Cancel 2nd Half of Round Trip
Apr 5, 2019 | 4:48 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 4
Cancel 2nd Half of Round Trip
I'm flying to Texas in 8 days and bought a two-way ticket with Frontier Airlines a month or two ago. (Both ways have a layover in Denver, Colorado.) I now decided that I want to drive back, so I want to find a way to cancel just the return flight of my reservation. The return flight is $153 so it will still be worth it if I have to pay the $119 cancellation fee... Should I even bother cancelling beforehand, or should I just not show up?
Apr 5, 2019 | 6:32 pm
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Atlanta, GA, USA
Programs: DL estranged 1MMer and lifetime gold, F9/CO/NW/UA/AA once gold/plat now dust, Spirit RIP
Posts: 42,224
I've always just walked away, but usually the amounts are lower than what you are describing. Do you know how much of that fare was from the outbound and how much from the return? The return portion is almost certainly less than the cancellation fee, most likely. You also forfeit any amounts pre-paid for seats, bags, etc.
I dunno if they'd do this but they also might pull a difference-in-fare bit by saying you're fundamentally changing the RT to a OW so they have to cancel the WHOLE thing, charge the $119, and now you've got $34 credit but no ticket. Would the $34 buy a new one-way? Calling the airline could make things worse for you.
It's because of scenarios like that and the slim chance of things being made any better (but they could be made worse!) that I tend to minimize and try to avoid human contact in that area. Heck, I started my travel career at a time when double hidden cities were possible (like using SDF-ATL-MCI-ATL-SDF as an ATL-MCI RT, something you couldn't do now), so that was a course in human-element avoidance.
The systems with changes or refunds are definitely NOT designed for your benefit and are one of the airline's more lucrative profit centers.
I dunno if they'd do this but they also might pull a difference-in-fare bit by saying you're fundamentally changing the RT to a OW so they have to cancel the WHOLE thing, charge the $119, and now you've got $34 credit but no ticket. Would the $34 buy a new one-way? Calling the airline could make things worse for you.
It's because of scenarios like that and the slim chance of things being made any better (but they could be made worse!) that I tend to minimize and try to avoid human contact in that area. Heck, I started my travel career at a time when double hidden cities were possible (like using SDF-ATL-MCI-ATL-SDF as an ATL-MCI RT, something you couldn't do now), so that was a course in human-element avoidance.
The systems with changes or refunds are definitely NOT designed for your benefit and are one of the airline's more lucrative profit centers.
Apr 5, 2019 | 6:47 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 4
I tried calling, but before they even put me on with a representative they said that they would charge me as much as $25 for cancelling over the phone. The outbound flight is $145 and the return is $153, so if I could manage to cancel just the return then I would at least be able to get $34 back. I'm thinking of cancelling the return once I'm already in Texas so that the outbound flight will be off the table. I was just worried that if that didn't work they would still charge me the cancellation fee and not refund me for not showing up.