Cancelling flight versus no show
 

I have a question regarding how to proceed following the decision of my aunt to cancel on a trip we have booked in May. Flight is AA booked from BTR to YVR, connecting through Dallas, booked as nonrefundable ticket with Main cabin extra seating. My mother and I are still going on trip, and I know the fare is nonrefundable, so we may not get any value/money back if cancel ticket and that is fine is so. But what is best way to proceed? I booked and paid for all three tickets on my AAdvantage Platinum select MC. IS there a benefit to actually calling and cancelling her ticket, meaning would I get any credit back less change fees or something. If any value credit back does it go to her as the name on the ticket, or me as the paying person. If no advantage to cancelling, can we just have her not show up and then we essentially have extra empty seat next to us or between us? Will the airline then put someone else in seat regardless of what we do if she does not check in for flight?

1) Better to leave the reservation as is for now, as a significant schedule change means thevticket could now be refunded in toto.

2) Depending on the amount of the fare, there might be sufficient residual value to the ticket after the change fee. This means a voucher would be issued for the remainder and if MCE was purchased, that too. See http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...solidated.html

3) Failure to cancel or show means there is no residual value; it's all gone. And any empty seats these days are likely to be filled by standbys, etc.

This is very good advice which should be heeded.

When your plans change and you are not going to travel, NEVER cancel your ticket until the last practical moment before the ticket loses its value.

There could be a significant schedule change beforehand. There could be a flight cancellation on the day of departure. Both of those outcomes would make a non-refundable ticket refundable.

Glad I posted! I would have never thought about the potential for the ticket actually begin refundable at some point. Ticket was booked with AA direct, online. So when would the line be crossed with schedule changes to make it refundable, the flights times have already changed about 6 times since january, mostly by about 15-30 minutes though and never so much that connecting times have been affected. Also would it make a difference if two of us still take the trip, thus obviously accepting the schedule change? The tickets are booked under two different locator numbers as mine I upgraded with miles so they reissued the ticket with new locator. And what would really be the last acceptable time to cancel and still be able to get residual value. I may be screwed from that somewhat because is booked as two one ways and not round trip, as was significantly cheaper at time, which would of course mean being charged two fees instead of one..... Hind sight is always 20/20... Oh well. So if she is not at gate to check in they may very well fill her seat regardless of if we cancel? Was just hoping for the extra room if could not get any value back.

Cancelling flight versus no show
 

Normally, you can purchase an extra seat, if, for example, you need extra space. The extra ticket is specially designated as an extra seat. The question is whether AA will let you use a ticket issued in another passengers name as an extra seat. I suspect no, because this could enable non-travelers to earn AAdvantage miles, which is against the rules. You could ask AA if they'll change the name on the ticket to be an extra seat, but I also suspect they may not do this, at least not for free.

Can situation be different if three passengers are in one ticket under one PNR, or three passengers are in three different tickets under three different PNR?

Let’s say three people are traveling in one ticket under one PNR. One passenger decided not to travel, but remaining two passengers are still traveling. The passenger not traveling did not call an airline before the departure and simply did no-show. Under this scenario, will remaining reservation of two travelling passengers be cancelled because one passenger in a group was no-show? How will this work? Will airline cancel remaining reservation of one person in PNR and leave reservation of two other passengers in same PNR active?

I would *guess* that the system would divide out the no-show passenger into a new record, and then cancel the return leg just for that passenger.

But I wouldn't want to find out! You can just split the PNRs proactively anyway.

^ Yep, that's exactly what it does.

I agree with others about not cancelling the ticket and hoping for a schedule change or IROPS. If AA wants to charge $200 to reuse the ticket and won't give you anything in return for giving them a heads up that the seat isn't needed anymore, why bother?

Most domestic tickets are usually endorsed with something along the lines of "CXL BY FLT TIME OR NOVALUE", so the last possible moment to cancel is just before the plane pushes. If there are no schedule changes or IROPS, let the gate agent know that the passenger is no longer flying to have the itinerary cancelled and possibly retain a residual value of the ticket if the change fee isn't more than what you paid for it.

To be clear, every passenger has their own ticket. More than one passenger may not travel on one ticket. A PNR may contain many tickets. If a passenger no shows, that passenger's ticket will be cancelled. That cancellation will have no impact on the other passengers' tickets. There is nothing to "divide out."

If there is a significant schedule change, your relative may use that as a reason to cancel for a full refund to the original form of payment. If the flight is cancelled, that is a reason for a refund to the original form of payment.

If neither happens and the ticket's value is greater than the cancellation/change fee, cancel just before departure time and your relative will have the residual value as a credit. If the cancellation/change fee is equal to or greater than the ticket price, don't bother.

The no-show passenger (including their ticket) is divided out of the PNR.

That makes no sense. You're implying that the PNR/reservation remains intact, so you'd still have a PNR with space reserved for 3 passengers, even if one of the tickets is "cancelled" (I don't even think you can "cancel" a ticket...).

I'll go with my guess and TJT's confirmation. @:-)

Better set a reminder if you're going to wait last second for a miracle flight delay/change/IRROPS.

It's pretty easy to get burned by forgetting and losing entire value of ticket due to No Show.

The ticket does get cancelled in the sense that the status of the electronic flight coupons goes from OK to NOGO after a no-show, which renders the ticket effectively worthless and unusable, and basically no one can bring it back from the dead once that happens.

"How many passengers can I book in one reservation?

You can book up to 6 passengers in one reservation on aa.com. For groups of 10 or more, contact Group & Meeting Travel. Special fares and discounts for group travel are available."

A Passenger Name Record may have a number of tickets - if one is altered it will get its own PNR. A PNR is basically a "handle" for a specific itinerary. And a PNR will eventually re Yale and get assigned to a new itinerary.

"In the airline and travel industries, a passenger name record (PNR) is a record in the database of a computer reservation system (CRS) that contains the itinerary for a passenger, or a group of passengers travelling together." Wikipedia - Link

Tickets are discrete and unique; a ticket number will never recycle. And of course one can cancel a ticket. Link

If a PNR is generated for three passengers and one doesn't show, the PNR will continue to exist, but as others have explained the ticket(s) for the no show (or canceling passenger) will be canceled or invalidated.

To expand on this, in the event of a no-show, the no-show passenger is automatically split from/divided out of the original PNR into their own PNR with no itinerary in order to cancel the no show's reservation without affecting the rest of the party.