I hope this is the right forum.

I recently flew ARN - AMS.

I had one 2-way ticket with KLM (ARN-AMS, AMS-ARN)
Then I changed my plans and got a 1-way ticket with SAS (ARN-AMS)

When I tried using only my last part of my 2-way ticket KLM told me that since I hadn't used the first part the ticket was void. So I had to buy a new ticket to go AMS-ARN. In the end I got the same chair that I would have had if my ticket was not voided (same flight, same class).

Is it standard practice for airlines to void the return ticket if you don't use the first half of the ticket? I know of at least one instance where it worked fine (not KLM though).

YES!

There really ought to be a "Sticky" thread at the top of TravelBuzz, titled

YES, SKIPPING THE FIRST SEGMENT WILL VOID THE REST OF YOUR TICKET

Thanks for the quick replies. I would have preferred a different reality, but at least the brutal truth was quick

Oh, and welcome to FT

As you might've guessed, your question is posed quite frequently here, at least a few times a week. While the FT terms of use require users to search for existing threads on their question before starting a new ones, this particular issue always seems to spawn new threads. I'm not sure why that is - certainly many novice users don't know to search for the official term ("hidden-city ticketing"), but alternates should still work ("skip segment", "skip first flight", etc). I was only half-kidding about the Sticky in my previous post; perhaps a proactive step like this would cut down on new threads about this common question.

Thanks for the welcome

I will use the search functionality extensively going forward. I was mostly worried about posting to the correct sub-forum. edit: Hence I forgot about searching.

Sometimes people are so "worked-up" over the issue that brought them here that they just don't think to utilize the search feature, and I don't think it happens just here on FT.

As an example, I regularly visit/post to a timeshare board and it seems that several times a week a new poster comes on and asks "I just purchased a great timeshare from the developer...., did I get a good deal" and the anwser about 99.999995 of the time (if not more) is "no, you got hosed, recind immediately."

People are looking for a quick answer, and might think that there are 1,000s of people logged on at any given moment waiting to answer their question; also they may think their situation is unique and that prior answers may not really apply.

maker00, welcome to FlyerTalk. As your question has been answered, I'll close the thread now.

Other members are correct that this is one of the more frequent questions posed by new members. Maybe we can see about adding something to the forum Announcement as to Advice for Posting in TravelBuzz. In any case, enjoy FlyerTalk! Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator.