companion ticket SDC question
 

Hi all,

traveling with my GF on a companion ticket. here's the deal - we're booked out on the last flight out of the night from chigago that gets us to RDU tonight, which is at 6:06pm. Unfortunately it looks like due to meetings, we will make it to the airport around 5:40, and still have to drop off the rental car, do security etc.. On a regular ticket, I would just have split the record, dropped her off, and then tried my own luck, worst case scenario overnighting in MSP/DTW/ATL at my own cost, and arriving in the morning.

However, does that still work on the companion ticket? I know she can board the plane in chicago, but if I don't end up on that flight, will the second leg be cancelled for her?

Also this is the return leg of the ticket, so not concerned about any issues with the return being cancelled or any of that.

Splitting it could be risky... she would probably be alright. Following legs aren't likely to be canceled, especially since she already boarded in Chicago. If there is an issue, it would be there. Technically since she is the companion, you are supposed to travel with her. Although, if you can get it split I don't think it will be a problem.

companion can SDC for $50 fee given the usual rules of available inventory (or available seats, if in forward cabin)

A companion ticket cannot be split. Period.

This!

I would disagree... if your companion can't make it for example, they can split the PNR and cancel theirs so you can still fly.

That's actually not true.

.....but then the problem for the OP is that the companion cannot fly without the other person and it would seem necessary to buy an additional one way ticket for the companion, which is likely to be expensive.

The best solution might be to pay to SDC/SDS together.

They can be split. The paid can fly w/o the companion but not the other way around.

Why would you split the companion, unless it was b/c one person could not fly? There are no UGs, etc. so it seems prudent to leave them together.

And, yes, you can SDC. But you have to get the promotions desk involved -- it takes an extra 5-10 minutes.

Why bother? If you board without your companion, is someone going to make you deboard?

OK I should have said that the PNR cannot be split to allow the two pax to fly separately. The T&C of the companion ticket require the two to fly together.

If the companion drops out of the trip, I don't see any reason to split the PNR to cancel out the companion. If the companion fails to show, then they are cancelled without the extra bother. Does anyone have a different experience with this?

maybe not you as the revenue passenger ... but the companion is likely to be another story

before there were e-tickets and cell phones, I waited at the gate with my then-GF until she had boarded the DAY-STL flight, ultimately heading to LAX

about 10 min later she ignored the TWA FA who paged me ... when the GA came on board to ask where I was, she said I had had some sort of emergency and had returned to work ... the GA escorted her off the jet (she was even in C on a 767 due to an equipment swap)

luckily TWA still honored her ticket along with mine the next day (in Y, on the regularly scheduled 727), but her boss was not at all happy that she had to take a day of leave without pay on no notice

for the record, we are still married, but never again tried to push the envelope on companion tix