how to avoid tix cancel when 1st segment dropped?
 

So... linked tix for me and my compadre. Compadre cannot take initial flight but wants to preserve the return. Of course, from experience, if you miss the outbound then LAN computers cancel the return automatically, been there, done that. I print boarding passes for both, scratching my head how I am going to trick the gate agent and FAs. Thought about finding a blow up doll. The FAs are pretty accomodating and might well accept such a non-responsive passenger in the seat jeje but pretty sure the gate agent is going to kick up a fuss, something about airline regulations.

Any other creative solutions to this problem?

This is the same for pretty much any airline.

You could try scanning the BP yourself when noone's looking, and when they ask for your seatmate say he's in the bathroom/getting bags, etc.. INYL though

Well, I tried pleading fog and ILS but got no where because, well, it had nothing to do with anything. :D Tried tix change making the return the originating, nope, only date not destination changes. :mad: Handed both boarding passes to the gate agent but she only scanned mine. I did not want to wrestle with her in public for control of the scanner. Had thought maybe in the confusion of the gate cola I could point to someone beside me and walk on but... no one beside me, I was the only preferente :eek: Likely a good thing because it would have probably resulted in a flight delay as they tried to jive the manifest with the seat count. Never say never. I am just trying to emulate a famous poster on this board and give anything a try just to see if it could work jeje

Success! :p Never say never.

Does it perhaps have something to do with the fact that the ttickets were linked and at least one of the people on the linked tickets traveled (and in fact both checked in, if you had both boarding passes)?

That could be handled quite differently than when it's just a single ticket and that one person doesn't travel at all on the first segment.

If it's a linked ticket, can they (so easily) cancel one while keeping the other intact?

Always suspected you were smart, sdsearch, now we have proof. :)

Went to Lan office to print my boarding pass (and check a hopefully trickable odd J-Y routing). Machine wouldn't access my reservation code – oh, oh, what have I done by mucking about, have they cancelled the whole reservation? Asked desk agent, she said machine there was acting badly, but she'd look it up for me. Yup, my reservation was abierto for both tix. Hmm.
Mine is OK? “Yes”.
The second is OK? Some typing and then “No, the file says the originating flight was never boarded” and she dutifully recited the rule that if the originating flight was not taken the the return flight is cancelled.
Wow, that is very helpful, thank you, I'll come back later and print my boarding pass (saying it in the singluar, but thinking it in the plural).

Ya know, I probably wouldn't waste valuable programmer's time on such a rare occurence either.

Bingo --- I'm sending you best wishes and good luck vibes. But, I wouldn't trust that LAN can't still stiff you on this (hope I am wrong!)

Thanks for the vibes. It was successful, so quite the opposite of them stiffing me... I win some, lose some.:) But, in fact, in the scorecard of the game with LAN, I am winning, and winning by a lot. So I for one am quite happy that LAN is not a perfect airline (none are) and is trickable. Mistakes go both ways, but not something we can speak about here. Played enough sports in my life to know not to whine to the referee when you are winning, it is quite unseemly. But I reserve the right to rant when they really mess me up...