But what if you're going to be gone longer than they will let you book? It's possible, which is what I was thinking of. If I'm going to be gone June 1 to May 30, it's not possible to book that return if you wait until May 31 to buy the outbound (at the last minute price), which is what it sounds like the OP's situation was.

I swear I read a similar question (which is when you should ask, before buying) and IIRC the suggestions were to buy two one-ways, or two RT and throw away the unused legs, or buy a RT and pay the change fee at the later date.

shrugs

Yes, those are all options. And often, the cheapest way is to buy a RT and then pay a change fee.

My thoughts, for what they're worth (hint -- not much, but short sell 'em anyway).

1) Was the OP on a trip of longer than 330 days? If not, there was no reason not to wait until the return trip opened up (except maybe for the price issue, but we can see where that is leading him/her)

2) Why is the OP waiting until now to take care of this? According to my calculations, approximately 270 days have elapsed since the travel date in question has been available to schedule. Even without the "luxury of time" it is inconceivable to me that the OP has been without access to internet or telephone and a few spare hours over that span. People reproduce in less time.

3) I don't think the language was too far out of line. The offensive word was something you can hear on basic cable -- and probably even network TV after 9 -- and was used in relation air travel in general, not in relation to any individuals on the board. While the word is sexual in nature, it was not used in any sexual context, thus further limiting the obscenity. Not the kind of thing you'd want to say in polite conversation with strangers, but by that standard there are worse things said on here even without such words. I can understand if the moderators disagree (the AUP is pretty open to judgment here) but I certainly don't see this as anything more than maybe a warning offense.

4) Dude/Babe, pay the fee, get the flight you want (or as close to it as is now possible) and chalk it up to lesson learned: when you buy a ticket for a date you don't want and the T&C of the ticket tell you there's a fee for changes, you're going to have to pay a fee in order to change it.

Yes, this has been my one of my sticking points all along. If I leave on Jan 1 and plan to return Dec 31, the system simply won't be able to book me on the inbound. Now, CO may say: well, since Dec 31 isn't available, then you shouldn't have booked it. But where's the logic in that? CO is selling this as a 1-year ticket via a travel agent. If you're not able to book the inbound without incurring a penalty (a fault that's obviously not yours), then this ticket isn't technically valid for 365 days; it's, in theory, valid for 330 days - and that's not taking into account the inexplicable full house of some fare buckets on inbound dates at least 8 months ahead.

It's the principle of the matter that's at stake here. This is flagrant entrapment on CO's part. And it's also a sneaky tactic of plundering a hundred bucks off customers who are none the wiser. I know this isn't a fair world, but look: if you sell a ticket that's valid for a year, you should fully expect the customer to take advantage of the window, or at least come close to it. Otherwise, they'd be better off purchasing 2-week, 1-month, 6-month tickets. The least any airline can do is under these circumstances is to ensure that seats are available in the fare bucket in question. And if the customer defaults on the date, then yes, CO can say with conviction: we're going to ding you with a penalty and there's nothing you can do about it.

rkkwan, you said I should have waited until the entire trip was bookable. Taking into account the average person's busy schedule and given the unpredictable nature of airline booking systems, can you honestly say that that would have been the most pragmatic decision to undertake? I say no way.

I don't see how you can book a flight that isn't available--no logic in that.

You're mixing up the validity of the ticket with the dates available to book travel. The two issues are not related.


The only thing that was entrapped here is a person who didn't read the rules!

I'd love to be able to make up my own personal contract of carriage and have Continental endorse it! ;)