Advice on missing the last leg of itinerary
Hello everyone, first time poster, decade long lurker.
I'm looking for a bit of advice on the following issue as neither BA or my travel agent are being particularly helpful.
I'd booked a fare as follows DUB-LHR-LAS, LAS-LHR-DUB in business class. First time flying transatlantic business.
Unfortunately BA have cancelled the DUB-LHR leg, which means I'm potentially at risk of having to cancel the whole booking. The flight simply disappeared from my itinerary without any notification from BA. Call centre offered an alternative flight from DUB-LHR but I am unable to make the flight time suggested (and it would lead to a 9 hour layover at Heathrow, even with lounge access this wouldn't be great!). I believe I'd be fine to drive to LHR (as I'm in the UK the day before I was due to fly DUB-LHR in any case) and board the LHR-LAS leg with no issues.
The problem is that my car would then be at LHR. The airline and travel agent are both refusing to cancel the LHR-DUB leg and allow me to terminate the journey at LHR. I understand the reasons that this wouldn't be allowed in 'normal' circumstances but the request was prompted by BAs cancellation of the first leg and the lack of suitable alternative.
Cancel and rebook isn't really an option as prices have more than doubled.
My first thought is to keep the booking, not check any bags (not ideal) and simply walk out at Heathrow, no-showing the final leg. From reading other threads, I understand this will likely result in the loss of Avios for the entire itinerary (valued approx £180) and tier points. I have approx 60,000 avios on account and wouldn't wish to risk losing these as well. Or, would gate agents at LAS agree to just check my bags for the first leg?
Second thought is to drive to LHR, and on return after going LHR-DUB, fly back to LHR and pick up car. But I'd need to be 100% sure that my itinerary wouldn't be cancelled by failing to re-book the first leg.
Third thought, which is far from ideal and may not be possible, would be to ask to transfer the first leg to MAN-LHR, leave the car at MAN and after completing the LHR-DUB journey fly back to MAN on Ryanair.
Lastly, is it worth pursuing this further with the airline to get the LHR-DUB leg removed? Travel agent is AMEX and claim their hands are tied (which I understand they may well be).
If anyone has any experience or suggestions would be very gratefully received.