Throw-Away Ticketing, Hidden City Ticketing, and Skipping Legs: The Definitive Thread
 

Throw away tickets are interesting. Couple of thoughts here. Can they PROVE you never took the flight? Gee, maybe their system missed it?

What if you just changed you mind? Are you obligated to call the airlines and tell them you can not make the flight?

Or, what if you bought a ticket that did not require a saturday night stay. Then later you were able to stay over a saturday. Would they refund the difference? No way,they would then tell you that you need 7 days advance notice to get that lower fare.

Or, here is another argument. You bought and paid for that return seat. Did that plane leave with your paid seat empty? It should. You bought it.

good points. . . http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

If it is just one time, you'll probably get away with it. But if you have a bunch of flights with a throw away, it is going to be hard to argue that they missed you.

And they know any self-respecting flyer would be on the phone demanding their miles.

Or, how about this scenario. I book the RT ticket. I then miss the return flight. It is going to cost me hundreds to get another flight. I then decide to drive instead.

I only used half of what they sold me and just want to drop it. Sort of like booking an apartment for a month, but leaving after 3 weeks. Should they charge me anything?

if you purchase a r/t on delta and not use the return they can charge you for the one-way price of the trip you took if it is higher.

Rule 100G
… a ticket is invalid: … if Delta Air Lines determines that the ticket has been purchased or used in a manner designed to circumvent applicable fare rules. Where a ticket is invalidated as the result of the passenger’s non-compliance with any term or condition of sale, Delta Air Lines has the right in its sole discretion to: Cancel any remaining portion of the passenger’s itinerary, Confiscate unused flight coupons, Refuse to board the passenger or check the passenger’s baggage, or Assess the passenger for the reasonable remaining value of the ticket, which shall be no less than the difference between the fare actually paid and the lowest fare applicable to the passenger’s actual itinerary.

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f

So, a week later they realize you never showed up for the return trip. How do they determine
a) that you in fact did not take the flight
or
b) what the new fare will be? Can they justify a Y fare, when in fact when you booked there MIGHT have been a lower fare?

and

Can they then charge you $75 to change the ticket?

Well, they can "assess" the value of the ticket all they want, but other than filing suit I seed no way for them to collect it (unless you bought it through a travel agent, in which case I suppose they'll send a debit memo to the travel agent and make the poor agent pay the difference between your fare and full Y).

What if you buy a roundtrip ticket, take the first flight, then drop dead??? Are they going to "assess" the fare difference from your estate??

I think that as a practical matter the occasional thrown away ticket doesn't matter. If you established a pattern of it, however, they might take you to court and use the contract language as the basis of their case.

I had this issue once with NW and DL. I had booked a mid-morning NW flight ATL-MEM-ORD (connecting to AI for ORD-BOM), but was unable to make that flight due to a meeting that ran late. I tried to standby for a later flight, but nothing would get me there in time. While I was there, the computer actually cancelled my itinerary for being a no-show.

I went over to DL and bought myself a full-fare one-way ATL-ORD ticket and made my ORD-BOM connection on AI in the nick of time. At BOM, I went over to the NW counter and explained the situation - showing them my DL boarding pass. They immediately reinstated the itinerary.

Throw away ticketing on DL?
 

I will be moving back to the US from MUC sometime next year and I am wondering what, if anything, the RPU will do if I throw away the return part of my round trip ticket.

I have read a few horror stories on this board about the agressive nature of the RPU so I would like to know the risks associated with this. Thanks in advance!

MUC Flyer, there is nothing you have to fear if you're throwing away the ticket for the last segment of your trip. DL will just cancel all "remaining" flights in that itinerary!
You just won't get the miles!

I don't think throw away ticketing is illegal ...

I suppose that technically, the RPU could raise an issue about the throw away, but they won't. I have relocated a couple of times tossing the back end of a RT ticket on DL and had no problems.

I suggest calling to cancel the return trip because you can sometimes credit a few credit dollars off your next flight.

Kind of an open question. How can they prove you did not take that flight? Maybe, their system just lost the flight. In fact, if they ever called me on it, I would turn it around and ask for my miles.

Here is a word of advice for ya. If you don't tell them yer not going to make the retur portion of yer ticket, yer in the clear. If you decide to tell them, there may and most like be a refaring of yer ticket. You would have to pay the one-way fre which is probably more expensive then the one-way fare.

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Happy Trails,
Bobb

Something like this happened to me a couple of years ago. I had a return ticket SFO-DFW. Once I got to DFW our client insisted I flew back to SFO with them (on their expense, thank you). I called Delta and explained the situation. The agent was very friendly when she told me that they couldn't refund anything, but suggested I hang on to the ticket for a year (that's how long it was valid), because "you never know if it comes in handy".

/Pete

[This message has been edited by L-1011 (edited 07-19-2001).]