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Do you have to use the last leg of your flight? Here’s the surprising answer

September 10, 2007

A few years ago, airlines started phasing in software designed to catch passengers who didn’t use their entire ticket. Their “crime” was violating absurd airline tariff rules that say you have to use every segment of your flight. Violators were fined or had their miles confiscated.

But what happens when the airline schedule doesn’t make sense? Specifically, a reader from Sacramento, Calif., wanted to know what would happen if she and her husband skipped a flight from San Francisco on United. Would the airline confiscate her miles or send her a bill?

“I am trying to book one award travel ticket and one regular senior ticket on United from Sacramento to Sydney,” wrote Ilse Martin. “On the return trip they route me to LAX first from San Francisco and then to Sacramento. On my husband’s senior ticket, they let him wait in San Francisco from 11:00 a.m. to 10:35 p.m. to fly home to Sacramento.”

Martin tried to call United to ask for a better flight, “but everything is automated and I couldn’t talk to a human being,” she added.

“Could we just go home on Amtrak and not use the last leg of the roundtrip or would they send us a bill for a penalty?” she wondered.

Good question. I contacted United to find out. It turns out there are two sets of rules for cancellations, and now that I think of it, this probably applies to other network airlines that have these odd tariff rules.

If you miss any segment of your outbound flight, your entire tickets is automatically canceled. However, on the second or third leg of the return flight, the system won’t red-flag your ticket as a possible tariff violator because it believes you missed the flight.

If for some reason it doesn’t, and your miles are being confiscated or your travel agent gets a dreaded debit memo, tell the airline that you missed your flight, says my United contact. That should get the carrier off your back.

Well, that’s interesting.

On some level, I can’t even believe a question like this can get asked. I mean, there’s only one industry I can think of that tries to tell you how to consume its products in this way: the shortsighted, DRM-obsessed entertainment business.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

7 comments

  • B.

    My parents live near a small airport 80 miles south of a larger, international airport. Flights to the smaller one are considerably more expensive, so I’m always delighted to find outbound flights that touch down at the smaller airport before continuing on to the larger one. I jump off there and save my parents from a 160-mile commute. Just make sure not to check your bag if you plan to “miss” that last leg.

    I’ve never had any issues with my return flights. Must be lucky.

  • http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr Allan J.

    If you booked the flight with a long connection layover, you should be responsible for taking the entire itinerary. But if the airline cancels a flight or subjects you to a delay, even due to weather, it must not only permit you to omit flying the affected segment but must also refund that portion of the fare upon your request.

    If you show up slightly late (for which flat tire rules generally apply) you can expect the airline to either honor your ticket as-is with due dispatch or allow you to throw it away.

  • Steve

    I have in the past bought roundtrip tickets that were less expensive than
    one ways – with the intention of either using the other half at some later
    date or not, as conditions permitted. In all cases my travel agent sternly
    warned me that I could get in trouble for not using the second half of the
    ticket. My question then, and still is, how does an airline prove that I
    did NOT take a flight?? Surely no one believes that the current crop of DCS
    systems correctly registers 100% of flyers getting on-board an airplane.
    Anyone who is that naïve should take a tour of an airline FFP center and
    witness them literally drowning in retro requests. Some of these are the
    result of user error – customer not giving FFP number before getting on the
    plane – but that is only a part of the story.

    Along the same lines – I bought a non-refundable ticket on US 11 months ago.
    It will probably expire unused. Will they take their own rules literally
    and DOUBLE punish me for using NEITHER coupon??

  • Carver Farrow

    I think that the airline rules are unethical and ridiculous and can only exist because of the relative monopolistic power that airlines have. If I consume less of a product than I paid for, what strange logic suggests that I owe you more money?

  • Jennifer

    You can’t used your coupons out of order. It’s called back to back ticketing. If you ever miss your out bound flight of a round trip ticket the airline will auto cancel your return. If you get off the plane on your connection your bags will continue on to the final destination. Sometimes it’s difficult to find the exact time you need however, it’s possible, consider flying out on AA and back on DL purchase the tickets individually. This isn’t anything new it’s been going on for years.

  • Ari

    I’ve gamed the system, gotten away with it, and intend to get away with it again.

    Back a bit before July 4, I was looking for a trip from MSP-BOS. There was nearly nothing. I could fly with an idiotic connection through somewhere for $500, and the direct flights from MSP were $950.

    I was about to give up when I found a round trip from MSN-BOS for $310. Now, I could get this trip using the same MSP-BOS ($950) legs plus the MSN legs for a third the price, which makes no sense except that NW owns the MSP-BOS route whilst the MSN-BOS route is all one-stops, so there is much more competition. However, I had an ace up my sleeve. I booked the MSN-DTW-BOS with a return BOS-MSP-MSN.

    I went on Craigslist and found a ride share to MSN. For $25, I got there, got on the flight to DTW (delayed, night in DTW and then to BOS) and went on my merry way. On the way back, without luggage, I had an easy time to MSP, got off the plane, made for the exits. I wonder how much of a time they had pronouncing my last name when they were calling me for the next leg.

    I was even able to book the trip so soon before it left (the day before) that had my ride fallen through, I could have invoked NW’s Customers First policy and claim a full refund. (I like how they have a customers first policy when their fares are them-first.)

    I flew the next weekend with no repercussions.

    Now, I have a similar flight booked in a couple weeks. MSP-BOS rt was $471. MSN-BOS-MSN was $284. I didn’t really want to have to deal with finding a ride to MSN and the difference wasn’t as much. I was about to spend $471 when I put in BOS-MSP-MSN (via MSP). Bingo — it saves me $90. I’m thinking of checking a box from BOS-MSN to delay the plane while they go crawling around inside to find it. Perhaps even leave a note inside for them. But that might be pushing the envelope a bit…

    Long story short, the airlines have completely absurd fare schemes which are horrid for the flying public. We should pay more to fly more, not pay less to fly more. And finally, to anyone who laments that a NW-DL merger might raise prices here in MSP, I wonder if that is the case.

  • Mekhong Kurt, Bangkok, Thailand

    This isn’t the same thing, but it’s an example of stupid rules.

    An acquaintance here hadn’t been back to the US in about 30 years, though he has children there who’ve been out here to visit him. Last year, his daughter called him and told him a round-trip ticket from here to where she lives in the States and back again was coming to him already via one of the courier services, and she and her siblings insisted he come for a visit.

    Sure enough, a day or two later, the ticket showed up. Note that it was Thailand-US-Thailand but *purchased* in the U.S.

    He went to the airport here to fly — but was told the ticket “isn’t any good.” When he asked why, the check-in clerk told him “tickets bought in the U.S. like this aren’t valid.”

    By then determined to go, he pulled out a credit card and bought a full-fare round-trip ticket, which he could easily afford — his children had just been trying to make sure he would go by buying the ticket in the first place. And he put the unused ticket in his briefcase, figuring his daughter could get a refund.

    Long story short: she got a refund — but only after she contacted her Representative and Senators; the airline basically told her “tough stuff.” (I should say my friend and his family have no political clout, but in this case, the members of Congress did come through.) The airline investigated and even said that yes, the agent in Bangkok had indeed refused to honor the ticket. It also said he was incorrect — but because the ticket had some modest built-in discount, which my friend’s daughter hadn’t even realized it had when she bought it, it was non-refundable — and NOW expired, so worthless!

    We’re not talking a king’s ransom here, maybe a couple thousand bucks. But it sure left a bad taste in my friend’s and his kids’ mouths, and I don’t blame them.

    Stupid “rules.”

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