passportstamper1

Hello, long time lurker, first time poster,
My question is this: A direct flight from Addis to Nairobi on Kenya Airways is $201. A flight from Addis - Nairobi - Djibouti is $154. What risks am I taking by booking the latter and getting off in Nairobi? (US citizen, no checked bags)

Thank you wise ones.

erik123

No issue.

LondonElite

1. If this is the first flight of a return ticket you will lose the entire remainder of the itinerary if you don't take the second flight.

2. If you have checked luggage you may (but probably won't) find that the agent will not short-check your bag to Nairobi but instead send it to Djibouti. (This doesn't apply in your case obviously).

3. If there are any IRROPS and your first flight is cancelled or disrupted, you may find that you are put on a direct flight to Djibouti (or one that doesn't stop in Nairobi). You don't have to board it, of course, but you'll get no sympathy from the airline when you try to explain that you were gaming the system.

Welcome to FT!

erik123

Also - If you require a visa for Ethiopia you will be denied boarding.

LondonElite

Good point. To board at Addis Ababa (actually, to be in Ethiopia) you'd need an Ethiopian visa, but for a flight to Djibouti, you'd also need one for Djibouti, though I have no idea whether US citizens need these in advance or can purchase these on landing.

JDiver

Yes, this. Regardless of whether the OP intends to disembark at Kenyatta - NBO, he will 1) require a visa for Djibouti to be allowed to board, and 2) will probably not be able to short check baggage to NBO.

For visa requirements, I'd use IATA TIMATIC, which is what the airlines use to determine whether a passenger will be allowed to board - or not. Link.

Sorry, but all this for a savings of USD $47.00?

LondonElite

Indeed. The risks outweigh the cost savings, in my opinion.

olig99

Thanks very much for these responses, very useful. I just had an additional question to this which is along the same lines:

I have a flight Niarobi - Dar es Salam, which involves a stop in Zanzibar but this does not show up on my ticket. When the plane lands in Zanzibar passengers going to Dar simply stay sat in their seats whilst passengers going to zanzibar do get off. If I were to get off at Zanzibar then how would the airline know I had not completed my journey? I would have thought there would be no way for their airline systems to pick it up as I only have to check in for the flight at Nairobi.

Apologies for not posting this question in a new thread but as its such a similar question and the original question had been answered already, I thought it would be easiest to just ask here. Many thanks.

ETStar

I'm sure they will realize that you are missing when they do pax counts - if you have flown before you'll notice that flight attendants do this at all times. Numbers will be off. The extent to which they take it depends on how big of a deal it is: will it be deemed a security issue, will they try to identify missing person, will onward flight be delayed and other pax inconvenienced as a result of your actions, will you hear your name being paged through airport etc.

LondonElite

Actually, airlines don't always do headcounts. They might for a flight like this, but they might not. There are two risks you face. The first is that if you have checked bags you won't get them short checked, and the second is that if there is a return flight on the same ticket, it will be cancelled if they find out you didn't complete the first full flight. Beyond that, do you care if the airline finds out?