Hi,

I fly quite a bit, but always on United. I've noticed others have been
successful in taking one carrier's ticket, printing it, going to another
carrier, and they accepting that as payment for their flight... since they
can go earlier as a result of their early arrival at the airport. And I've
seen this done without any mechanical problems forcing that change (I've
switched carriers due to a mechanical issue, but that's all). Can anyone
describe the exact process? Also, if you change your outbound, will your
return still be on the original carrier and they won't cancel out the rest
of the ticket when you were a no-show for your outbound.

My case specifically is I have a flight from city A to city B and back to A.
When I get back, I'll have to drive to city C. I'd rather go out on my
original A-B outbound, but return directly to C on a codeshare airline and
avoid the A-C drive. I expect there will be room on the B-C flight as it's a
red-eye. Carriers involved are Delta on the original ticket and Continental
on the return flight I'd like to get on.

Thanks in advance!