Hidden city - specific question
 

Hello community of flyers :),

I am new here, so please excuse me if this was answered elsewhere.

Today I booked a round trip flight from A to B and back from B to A.

The actual trip that I booked goes A-B-C then C-B-A. I did this because a flight from A to B alone is around 850 while this flight cost me 250. Once I did this, I felt smart until I looked it up and found out that it is prohibited and the rest of my flight might get cancelled. So now I will go from A to B, but my return flight will be cancelled as I didnt show up on the B-C and C-B flights. Even though I understand that, my question is this:

If I call the airline and let them know that I need to drop the first leg of my return flight, I read that they will charge me 150 + the difference to a one way flight. The one way flight is listed at 500 right now. So does that mean that if I pay 150+125 (which is 250/2) I could get a one way flight? That would mean that it would cost me 275+250=525 which would still be a better deal than 850. Even if they charge me 150+250=400, that would mean I paid in total 650 instead of 850. Is my logic correct? In other words, this could be used as another way to save some money even though hidden city is "prohibited". Thanks!

Welcome to FT!
It would be helpful if you posted the actual flights and/or cities involved.
Each non-refundable ticket has different rules and those rules differ depending the airline.
If you want assistance, you need to give more information.

Thanks for your answer. Basically Im flying from ELM to DET. I booked a round trip flight from ELM to DET to ORL . I will miss the second leg of my flight there, and the first leg of the flight back. I understand that as soon as I dont show up on the DET to ORL flight, the rest of the ticket (return flight) will be cancelled. Im flying delta.

The route that I will be taking is listed (using the same ELM<>DET flights) at 850. The flight I booked is 250. A 1 way flight on the desired date from DET to ELM is listed around 500. So the question is, would it still be more economical calling the airline and changing my ticket with paying the fee and the difference (to buy a new, one way ticket) than it would have been to just pay 850 for the direct round trip? From my above calculations, it sounds like it!

One of the crucial things that make hidden city ticketing work is that you must purchase a one-way fare both ways, or perhaps a RoundTrip on the return if it's cheaper. I would call the airline, but they'll probably tell you the standard change fee + difference of fare. But call and see if you can get someone who can help, you never know...

Thanks for the reply. Just wondering, has there been a case where the airline just agreed to cancel the "B<>C" legs for free while keeping the same itenerary? I mean you are letting them re-sell that seat, so I feel like they shouldn't be penalizing people..

DL has software which instantly reprices an itinerary. Presuming that you are on a discounted non-refundable fare, if you make a change, you will pay

Due = Fare paid - $200 (change fee) + New Fare

In your example, you have a $250 ticket and you will need to buy a $850 ticket. That will cost you $800 (calculated as $800=$250-200+850). If you choose to buy two one-ways, it will cost you $950 (calculated as $950=$250-200+1000).

Air carriers really aren't that stupid.

Hmm I see your point. However, once I dont show up at the second flight and my return flight gets cancelled, I can simply buy a 1 way ticket back for 500. That means I would have spent 750 all together, which is cheaper than your calculations, which doesnt really make sense. I assume that contacting them about changing my current flight should be cheaper than just not showing up and buying a 1 way flight back. Am I wrong?

since you just purchased this today, you can cancel the entire reservation with no penalty

then, as others have suggested, see if you can purchase ELM-DTW-MCO one way for $125 and DTW-ELM for $425

alternatively, look for connections (such as FNT or LAN or GRR) that might drive down the cost of the return flight and are still close enough to DTW where you could actually get there and fly both segments

Thanks for the reply. I read that if you book two 1-way flights and you miss a leg on the first 1 way flight, your second one will be automatically cancelled as well. Is that not true?

Im seeing that the flight from DTW to MCO is pretty full, considering my ticket doesnt have a seat assigned and it states "assigned at gate". Would it be a good idea to just roll with the ticket I bought and hope for an oversold situation? Then I can "give up my seat"and just stay in Detroit and hopefully not get my return flight canceled? Decisions decisions.

OP having read the COC provisions can easily figure out how to purchase lawful transportation to/from the location he wishes to visit.

In the latest hypothetical, in order to save $100, OP places himself at risk for two change/cancellation fees if there is any issue with his travel. If he buys a one-way ELM-DTW-XXX and another one-way DTW-ELM, that will cost him roughly $750 ($250 + $500). But, if by any chance he has to cancel his trip, it will cost him $400 instead of $200 to do so (each ticket gets its own change fee). And, if there's WX or some other issue on the ELM-DTW which causes you to cancel your trip (without penalty), you are still stuck with an unused return for which you paid $500 and have to pay a $200 penalty to use.

FT is full of examples of just how easily this stuff goes wrong. Committing fraud to save $100 and then losing significantly more than than when circumstances go wrong, is a lose-lose.

How is this fraud? I paid for my ticket in full, and Im just looking to find ways to save money on the ridiculously priced flights that are themselves, fraud. I am practicing capitalism against monopolies.

What monopoly? The US has not licensed air routings since 1984. Any air carrier is free to come in and compete on the ELM-DTW route if it wishes. Apparently there is no other carrier which believes that there is a profit to be made on the route, so only DL offers the service. That's not an illegal monopoly.

There are thousands of posts like OP's on FT. Bottom line is that the passenger contracts with a carrier under provisions to which he expressly agrees and knows, at the time he contracts he does not intend to honor and further knows that he is engaging in conduct which violates the contract.

That's fraud (either or both of wire fraud and mail fraud).

Not suggesting that anybody goes to prison for this, just simply that it is, in fact, fraud.

Thanks for your reply. You seem to be more knowledgeable than me about airline rules. However, legally, the fact of the matter is that this behavior cannot be expressed as "fraud". As previously compared, this is like Mcdonald's charging you money for not finishing your fries. It's a ridiculous concept to say the least. I would argue that the airline is commiting fraud by re-selling the same seat twice. Many flights are always overbooked, for the sole purpose of making more money, which is obviously working. It is illegal to sell the same item or even list it twice "hoping" somebody would cancel their purchase, which is exactly what airlines have been doing. At the end of the day, the same way they are allowed to price their products, I am allowed to choose to buy/not buy some of their products, and find the cheapest way for me to use what they are selling. That, is capitalism, and not fraud.

As you wrote in your original post above, you purchased a round trip ticket from A to C. You did not purchase a ticket from A to B and the airline isn't obliged to route you through B on the way from A to C. Don't be surprised if the airline changes the A to C routing between now and your flight, as this often happens.

You're obviously trying to be clever by hoping to violate the terms defined in the contract of carriage, which you apparently didn't read prior to purchasing your ticket. This isn't "practicing capitalism against monopolies". It's practicing deceit against capitalism to pay less for what you want. That makes it fraud in my book too.