"Coupons cannot be used out of sequence" - does it have to be in the rules?
 

Hey everyone,

sorry to revive this over discussed topic, but I had a general question that doesn't seem to be answered in previous threads. If I use the coupons in a ticket out of sequence, and it is NOT stated in the fare rules that this will invalidate the ticket, is it allowed? 99% of the fare rules I have read state that they ticket will become void. However - I have seen 1 or 2 fares which don't state this in their rules. Would I be doing anything illegal if I used the coupons on these tickets out of sequence?

Thanks

Depends... if they're fully refundable, for example, then there should be no issue. Assuming what you're planning is OK wrt the fare rules, then you should call the airline. While the coupons may retain their value, your reservations will probably be cancelled. In some cases, i.e., "refundable" but restricted fares, you can re-use the coupon w/o penalty, but only if you cancel/change the affected flights first.

The ticket costs only $8 USD or so to refund. What I am planning is OK with the fare rules AFAIK, but I am just checking that using coupons out of sequence is not an unwritten rule applicable to all tickets.

Thanks

missing a flight cancels the rest of the itin....be sure to contact the al before you do it....good luck.

I looked into this last year as part of a RTW. The requirement to use coupons in the order they appear is in the standard IATA ticket rules (on paper tickets anyway) and not part of the fare rules necessarily.

On the other hand, enforcement of this rule can be varying - I got away with it on my ticket at that time as the BA agent at LAX just tore them out as I wanted to travel them.

I know an agent that does this rather slyly. He added transits so that each half of my journey would fill one ticket.

Karachi - Montreal Return Fare:

Ticket 1 Karachi - Dubai - London - toronto - Montreal
Ticket 2 Montreal - Toronto - London - Dubai - Karachi

since the tickets were separate and it was full fare business class i had no problems using the YUL-KHI part first.

However the ticket I am looking at now is only 4 segments total.

Cheers

Ahhh, but I believe it's in the rules. Not in the fare rules, but in the 60 page Contract of Carriage that governs all tickets. I'm pretty sure it's spelled out in a couple lines there.

Do you where I could find this? :confused:

Thanks

What airline?

http://www.continental.com/travel/po...ct/default.asp
http://www.delta.com/legal/contract_...iage/index.jsp
http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,2743,00.html
http://www.alaskaair.com/www2/compan...f_main_toc.asp
www.nwa.com/contract.html
www.flyi.com/business/cofc.aspx
http://www.ata.com/traveler_resource..._carriage.html
www.alohaairlines.com/ContractOfCarriage.php
http://www.flysong.com/travel/contra...iage/index.jsp
http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin.../contract.html
etc.

Most ticket rules also state something like "Contract of Carriage in incorportated to these terms. Contract of Carriage can be viewed at any ticket office, check-in counter, ...". I've been tempted to ask when checking in, but never got around to it.

The ticket is on Etihad Airways :)