How to prevent cancelling flights after missing codeshare Alaska flight?
 

Hey guys!
I booked an open jaw/multi city flight on Emirates as follows:

• HOME-DXB-JFK-LAS (last flight on Alaska) - next week
• KUL-DXB-HOME - in March

Now, as it happens my plans have changed a bit and I need to stay in New York and not go to Vegas anymore. However, I'm concerned Emirates might cancel the rest of the ('return') segments if I miss the Alaska codeshare.

How can I prevent this from happening? Does the fact that Alaska is a codeshare and that it is a multi-city itin rather than a return flight change the equation somehow?

Thanks a lot!

I think you would be better talking to Emirates than asking here.....

If this is on a single ticket, I strongly suspect you'll have to fly all segments in order, though an open jaw between LAS and KUL is unusual indeed.

It is indeed on one ticket :/.

In which case you will need to contact the airline and change the booking

It might be much cheaper to fly to LAS as ticketed and purchase a separate ticket to fly back to NYC versus to try changing the ticket to drop the AS JFK-LAS segment.

That may indeed be true - as long as the OP has time to do the trip

That's one idea...though I can't help but groan at the prospect of spending 10+ hours flying to LAS and back from NYC :/.

What if I called them after arriving to New York and told them that I 'couldn't make it' to the LAS flight, decided to buy my own, and kindly request that they not cancel the rest of my itinerary (since the subject of the conversation is now on them not getting me another NYC-LAS flight...the least they can do it not cancel my existing itin).

How does this sound?

Kindly request does not work for this sort of thing ~98% of the time.

If you have open jaw between LAS and KUL, your booking class should be quite flexible, no? Maybe it allows you to put in a stopover and fly NYC-LAS on a date that you're comfortable to do an AS mileage run.

If you simply no show for your JFK-LAS flight, you should expect to have the remaining segments of your ticket cancelled and then retain whatever value they have under the ticket's fare rules. That may well be $0. Anything else is pure luck. Period.

Have you even called EK to determine what it will cost to reticket this without the JFK-LAS segment? You may find that the cost is minimal and that all of this silliness is for nothing. OTOH, maybe it is brutally expensive.

Unless you have a very high risk tolerance and are prepared to purchase new tickets, I would not expect "asking nicely" after a no show to work.

What should happen is whatever the fare rules state - depending on no-show provision. That in some regions a cancellation and retain of value may be common for journeys originating in the USA, but is not common elsewhere.

In many cases, with a no show, there is a higher change fee or cancel penalty than if changed/cancelled before scheduled time of departure, but is a long way short of what is claiming to be expected

as far as it being a 98% chance that a change with no change fee or fare difference applied ( unless there is no change fee and fare difference ), I would say that this is 2% less than I would expect.

To OP - I would start by phoning EK and simply asking how much to make the desired change and if it is a high amount, look at how much to go to LAS and then by a r/t from LAS-NYC and whether there is a saving that makes it worthwhile ( taking into account the long time wasted travelling )

Not even a 2% chance of this working. Absolutely zero.

Unfortunately, the price to make any changes is exorbitant despite it being a 'flex' ticket.

I'm curious as to why there would be just a 2% chance of this working? Don't airlines have to rebook you (or they usually do it) if you miss a connection due to say, customs or baggage delay? What if I told them there wasn't enough time at JFK for a 3 hour connection (something that has happened before with me...) and I had to buy my own flight to LAS? Might they agree to not cancel the rest of the segments?

They will rebook you if you miss a connection. You will miss a sector you dont intend to fly. Zero chance of this working in your favor.

Don't get hung up on the 2%. That was someone's estimate of you happening on a friendly, competent, and empowered agent who would remove the LAS segment without affecting the rest of the ticket. But that is not going to happen. As others have told you, there is no way to make this work.