mvoight

There are exceptions, but unless she does this through AA, her remaining flights will be dropped.
The official resolution would be to change the existing reservation and pay the change fee, and any fare increase
Did you look at the confirmation after the booking?
How long did it take to discover the error.
It is a good idea to check after booking to make sure everything is correct, as you have 24 hours to cancel after buying, in addition to generally having at least 24 hours to hold a reservation before booking

Thai-Kiwi

Air New Zealand domestic flights are all on a oneway basis. There is no specific benefit to buying a return, other than having 2 flights on a single booking reference.

This means I can plan every journey on a specific fare basis: for example a cheap and non refundable outbound, but flexible and for the return. You can mix fares on a single PNR if that is a strong preference.

Oh, we have the metric system, mostly 24 hours time, and other cool things like a space launch facility

toomanybooks

Not on all airlines, never on Southwest for example. And what OP is experiencing is why we in the WN forum recommend booking all one-ways normally.

redtop43

Several years ago (around 2015-16) I asked AA this specific question, and they answered that the entire outbound can be cancelled without impacting the return. I can in no way vouch for whether this continues today, nor whether it applies to B fares,which did not exist then.

erik123

If OP lets us know the itinerary and whether he has any miles/points he can expect help getting the cheapest possible solution.

PHLGovFlyer

The primary reason airlines cancel entire trips when a single leg is skipped has to do with "hidden city" ticketing.

Let's say I want to fly PHL-LAX-PHL and AA prices that at $400. However, AA is also selling a BOS-PHL-LAX-PHL-BOS ticket for $300 (and yes, these scenarios happen routinely). The same rule that is putting you in a bind prevents me from just buying the cheaper ticket out of BOS, skipping the first leg, and hopping on at PHL.

Also, in spite of your protestations, there are many routes where a one-way ticket is more than the cost of a round-trip ticket, so the same hidden city ticket prohibition typically prevents customers from purchasing a cheap round-trip ticket when they only need to fly one-way (granted, customers can still game the system if the pricing is right and they work out their origins and destinations correctly).

Often1

The specific problem here is a combination of OP's choice of fare type and the requirement that the segments be flown in order. The other examples in this thread are irrelevant.

The ticket, at this point, cannot be changed. Period. This means that if the passenger does not fly the first segment, the return will be cancelled. The supposition that OP paid less than twice the OW fare is unsupported and what happened to someone else in some other situation is likewise irrelevant.

For the benefit of others, do not leap at separate bookings. Other than on a BE ticket, one pays one change fee to change a ticket, not a segment. Thus, on a fairly standard domestic discount fare, if one needs to change a trip by a week, one pays the $200 change fee. If on two separate one-ways, one has to change two tickets and two change fees totaling $400.

For OP, the problem lies not in the text of the contract, but in not having double-checked the e-ticket when it came through. He had 24 hours to cancel and rebook, but let that time pass. The debate as to whether one ought to read the contract is likewise irrelevant.

JumboJet

Always check your tickets when you get them. Here the
OP needs to take his lumps and move on

southlondonphil

Fixed your post

IAHtraveler

The only problem with this is that if something happens and you need to change, you'll have 2 change fees instead of one. Or if your original flight has a MX/WX issue and cannot get you there, the airline will refund the outbound. But you're still on the hook for change fees for the return for a city you couldn't get to.

ijgordon

Yes, there are a number of pros and cons of booking two one-ways vs one round-trip, so there’s no “right” answer. The former gives you more flexibility on the outbound, while the latter can give you more flexibility on the return (eg, no repricing for changes to the return if original inventory available). The double-whammy change fee is an obvious downside of booing two one-ways, but I have heard of airlines (Delta) waiving one if you’re changing both tickets at the same time.

AndyAA

Why the heck doesn�t the US based airlines go with the 24 hour clock for flight times? That�ll eliminate those AM / PM issues.

SJOGuy

So many people don't understand that system. Someone who has a flight leaving at 1415 probably thinks that's 4:15 pm.

mvoight

It depends on the route. The lowest fares in some markets are the same if buying 2 one ways or a roundtrip
Were you looking at availability for specfic dates or the actual published fares (whether available or not for specific dates)?

Even in 2015, it would depend on the fare rules for the specific fare purchased. It would make sense for an airline to publish their lowest one way fare as $1400, and to allow people to buy a $400 roundtrip and cancel the outbound.

UKtravelbear

Couple of years ago I was rushing to finish a booking before midnight when a sale ended, I was tired as well and had been playing around for hours looking at flight options, routings and times to construct the ideal itinerary for price and schedule.

But in the rush to book I just chose the wrong return flight - a 10am instead of a 10pm departure for the TATL leg back home to the U.K. and when I got the email I just didn�t notice the �am� because I just saw the numbers not the modifier.

it was a week later that I noticed and yes I kicked myself but equally I didn�t blame anyone else either.

So now I double check everything before hitting �pay� then I check the booking in the app and also the the email.

in my case it �cost� me a day doing tourist stuff but at least I didn�t just turn up at JFK for the 10pm flight!