helahela

Now that Estonian Air has pulled out of the TLL-HEL I am looking at a new kind of a problem. On quite a few nights in December the evening flights for my returns from HEL to TLL are full, however Finnair is the only viable option.
Now it is cheaper to buy it TLL-HEL-PAR(or LON)-HEL-TLL than TLL-HEL-PAR(or LON)-HEL

Question is - if I don't take the last leg from HEL the next day, but opt for the ferry - instead of an expensive hotel - when would Finnair start asking questions?

oliver2002

Dropping the last leg is normally no problem with any airline.

NoWindowSeat

No. Unless you start doing that regularly.

Kallio

Just don't check any luggage on your way back. Some time ago Finnair sued and won a case where someone didn't board to the last leg (incidentally to TLL) and demanded to get his luggage. Naturally Finnair dod have to give the guy his possessions, but they demanded the price difference on the spot. The guy refused, and Finnair sued. The court awarded Finnair the difference and Finnair's legal expenses. Needless to say it ended up being quite expensive trip.

EDIT: I didn't notice the last leg is in following day. It might actually work with checked luggage too, as it won't cause any extra work for ground services. I believe the main reason Finnair sued in the case I mentioned, was that they had to locate his luggage which was destined to TLL. If you have to ask something unusual, it gets an attention.

mkgrip

I remember that case: Finnair didn't sue anyone though: The guy did not refuse but paid what Finnair asked to get the luggage, and then he sued Finnair to get his money back. Quite a difference in my opinion, as AY wasn't actively looking to sue its customers, but just defended itself when sued by a customer for charging the difference.

Kallio

Thanks for the correction.

helahela

Thanks a lot for the answers.
I don't INTEND to do it regularly, however, if they don't add more flights to Tallinn, there will be problems.

Why I asked was that I've heard of people (mostly on the BA forum) who have used the ex-EU pricing for cheap business class fares and miss out on the last leg. Apparently if you do that regularly they start blocking the executive club accounts, hence why the question.

WilcoRoger

What you might also consider (if you'll ever fly the same route as your last leg) is to have the ticket issued with the last leg in the far future.

This fall I've had many such tickets with "stopovers" in HEL of up to 6 weeks, saving tons of money. The last leg doesn't even have to be the same destination as the origin - I had CPH-HEL-NRT-HEL-BUD ("only" 1500€ cheaper than at HEL-NRT return)

But to your original question - I've thrown away last legs without a blink. What is the worst that can happen? "Sorry, missed the flight/plans changed, ticket was unchangeable!"

If you have checked luggage, be sure to short check them. I'm not sure if c/i agents can/will do that everywhere, so you're much safer in this respect travelling with hand luggage only.

If you really worry about the mileage account being closed (minimal chance), credit to somewhere else, not AY+

SPBanker

Has anyone actually even heard of such thing on AY?