longnguk

I do not want to hi-jack the other thread, but just want to get your opinions on this one, strictly from the definition of 'hidden-city' terminology. BTW, this was on US Airways metals.

I booked a returned trip that required a connection and the fare was significantly cheaper than if I were to fly to the connection airport.

1. On the outbound, got to the connecting airport, boarded the flight to my final outbound destination. Due to weather, the plane circled the destination city twice and then the captain decided to go back to the connecting airport. I then decided to rent a car & drove to my intended destination for a very important meeting the next day.

2. On the return trip, got notification from US Airways that the flight (from my outbound destination) to the connecting airport was to be delayed. I then decided to drive to the connecting airport as I was hoping to, at least, get to complete my return trip from there onward.


Here are the questions:

1. Does the above matched the definition of 'hidden-city' bookings?
2. How would the airlines handle the situation?
3. Was I denied of completing my trip?
4. Was I in breach of contracts with the airlines?
5. Sure, I did get back from the trip, but what would be YOUR expectations and results?

I will provide more details and the outcome if warranted and neccessary...

bevoinva

This situation is totally different than what is in the other thread. Hidden city ticketing is where you have no intention of actually going to the last city on your reservation and you deliberately end your trip at the connecting airport. From your description, you had every intention of using your onward tickets.

In your situation, you had irregular operations (weather and MX delay) pop up so all bets are off. In that kind of situation the airline penalize you for arranging your own transportation rather than getting rebooked/missing your connecting flights.

LowlyDLsilver

1) NO. You intended to go to the destination, weather outbound and a delay on return prevented it. Hidden city is when you never intended to go to destination city in the first place. On a "normal" day, you would have flown the 2 extra segments and no issues at all.

2) weather, they are glad to see you leave! One less to rebook, but best to make sure the agent notes in your record that you drove so there's no possibility that they cancel the return. Hidden city only works on return flight, as they WILL cancel the return if you skip last segment outbound. On your return, delay on their part blows your connection. Also, you were stuck renting a car to complete the outbound, which works in your favor too. They could tell you you have to take a later connection, but that would be if you drew the short straw on agents.

3) you had a meeting you could not miss - and you got there. You could have completed the trip, and missed the meeting as a result.

4) IMO, no.

5) would have done exactly what you did. When you have to be somewhere, how is not important.

Expectations: I would ask for the miles/segments, and be pleasantly surprised if I got them. Agent roulette at its finest. I would ask for rental reimbursement, and be pleased if they threw me some miles, but would not expect any cash. I would not worry about getting my stones crushed about the hidden city deal, as they caused the return problem, and on the outbound, well, weather happens.

Sounds like you made the best of a bad scenario to me.

sbagdon

Too many ir-ops to worry about hidden-city, and it sounds that if you skipped a segment, it was from ir-ops, not from intent (if I'm reading this correctly).

Biggie Fries

So, I'm curious: Did you have to do anything to get the return reinstated once you had "missed" the flight from connecting city to destination on outbound itinerary? I'm guessing probably not, since you did get an airplane ride from connecting city ... back to connecting city. Did you get miles for that? Last year, I took a ride on a LH bus almost to a plane and then back, and got miles for that. Seems like if you actually got up in the air ....

And then, on the return, when you showed up at connecting city without having re-started from your outbound destination ... did you have trouble with them attempting to cancel for having been a "no show" at outbound destination?

I agree, btw, with all other posters that you were absolutely blameless in all of this ... just curious about what you had to do in this kind of IRROPS situation to maintain the integrity of the flight that you had left and still needed (from connecting city to back home).

longnguk

... on the outbound trip, once the captain announced that we were to head back to the connecting airport (CLT), a fellow passenger suggested the idea of driving from CLT to RDU but it was late (12:30am) and he would not know if he could rent a car as he rarely rented cars (he did show me a valid US driving license, though!). On the other hand, I could get a car (Hertz President's Circle guarantee) and it was better for me to be a passenger since I just used a Bloody Mary to suppress the frustration!...

The next day, I called the CP desk and was offered a sincere apology, one-day car rental (I did not use), refund of the CLT-RDU leg, a few thousand PQM miles.

.... on the return trip, I received a notification that my flight RDU-CLT was to be delayed and then decided to drive the 120 or so miles. Out of boredom during the journey, I called the service desk to inform the airlines of my decision and was advised that it was totally acceptable for me to take the initiative! The agent promised to make good for the inconveniences.... Sure enough, I was able to board my final leg of flight without hassles. Few days, later, I received another sincere apology, refund for the unused flight and another few thousands of PQM miles.

Sure... I did have to make some negotiations, but I was happy with the outcomes considering the worse case scenario in that I would miss my meetings, strand at the airport, wait in line for redresses from the airlines for the unforeseen mishaps with results that may not go the way I preferred... Yes, my fellow passenger was kind enough to pay for the petrol ... my company got the refunds, which were almost made up for the whole price of the trip!

With hindsight, I do not know if things would have turned out differently if I were not to call the service desk... Would the airlines accuse me of playing the system?

Last but not least, for lawyers amongst us here, I am sure this would make an interesting argument in regard to the hidden-city definition

bevoinva

There is no interesting argument to be made at all. You didn't book the flights with the intention to throw away the last leg (i.e. hidden-city ticket) but rather you encountered irregular operations that caused to you make your own arrangements to get you to your destination(s). Not only did the airline not accuse you of doing a hidden-city booking that but rather they gave you compensation due to the delays.

As stated by every response in this thread - this is NOT hidden-city ticketing.