using one leg of a RT to save money
Feb 17, 2016 | 4:13 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 569
using one leg of a RT to save money
booking a multi destination trip to Europe
need a OW non stop (Austrian Airlines) Vienna- Malpensa (Milan)
OW is $439, RT only $137 and we are two people.
Is there any risk/downside to getting the RT and just ignoring the return flight (to be booked for a date few weeks later) If not , why would anyone pay for the OW?
need a OW non stop (Austrian Airlines) Vienna- Malpensa (Milan)
OW is $439, RT only $137 and we are two people.
Is there any risk/downside to getting the RT and just ignoring the return flight (to be booked for a date few weeks later) If not , why would anyone pay for the OW?
you'll have no problem
Feb 17, 2016 | 4:37 pm
#3
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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)
While not directly answering the OP's question, Niki flies VIE-LIN (Milan Linate). If award seats are available, they can be had for just 4,500 BA Avios per person + tax (with no surcharges).
Chase UR points, Starwood points, and Amex MR points can all be converted to BA Avios -- although the Amex transfer ratio is no longer 1:1.
While not directly answering the OP's question, Niki flies VIE-LIN (Milan Linate). If award seats are available, they can be had for just 4,500 BA Avios per person + tax (with no surcharges).
Chase UR points, Starwood points, and Amex MR points can all be converted to BA Avios -- although the Amex transfer ratio is no longer 1:1.
Feb 17, 2016 | 4:58 pm
#4
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It's worth shopping around to see if there is another city pair that can be cheaper. Given you are not flying the return, it does not much matter where it is flying to does it? it could be that LIN/MXP/FCO etc could be cheaper to FRA, PRG etc rather than back to VIE.
Last time I threw away a return my outbound was CPH LHR MIA BOG and it was substantially cheaper for the unflown segment to be JFK HEL rather than back from BOG. Just saying
Last time I threw away a return my outbound was CPH LHR MIA BOG and it was substantially cheaper for the unflown segment to be JFK HEL rather than back from BOG. Just saying
Feb 17, 2016 | 6:50 pm
#5
Join Date: Dec 2012
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Hidden city ticketing has been discussed ad nauseum on FT and lately in mainstream media. It may be worth it for you in this case but since you specified it had to be an OW carrier, I'm assuming you want points for the flight.
Many carriers don't credit you any points unless the entire itinerary is completed. Even if they do, this is technically a breach of contract (so say the airlines) and your FF accounts may be suspended. Ergo, I definitely would not link this flight to my FF accounts.
EDIT: Thought OP wanted FF credit. Turned out I misread OW as Oneworld instead of one way.
Many carriers don't credit you any points unless the entire itinerary is completed. Even if they do, this is technically a breach of contract (so say the airlines) and your FF accounts may be suspended. Ergo, I definitely would not link this flight to my FF accounts.
EDIT: Thought OP wanted FF credit. Turned out I misread OW as Oneworld instead of one way.
Last edited by Javelin; Feb 17, 2016 at 7:40 pm
Feb 17, 2016 | 7:15 pm
#6
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I think you misread the OP: he wants a one-way flight, not a oneworld flight. (And Austrian is not a oneworld carrier anyway; it is a Star Alliance member.)
The OP is not contemplating hidden-city ticketing, but rather throw-away ticketing (just using the outbound portion of a roundtrip ticket). And it's not at all clear that he wants to credit the VIE-MXP flight to any FFP.
Originally Posted by Javelin
Hidden city ticketing has been discussed ad nauseum on FT and lately in mainstream media. It may be worth it for you in this case but since you specified it had to be an OW carrier, I'm assuming you want points for the flight.
Many carriers don't credit you any points unless the entire itinerary is completed. Even if they do, this is technically a breach of contract (so say the airlines) and your FF accounts may be suspended. Ergo, I definitely would not link this flight to my FF accounts.
Many carriers don't credit you any points unless the entire itinerary is completed. Even if they do, this is technically a breach of contract (so say the airlines) and your FF accounts may be suspended. Ergo, I definitely would not link this flight to my FF accounts.
The OP is not contemplating hidden-city ticketing, but rather throw-away ticketing (just using the outbound portion of a roundtrip ticket). And it's not at all clear that he wants to credit the VIE-MXP flight to any FFP.
Feb 17, 2016 | 7:42 pm
#7
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I think you misread the OP: he wants a one-way flight, not a oneworld flight. (And Austrian is not a oneworld carrier anyway; it is a Star Alliance member.)
The OP is not contemplating hidden-city ticketing, but rather throw-away ticketing (just using the outbound portion of a roundtrip ticket). And it's not at all clear that he wants to credit the VIE-MXP flight to any FFP.
I think you misread the OP: he wants a one-way flight, not a oneworld flight. (And Austrian is not a oneworld carrier anyway; it is a Star Alliance member.)
The OP is not contemplating hidden-city ticketing, but rather throw-away ticketing (just using the outbound portion of a roundtrip ticket). And it's not at all clear that he wants to credit the VIE-MXP flight to any FFP.
Feb 17, 2016 | 7:58 pm
#8
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People miss flights for a lot of reasons. Most of those reasons are legitimate. If you don't make a habit of it, nothing will happen to you. If the airline sees that you miss return flights every other week, they'll get suspicious and may start insisting that you buy one-way tickets, but in your case I'm sure that won't happen.
Feb 17, 2016 | 8:05 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 569
Thanks,
sounds like there is no downside to doing this.
So why doesn't everyone (get the much cheaper RT) than a OW (in this case, 1/3 the price of the OW)?
FYI it needs to be Malpensa.
Another question: how come most of the trip websites i used gave me one stop (3-5 hour) trips from VIE-MXP rather than giving me the OW option (90 minutes)?
sounds like there is no downside to doing this.
So why doesn't everyone (get the much cheaper RT) than a OW (in this case, 1/3 the price of the OW)?
FYI it needs to be Malpensa.
Another question: how come most of the trip websites i used gave me one stop (3-5 hour) trips from VIE-MXP rather than giving me the OW option (90 minutes)?
Feb 17, 2016 | 8:11 pm
#10
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 569
looked up the "hidden city" topics.
This is not exactly what I am doing. I will simply not be showing up for the "return" MXP-VIE return flight.
Do they just forget about me, or try to contact me (I will be back in the USA by then), or record this no show somewhere?. .
This is not exactly what I am doing. I will simply not be showing up for the "return" MXP-VIE return flight.
Do they just forget about me, or try to contact me (I will be back in the USA by then), or record this no show somewhere?. .
Feb 17, 2016 | 8:20 pm
#11
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I'll suggest the smartest thing to do is to cancel the throwaway segment a day or so before it's supposed to be flown ... doing it online avoids any interaction with a customer service agent, but if you do call you just need to say your plans changed at the last minute
Feb 18, 2016 | 12:59 am
#12
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Throwaway-ticketing, no issues with it at all. You can (and some would say should) cancel the return, doesn't matter what reason.
Last year I flew HYD-SIN-MNL on Tigerair on a return itinerary, then decided to fly MNL-HKG-BKK-CCU-HYD on other carriers instead of back via SIN. I just didn't show up. 3 months later had another flight on Tigerair and had no issues, so it's not like they had recorded anything against me on their system.
Last year I flew HYD-SIN-MNL on Tigerair on a return itinerary, then decided to fly MNL-HKG-BKK-CCU-HYD on other carriers instead of back via SIN. I just didn't show up. 3 months later had another flight on Tigerair and had no issues, so it's not like they had recorded anything against me on their system.
Feb 18, 2016 | 3:57 am
#14
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Hidden city ticketing has been discussed ad nauseum on FT and lately in mainstream media. It may be worth it for you in this case but since you specified it had to be an OW carrier, I'm assuming you want points for the flight.
Many carriers don't credit you any points unless the entire itinerary is completed. Even if they do, this is technically a breach of contract (so say the airlines) and your FF accounts may be suspended. Ergo, I definitely would not link this flight to my FF accounts.
EDIT: Thought OP wanted FF credit. Turned out I misread OW as Oneworld instead of one way.
Many carriers don't credit you any points unless the entire itinerary is completed. Even if they do, this is technically a breach of contract (so say the airlines) and your FF accounts may be suspended. Ergo, I definitely would not link this flight to my FF accounts.
EDIT: Thought OP wanted FF credit. Turned out I misread OW as Oneworld instead of one way.
I do certainly do it on *A more often than some Flyertalkers would approve. Almost always though I'm crediting to UA and the throw aways are other *A carriers. Never once had a flight not credit. Same when I do it on AA domestic, I credit to BA or AB with no issues.
Airlines "might" so something if you're always doing it on UA crediting to UA for example, but other partners, well I'm not going to start worrying anytime soon.
Last edited by dvs7310; Feb 18, 2016 at 4:09 am
Feb 18, 2016 | 3:58 am
#15
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if you cancel the airline can sell the seat to someone else, possibly someone desperately wanting to get on that flight!