Continental Airline's Open Return Ticket
 

Hi, I came upon this site looking for an answer it seems no one else is able to provide. I bought a round-trip ticket at a travel agency in New York City, Chinatown to be exact, and I had purchased it with an open return trip date. I am planning on leaving Hong Kong in 2 days but there are several unanswered questions I have about certain procedures.

1)How do I go about claiming my open date ticket? Do I simply walk up to the Continental Airlines counter with everyone else, hand them my passport, and say I'm here to claim my open-date return ticket? I also have a receipt from my first trip coming here with 1 stub connected to it, there were 2 originally but I believe they tore it at the gate. Does this have any merit even though the return date on it says October 22nd?

2)I am currently looking for a flight that can match my schedule and the results that I am receiving on the Continental Airlines site don't fit my time needs too well, but they also give me many, many partner airline flights that connect in 2 other countries such as Guam and South Korea. This one is not so much a question as it is me looking for your advice and opinions.

Thanks to those who find the time to reply to this thread, and an early apology if I do something wrong for my first post.

Welcome to FlyerTalk, PetiteMorte :)

I will move this thread to the Continental forum where you should find many people eager to assist you.
Thanks for your understanding.

Jouy31
Travelbuzz moderator

Can you clarify this better. Do you mean you bought a HKG-EWR-HKG roundtrip ticket from a NYC agent?

And that return ticket says Oct 22 for the return trip?

I think you better call CO ASAP. I feel that you're in pretty deep trouble...

Yes, my receipt from the travel agency is labeled as HKG-EWR-HKG and I had spoken to the agent regarding the date and they indicated that it was okay. I am currently calling CO, thanks for the warning.

Again, thank you for the warning rkkwan, it does seem that my ticket is now invalid. That travel agency failed to inform me that I was supposed to call CO to extend my ticket date if I did not plan to return on the 22nd of October. Again, much thanks.

Ususally with open return, you pick a possible return date and can change it for free.

But you must change or cancel your return date by the travel date, or your ticket becomes invalid.

I would call the TA and see if they can work it out, since you never said anything about 10/22.

I don't know what the rules associated with your particular ticket are, but I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong), that the unflown protion of your itinerary retains value, and you can change the date after paying

a) a change fee (anywhere between $100 and $200) and

b) any difference in fare. This could be substantial if you want to travel right away (i.e. you might be required to buy up to a full or nearly full fare).

Good luck!