Round trip award ticket: skip last leg on outbound - any problems for return?
Aug 20, 2019, 3:23 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
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Round trip award ticket: skip last leg on outbound - any problems for return?
I have a round trip ticket booked with award miles for my son OMA-MSP-RST; RST-MSP-OMA. Because of Delta schedule change he has been moved 10 hours later (from am to pm) and will sit for 3.5 hours at MSP before the final leg arriving in RST at 11:30 pm. It is an hour drive for us. So what if we drove up and picked him up at MSP and he skips the last leg and we get him home almost 4 hours earlier? Carry-on only.
Will the fact that this is a round trip ticket affect/cancel the return trip?
Will the fact that this is a round trip ticket affect/cancel the return trip?
Aug 20, 2019, 3:31 pm
#2
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 61
I have a round trip ticket booked with award miles for my son OMA-MSP-RST; RST-MSP-OMA. Because of Delta schedule change he has been moved 10 hours later (from am to pm) and will sit for 3.5 hours at MSP before the final leg arriving in RST at 11:30 pm. It is an hour drive for us. So what if we drove up and picked him up at MSP and he skips the last leg and we get him home almost 4 hours earlier? Carry-on only.
Will the fact that this is a round trip ticket affect/cancel the return trip?
Will the fact that this is a round trip ticket affect/cancel the return trip?
In your scenario (if I'm reading it correctly), Delta would cancel the rest of the roundtrip ticket, RST to MSP and MSP to OMA.
As a side note, if there is a flight change >1 hr on after a customer books the flight(s), Delta waives all change fees. You can pick new flights at no cost to you (assuming no fare difference I believe).
Last edited by Jeremy3292; Aug 20, 2019 at 3:34 pm Reason: adding
Aug 20, 2019, 3:35 pm
#3
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SJC/YUL
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Yes, the return trip will be cancelled, without compensation.
If you call Delta, they will allow you to rebook the flights to a better time (if one is available) they'll likely even allow your son to travel one day earlier or later if that helps. They will also let you cancel for a full refund without penalty
If you call Delta, they will allow you to rebook the flights to a better time (if one is available) they'll likely even allow your son to travel one day earlier or later if that helps. They will also let you cancel for a full refund without penalty
Aug 20, 2019, 4:02 pm
#4
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You could also ask them to rewrite the ticket as open jaw, deleting the segment you don't want. I'm not sure whether they would charge you a fare difference in this case, but there shouldn't be a change fee for such a big schedule change.
Aug 20, 2019, 4:45 pm
#6
Join Date: Feb 2016
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OP - definitely do not have your son just skip the first segment - the entire return will be cancelled. You can either find an itinerary with a shorter connection time that day that works for you, or you can ask them to delete MSP-RST on the outbound but keep the return in tact. Either as possible, as long as you notify them before travel commences on the outbound.
Aug 20, 2019, 5:17 pm
#7
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Thanks for the advice. I perhaps did not communicate clearly. The schedule change was earlier into the day (7:30 a original dep) and he couldn't get a ride (one hour earlier) and so they moved him (with some cajoling - they were going to charge a 150 redeposit fee and more mileage) to a 5:30 dep but that has a 3.5 layover in MSP. I will call and try to ask for them to drop the MSP-RST segment turning it into an open jaw. But, worst case scenario, I guess we will have him fly it so the return isn't canceled.
Aug 20, 2019, 5:25 pm
#8
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
Thanks for the advice. I perhaps did not communicate clearly. The schedule change was earlier into the day (7:30 a original dep) and he couldn't get a ride (one hour earlier) and so they moved him (with some cajoling - they were going to charge a 150 redeposit fee and more mileage) to a 5:30 dep but that has a 3.5 layover in MSP. I will call and try to ask for them to drop the MSP-RST segment turning it into an open jaw. But, worst case scenario, I guess we will have him fly it so the return isn't canceled.
That way, the outbound is on a separate PNR so the MSP-RST is the only thing left for it to auto cancel. Or just have him fly it.
Aug 20, 2019, 5:30 pm
#9
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apparently DL has already changed the original booking once, so they’re unlikely to offer a second free change