Dropping last leg of itinerary
 

Until now I have always planned to buy a return positioning flight to the start location and fly the last leg of a Ex-EU TP run... if only to get the extra points! However, for the first time I am about to book a trip that isn't specifically for points but I still want to use an Ex-EU itinerary but I really don't want to fly the last leg (and return positioning flight) as I want to end my trip at LHR.

I have read and re-read all the posts I can find on this topic and it seems to me that providing I don't do it often it won't flag me up at BA and neither will my itinerary be re-priced. The problem is that the consequences of a re-pricing, or ultimately being kicked out of BAEC with loss of status, is so costly that I don't want to risk anything at all.

Now, I know that no one here can give guarantees and if I do this then it is at my own risk... but can those that have done this please give me a bit of confidence so that I might do it myself. It would save me some valuable time not having to do the final out and back, not to mention a bit of money too - not that that is important... the return positioning leg is only about £70!!!

Many thanks in advance.

If you're going to do this then book it directly with the airline - having a travel agent involved might cause a problem.

Apart from that there haven't been any reports of problems caused by doing this in Europe, but best not to do it repeatedly.

Thanks everyone :)

I am thinking about booking a quick trip DUB-LHR-LAX for 8th Jan... I need a break after all this Christmas stuff! At about £400 (In Y of course!) I couldn't resist. These really are ridiculously cheap when you consider it will cost me over £100 to get to London from Cornwall by train.

PS Just priced up DUB-LHR-LAX-LHR - not a return but multi-city - and it is even cheaper at £378 with AA! That seems the better way than booking a return and not using the final sector but thatnks for the comments. I may do this on another trip I am planning which is Ex-EU to SIN. Just need to get good pricing for May!

do you plan on taking checked baggage?

I wish more people priced this sort of routing up. It can often be cheaper (or marginally more expensive) but would save people time and inconvenience.

I did this for SFO last year - INV - LHR - SFO - LHR - GLA - saved £400 per person in Y

I had a 1 night stopover in ORD, which was handy to meet an old friend for breakfast too.

Not to mention IRROPS on the outbound causing one either to no show for the long-haul or leave so much time between positioning and long-haul that the whole thing becomes a lot of work to save a little.

No... HBO. But if I were then it changes things a bit as they might not short-check my bags in which case it would make sense to fly the final out and back. :)

I see what you mean but the savings are often not "a little". Take my trip for example... I started off just pricing up LHR-LAX return... it was £1,700 in Y for the whole of January!!! Going to DUB first brings that down to just under £400. That is a ridiculous saving and worth making the jump to DUB IMO.

I have to be honest... it makes me a bit cross that this is how they price up air tickets. It just does not make sense to add flights and it cost less... not to mention the climate impact. I would like to see it simplified and all fares one-way with each sector priced individually and the sectors in your itinerary simply summed. The idea that a return is cheaper for the airline and hence cheaper for the customer doesn't ring true for me. It is an old-fashioned way of looking at it IMO. In my simple world if I fly, I use fuel and airline resources so it shouldn't be cheaper for me to use more of those resources... but perhaps I should save further discussion on that for another thread :)

You may be right about that but it would only make sense if they didn't offer the same seats at £400 starting somewhere else. If they are THAT sure of selling at £1700 then to make them available at £400 makes no sense. My £400 ticket could be taking a seat they could then have sold for £1700 so if they are that sure at selling at £1700 why sell at £400 at all?

Anyway, one thing is certain... none of it makes sense to me :) I'll just take the deals when they appear and be thankful :)

Other option if you plan to check baggage is to change airports in London. Suppose your Ex-EU starts in AMS, then book XXX-LHR-LCY-AMS as the ending on your ticket. BA will return your bags at LHR, as they will not transfer the bags to LCY.