I have a question that I know has been covered but most of the threads are pretty old that I could find. Thought I'd ask it here as it directly applies to me.
I've booked travel to San Diego but the outbound is via Los Angeles with a seven-hour layover and then the return is direct. I was going to just rent a car and drive from LA to SD but now I'm reading that the airline could cancel my return if I do that. Is that still the case? Even if I call the customer service line as the flight's departing w/ a tale of woe?
Help!
Hi there - welcome to FlyerTalk!
What you're reading is correct...once you miss a segment of your itinerary, the rest of your ticket will be cancelled. You could, in theory, try the "tale of woe" approach, but your mileage may vary. Some airlines may still try to re-route you, or charge you a change fee for the re-ticketing, or still just cancel your ticket since you were a no-show.
If you'd like to do further reading, look for the term "hidden city ticketing" - here are a few recent threads:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-last-leg.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...re-flight.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...over-city.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...dden-city.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-last-leg.html