polochick

Wondering if anyone can help? I missed the outbound leg of a return journey, and still need to take the return. I was expecting to need to buy a new ticket, but the return leg is still showing in MMB (the outbound has disappeared completely from the booking reference - for other flights where I have taken the outbound but am yet to take the return leg, the outbound is crossed through in MMB).

I checked the booking reference on checkmytrip and it's also showing the ticket as just the return leg.

Is there is any chance that the return leg is still valid? After I'd missed the outbound, I did try to get the whole ticket changed in the lounge but it was significantly cheaper to redeem avios for a new outbound, but the agent did spend some time playing around with the ticket - might this have had a magic effect on its validity?

Has anyone has this anomaly before and if so, were you successful in boarding the flight? Thanks in advance

UKtravelbear

The chances are that you lost the whole ticket no matter what MMB may say - that might just be a relic within the system

Was a similar thread a couple of days ago so have a look for that.

You need to call BA ASAP ti check - just in case the agent in the lounge was able to preserve it. Don't leave it until you get to the airport.

corporate-wage-slave

It depends a bit on the route and the timing. By way of non specific advice to a non specific question: Normally your ticket would not be valid, but some outstations have poor IT and so are not able to fully update tickets en route. So there are reports of return legs not being cancelled (and even of TPs and Avios being earned on unflown sectors). However this is certainly not standard practice and in the absence of more information I would assume your return leg may well be cancelled in due course.

polochick

Thanks for the quick replies. Was a restricted CE ticket from LHR more than a week ago, tried to change it in Galleries South. Original outbound hasn't posted, replacement outbound has.

Sounds like it might be less risky to get whatever refund would be due on the existing ticket and buy a new return leg (no RFS available).

sixela73

Worth calling BA to check. Happened to me once on a restricted flight with Delta. Got to the airport late and missed the outbound flight, had to buy a single to get to my destination. Called customer service to explain I'd still be using the return portion and they were very helpful; sympathetic about my difficulties on the outbound and confirmed I would still be able to take the return flight. Good luck.

orbitmic

While, as cws mentioned, there have been very occasional mentions of BA "forgetting" to cancel the return portion of a flight when the outbound was missed, I'm afraid that you have to either call BA or assume that your return is indeed lost. The alternative could prove extremely costly if you end up needing to buy a literally last minute ticket at the airport or have BA recalculate your fare based on a last minute purchased one way CE which could easily be 4 or 5 times whatever you paid for a non-flexible return.

Ber2dca

Does it make a difference in general with BA if you had checked in for the outbound and then simply missed it or if you never checked in?

orbitmic

should not. There is only one code for a missed flight, which will replace either the original confirmed code or the original checked in code.

harryhv

Depends which country you are returning from - Germany has specific legislation to outlaw the thieving practice of of cancelling return-segments when the outbound is unused.

orbitmic

caselaw rather than legislation, but note that it gives the airline the right to reprice your ticket according to the itinerary you will actually fly.

Dave Noble

it has law relating to using coupons out of sequence but doesn't seem to prohibit it - regardless it isn't theft to do so. The contract is for a r/t journey , not a one way one

Often1

All irrelevant as LHR is still in the UK.

OP should call BA before he does anything. If the ticket is still "alive" OP dodged a bullet. If not, he is no worse off than before he called.

Calchas

Give them a call to enquire on the status, many folks report that it often stays alive!

If made on BA.com the contact is made and governed by the law in the outbound country not the return country.

Land-of-Miles

At the time the OP replaced the outbound flight it would have been wise to request that the inbound was protected (for me this would have been a condition of buying a new BA ticket) so that it remained alive for the return flight.

Without this protection it would have been insane for the OP to buy an expensive single ticket rather than a new return (and had it been me that would have been with a different carrier had BA not protected the return). I would say calling and asking is the best thing to do but I find that too many call centre agents (even GGL) don't really know what they are doing. If the OP has any opportunity to visit a BA ticketing desk at the departing airport well in advance of the return that would give a more reliable result.

polochick

Thanks all! Called this morning and the lounge agent had protected the return, so I'm feeling very lucky!