Missing a connecting flight
 

Im flying into Narita and catching a connecting flight to Chitose
(Budget airline ) my return flight is from Chitose to tokyo and then Tokyo to Brisbane . What i want to know is will the airline care if im not on the Chitose to Tokyo flight? Change of plans mean i will already be in Tokyo so I only want to use the international leg. I have called Jetstar and they have told me to catch both flights , if i miss the first flight surely they wont cancel , im happy to just forfeit it .

If you don't fly from Chitose to Tokyo, your airline will cancel your reservation on the subsequent flights in that itinerary. Jetstar has advised you that you must fly both flights. You'd be well advised to take that advice.

Wrong. That is exactly what will happen.

If you must miss the first return leg, you will be well advised to contact the airline to change the itinerary. There will undoubtedly be a change fee but it will be better than arriving at the airport to find you have no valid ticket. In that case you would have to pay walk-up prices for the one-way flight to your destination.

This situation is discussed many, many times in the Travel Buzz section of Flyertalk, under the term "hidden city" ticketing.

If it is two separate tickets then sure, you can miss the Chitose to Tokyo one. But if you bought a single Chitose - Brisbane (transit Tokyo) then as others have said, if you miss the first leg, your second leg will be cancelled.

Yes, it all depends on whether you have one or two tickets/PNRs. If it's different (budget) airlines, my guess would be two tickets/PNRs, but you need to check this carefully. Often budget airlines just sell point to point tickets for segments and don't offer connections.

BTW, you might want to use the red triangle to the bottom left of your post to ask a moderator to move this thread to the Budget Asian airlines thread, where people who have had experience with your particular budget carrier(s) might respond.

Thanks everyone , it looks as though im going to be flying in circles between Tokyo and Sapporo :(

Sounds like just the sort of thing that the folks who hang out here love to do.