I booked a flight SYD-BNE-LAX on Qantas using my miles (using my BA miles) but I decided I'd rather leave from BNE than do the SYD-BNE leg. BA wants to charge me $70 to change the flight to BNE-LAX. What if I just missed the first leg (SYD-BNE) but caught the BND-LAX leg. Would that work? I'm worried about trying to check-in at BNE and them saying I can't and being stuck.

Nope. If you don't show for SYD-BNE they will most likely cancel the whole ticket/itin with you as a "no show", and then you'll be in real trouble.

You might try calling to cancel the flrst sector and see if they will preserve the rest (give some story about finding some other way up to BNE or something).

It is all automated; when you no-show at SYD for SYD-BNE the computer will cancel BNE-LAX, release the award inventory (which is then not returned to awards for same day travel). So when you try to check-in at BNE there is no reservation and no inventory to rebook it. Nothing that the agents can do (except to force conversion of paid seat to award, and it takes a high level supervisor to do that -- unlikely to be done except as a very big favour). The AUD70 change fee is cheap (it is USD125 for OWE tickets, for example).

Why not change the SYD-BNE leg to a day that suits you, assuming you will be in SYD, and assuming it will not cost more points and just the change fee.

They won't touch it since it is owned by another agent ( BA) . Need to speak to BA to make the change;

Dave

Even if they do not cancel the subsequent bookings, you cannot use a e-ticket out of sequence.

Dave good point.

The only time I ever did something remotely like this was in the middle of a RTW about 10 years ago. I had a sector on AC from MKE-YYZ following on from a UA sector I think it was DEN-xORD-MKE(doesn't matter). Anyway I got a free ticket from a mate to fly to YYZ on (then new) Fairchild 328 Jet (the FRJ) so I thought cool, but I have to cancel my AC sector. The whole thing had been ticketed by AN (yeah, that's how long ago this was ) but I just called up AC a few hours before the flight, explained I had other transportation to YYZ, so just wanted to cancel that sector, but I wished to continue with the rest of my RTW out of YYZ. AC were totally fine with it and I had no problems (if I had not shown up for my AC MKE-YYZ though the rest of my ticket would have been cancelled). So I guess that was my thinking to contact QF as the operating carrier, but it being an award ticket, and the originating sector no less, would definitely come into play.

Thanks for all the input guys. It seems like the unanimous decision is that I have to bite the bullet and pay the $70. To answer someone's question I'll be travelling to Gold Coast at the end of my trip anyways so I'd have to travel Gold Coast - SYD just to pick up a SYD - BNE, for me it's not worth my time since it will be essentially breakeven on the cost.

It's funny to see just how strange the fees and pricing is for the airline industry. I'm paying $70 so that I take one less flight. Logic would say that Qantas would want me to not take that flight so they can sell it to someone else.

-1, I'd fly OOL-SYD, only slightly more time than the overland OOL-BNE and probably about the same cost

aaaah but they get to sell the ticket again AND get $70 from you.

^....

Except it is BA that gets the $70, not QF. QF loses the revenue for the sector from BA (so there is a net dollar loss for QF) and doesn't really get to sell that seat again (it was already "sold" by the oversales algorithm). BA does get to keep the cost of the sector as well as the change fee, so nice for BA ... one of the bennies of running BAEC and setting the rules.