely have I done this for my business clients.  Sometimes the savings are quite a bit of money and that is when I did those.  No one has ever been caught but I do tell them not to check in any bags.  that would also depend on the routing and where they were going.

[waterbug123]

18 hours ago, Voelfgar said:

Just want to say, looking to book air travel 11 months out is not realistic. Most airlines don't post more than 10 months out. Then on top of that, when they first come out, they are at full price with any discounts not getting applied for a week or so. Even with international travel, I wouldn't book more that 6-8 months out.

 

No and no.  Legacy airlines typically release their fares 11 months out.  They offer multiple different fare buckets when they do and it isn't always limited to just the most expensive fare buckets.  Even if what you said was true and for the very first week it was only the most expensive fares, why would you wait 3-5 more months to search if discounts begin after 1 week?

 

8 hours ago, TeanneTX said:

Someone on another post said that if I booked a RT ticket but was a no-show for the return flight the airlines would go ahead and charge my credit card for the full cost of a one way ticket.  Has anyone here ever heard of that?

 

 

Yes, I've heard of it.   As Flyertalker said, it's unlikely they would enforce that if it was the first time they had a record of you doing it, but they could. 

[2theship]

As has already been suggested, check the cruise line's option for airfare. We've found it's usually a much better deal than trying to book with the airline for exactly the same flights. It's not always true with domestic round-trip flights but for a transatlantic cruise, it's the way to go.