Hi,
This must have been asked loads of times before - but I don't know the answer!

I have just booked a connecting flight - but both legs are with different airlines.

How do I need to go about deliberately missing the first leg of the flight & just checking in for the second flight?

I imagine very easy coming back, as I just check my bags on to the first destination and pick them up there.

Thanks in advance!

If the two flights are on the same ticket, missing the first flight will cause the rest of the itinerary to be cancelled. If the tickets are separate, then there's nothing out of the ordinary that you would have to do, as the first one would be voided when you don't show up.

Don�t do it. Chances are high the first airline will report you as a no-show to the second airline and cancel your entire booking. It�s called �hidden-city ticketing� and we get someone asking this question every couple of days.

The only leg you can safely skip is the very last one. The airlines aren�t stupid, they know people want to try this.

You don't provide sufficient information for an informed answer. Need the carrier(s), whether booked as code share, departure, connecting and arrival city.

Presuming that you booked this as one ticket from AAA-CCC via BBB and it just so happens that you are switching carriers at BBB, when you fail to appear for the first segment, your reservation onward will be cancelled. If you have a non-refundable ticket, you will most likely lose its entire value and be required to pay the walk-up fare for BBB-CCC when you show up (if the seat is still available).

This may well violate the contract of carriage and, if you are earning miles for any segment, may find that one or both carriers close out (and zero out) your frequent flyer info.

So - Please post the details so we can better advise you.

to miss the 1st flight, don't show up....then dont show up for the 2nd, because it will be canceled when you miss the 1st....

the? has been asked before, & the answer hasn't changed....

i'll give long odds that you have a ticket from a-b-c then c-b-a which was cheaper than b-c-b.....

so, figure how to get to a...then, as you said, just get off at b on the return....

checking bags would require a short check on the return...

Search this forum for "Hidden City" ticketing and you'll get a giant amount of information.

My takeaway: You can get away with it if

1. It's the very last segment of the entire trip.
2. You take only carry-on luggage.
3. You don't make a habit of it.

If you miss the first segment, the entire ticket will be cancelled. The airlines are pretty good about spotting Hidden City passengers.

Even with "only taking carry-on luggage" there is always the risk the plane will be quite full and you might be forced to gate check your bag. In an ideal world, by gate checking you will get your bag when the plane lands but there could be times when the airline checks your bag through to the final destination.

True. That makes it even riskier even for the final segment.

Don't expect the airline to transport your luggage back to the connecting city. Getting your luggage is your problem, now.

OK - some more detail.

I can see 2 different Airline references one for each, and one ticket number!

The flight is:

Dublin to London HR (with Aer Lingus)
London HR to Newark (with Virgin Atlantic)

There is a 2 hour 25 minute window in HR on the way out & 7 hours 25 mins on the way back (shouldn't be a problem saying only check my bags to London on the way back as I want to sightsee??

Also, I there are two of us on the reservation, if you really don't recommend not getting on the 1st leg - could one of us go to Dublin & the other one join in London?

Thanks!

You have about 1% chance for VS to accept your booking if you skip the EI sector. Most likely VS will addcollect for the LHR-EWR fare. Cheaper to just fly to DUB.

If this works, it's only because there is a software glitch and Virgin agent is asleep at the switch. Your TATL will amost certainly be cancelled as soon as the first segment leaves DUB without you. Virgin will refare and collect the walk-up fare for TATL (which is likely to be many times what it is in advance) if it has not already booked somebody into the seat.

Even if you get away with this outbound, Virgin won't short-check your bag. In other words, ticket to DUB means bag to DUB. Asking for short-check is a 100% sign to any carrier that you intend to end the itinerary early.

At a minimum, no checked bags and understand that you need to look at the likelihood that you will get hit up for 3-4 times what you paid on departure by Virgin.

I agree... buy a LON-DUB ticket and fly from DUB... very slight chance you can get on at LHR on the outbound without problems.... even if you do (if all the systems don't sync up), the return will be cancelled when you get to the US.

If the 7-hr connection in LHR on the way back depends on whether it's overnight or not. If it's overnight, it's a lot easier to shortcheck bags. If it's not overnight, it's up to the agent at EWR.

If you don't manage to shortcheck them, and you don't show up for the LHR-DUB flight, chances are -- your bags won't travel to DUB without you, so they'll stay at LHR and it will be up to Aer Lingus to release them to you .

I agree... buy a LON-DUB ticket and fly from DUB... very slight chance you can get on at LHR on the outbound without problems.... even if you do (if all the systems don't sync up), the return will be cancelled when you get to the US.

If the 7-hr connection in LHR on the way back depends on whether it's overnight or not. If it's overnight, it's a lot easier to shortcheck bags. If it's not overnight, it's up to the agent at EWR.

If you don't manage to shortcheck them, and you don't show up for the LHR-DUB flight, chances are -- your bags won't travel to DUB without you, so they'll stay at LHR and it will be up to Aer Lingus to release them to you .

This could be the most commonly asked question here on FT. As others have stated, if you miss any segment of your itinerary other than the last, then the rest of your itinerary will be cancelled. If you check bags, it's virtually impossible to do this without an overnight somewhere.

There are also ways that the airline can choose to punish you if they choose to do so, even though I don't think they usually do it unless you make a habit out of it. They could charge your credit card for the price of flying CCC-BBB, which will usually be quite a bit higher than the cost of flying CCC-BBB-AAA. If you're a FF, they could do a few things, up to and including closing out your FF account. Once again, that's not something that they usually do unless you make a habit out of this type of thing, but it is something that could potentially happen.

However, none of this matters as you want to miss the first leg, which will cancel all remaining legs. So that just means you'll have to pay the walk-up fare to purchase a new ticket onto the plane and hope the seat is still available.

If you have to go through security again at Heathrow, you could always tell the agent you need your bags back at Heathrow to put liquids (booze, perfume etc) into them?

Agree with the others on the first part tho - you have to take the first leg or it will be cancelled.