Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave

What you can do is ask the agent to remove you from the flight. I use the term offloaded, but it's not terminologically correct since that would apply to those checked in, but the phrase seems to work. That leaves you with a ticket coupon without a date, some agents then put you on the mythical A380 service to an airstrip in the St Lawrence delta, but that's just to hold the coupon. Then when you are ready you can call again. You can also ask for an FTV just for the return leg, which gives you a bit more flexibility but it could take a while to work out the value if the booking is no longer on self serve.