Thanks for your replies already. Note: I believe this is a specific OTA-fare error. I don't think (although I'm not 100% sure) the airlines have knowledge about the travel itinerary of my booking (from the travel agency).
Originally Posted by
Often1
What is your routing and on what carriers for what segments? The details will matter a great deal.
This is in my original post. What info do you like me to add?
Originally Posted by
irishguy28
Yes, thousands of people have done this, and have had their flights cancelled.
When you book "unnecessary flights" in this manner in a single transaction, in order to save money, the flights are not, in fact, unnecessary. Their very presence was necessary in order to reduce the price to the extent that you decided the ticket was worth purchasing at this price.
This inconvenience is the price of your 75% discount.
If you fail to show up for any of the individual segments (it's not enough to merely check in - you must actually travel as booked), then the rest of the ticket will be cancelled, and you will have no further recourse other than to buy a brand new ticket in order to complete your travel.
.......
This is true when you travel or book from the same airline (even if a part of the trip is made through another airline). This also wouldn't be an error but it is done for commercial reasons. "Hidden-city" ticketing won't work in this case unless you skip the very last trip.
In my case however this itinerary could NOT be booked (not even at normal fare) through an airline (not on Corsair's, not on LIAT's website). Because they do not cooperate (Corsair doesn't need LIAT for this trip). It could only be booked through a specific travel agency who I believe had an error in the price calculation, which they've corrected by now. With other online travel agencies, the price of exactly the same trip was
higher (not lower) than if I would just book the necessary flights, which makes sense.
I'm not trying to argue. Just want to make sure the situation is understood correctly.
Originally Posted by
irishguy28
.....
(Having read a second time, it appears that you mean this is a "fare error". Then for sure you must travel as booked. I would also advise not checking luggage as it is very likely your luggage will be delayed)
Note also - there is at least a chance that some, if not all, of your currently-booked flights will not operate, as it is my understanding that you will be travelling in September.
Correct. The extremely low fare was the reason I took the risk to book in September.
Another reason why I prefer to skip flights C --> B and B --> C is that I read that LIAT has frequent delays and cancellations. I don't think Corsair will put me on the next flight for free when I'm turning up too late because of a delay of LIAT. Even if the whole trip is on the same booking from the travel agency.
Originally Posted by
irishguy28
Indeed; therefore the airlines involved are likely to be watching any such tickets more closely and the OP should not give them any reason to take action. The passenger is always expected to travel as booked. You can expect no lenience from the airlines, particularly when you have taken advantage of a fuel dump to drastically reduce what you paid them for travel.
Failing to take the "unnecessary" flights will likely result in the need to pay for a brand new one-way ticket on the day of departure, which is likely to cost many multiples of the original price, which seems to have been in the region of 132 Euro....
Will Corsair (the airliner) even know that there is another flight (from another airline) in the booking of the travel agency? How? I think I'll get separate flight tickets for each flight. I'm not even sure if the airline loses on this one. Could be the agency that made the booking.
Again: I don't contest this. And this is surely true when these flights are from the same airline or if there is an alliance between the two airlines (to compete with other airlines or if they don't have flights starting from the departure airport).
To repeat (simplified for keeping description short):
- Outbound: Paris --> Martinique (Corsair)
Inbound: Martinique --> Barbados (LIAT) + Barbados --> Guadeloupe (LIAT) + Guadeloupe --> Paris (Corsair)
123 euro
- Outbound: Paris --> Martinique (Corsair)
Inbound: Martinique --> Barbados (LIAT) + Barbados --> Guadeloupe (LIAT) + Guadeloupe --> Paris (Corsair)
400 euro
Note that Corsair has flights (for about the same fare) both between Guadeloupe <--> Paris , Martinique <--> Paris and even Martinique <--> Guadeloupe (and these are different flights at different departure times than the LIAT flights).
Note that even if I book outbound Paris --> Guadeloupe (direct flight) and inbound Martinique --> Paris, it is also 123 euro as long as I add the LIAT flights preceding the direct flight and not fly directly. I can play with it whatever I want (arriving/leaving from wherever I want).
There would be no commercial reason for making the second option more expensive. A single ticket from one piece of the short LIAT trip is already 130 €.
Also 123 euro is also abnormally low which concludes that only the fuel charge from the short local flight was included by an error in the system.
Originally Posted by
Often1
The general rule -- subject to OP providing the proper data -- is that one must fly all segments of a ticket in the order issued. Not always the case so it's a non-specific answer to a non-specific question.
Specific about this, is that the airliner has no benefit or disadvantage in this, which is not a classic case of hidden-city ticketing or fuel charge error. In this case, the only reason in forcing me to take a useless flight would be revenge.
What I like to know is in short: do airlines know what a passenger booked at the travel agency (when it contains flights from another airline with no alliance between these two)? Can the airline know I haven't checked in on a flight from an airline they have no alliance with?
Originally Posted by
craigthemif
Personally I prefer to get out the popcorn and watch what happens... rather than remind people of the risks. One rarely just stumbles across fuel dumps - they've specifically sought them out in full knowledge that they are cheating...
Agree if it was to find out something we didn't knew yet. But why wait and watch what happens if it is already known what is going to happen?