I would say you answered your ethical dilemma when you wrote: "Still, something about this plan doesn't feel quite right. "

Let your conscience be your guide and don't let others try to rationalize your behavior.

Once I needed an open jaw ticket, making a portion of the flight on train. I boght a round-trip and called the airline even before starting the trip. They cancelled one leg without any questions!

I was shocked to see what the airlines wanted for a one-way tix to Milan, last year. I had the opportunity to "hitch" a ride with a corp. jet friend for the return. I did purchase a R/T tix and cancelled the return, saying plans changed. I did not see that as a problem. Hey, they sold the seat twice!

Some of these comparisons are rather disconnected. If I buy an entire bag of oranges, am I somehow obligated to the grower to eat the entire bag?

If I buy a book of subway tickets, and I only use half, have I been dishonest with the airline?

You used to be able to buy a book of tickets on some airlines and paid the fares in advance to gain a discount. Do you think the airline was concerned if you didn't us the entire book?

You buy a theater series and wind up only seeing three of five shows. Do you owe the actors and theater something?

Buy the round trip and after flying the first leg, cancel the second.

However, beware. If you don't take the original departing flight, your return flight automatically cancels unless you contact the airline before your departing flight and advise them not to allow it to cancel.

Thanks to all of you who responded with such thoughtful answers. You've given me a great deal to think about. I had obviously considered potential ethical issues, but had failed to think of some others you mentioned--i.e. the problem of perhaps arousing the concern of authorities. I love Europe and wish always to be a welcome visitor, not a person of interest! Though I have some time before I have to decide this matter, I do appreciate your sharing your points of view.

If the authorities actually flagged everyone who threw away a return, missed a flight, were forced to alter plans for business reasons, or just plain changed their mind, they wouldn't have time to sleep.

I don't think that's a possibility to be concerned with.

Why don't you check with the airline you intend to use. You need to read THEIR terms and conditions.

That said, I wonder if you might be entitled to a refund for the unused portion? Or able to use it at a later date.

I don't see why any 'authorities' would have the slightest interest. People don't turn up for flights all the time - changes of plan, illness, getting there too late, getting their dates mixed up, all sorts of reasons. Buying a ticket for transport doesn't obligate you to use it any more than the 'authorities' would be interested if you bought a theatre ticket and didn't show up.

No one cares unless there is someone waiting anxiously for you the other end!

If I pay for a whole plate of food and only eat half, is it unethical?

I agree with Cristina a 100% I never have done it but I would . People do not show all the time, and after a certain moment, airliners fill the plane with the waiting list. If you have not showed up for whatever reason they will fill you place is they need to.
In Spanish there is a say Mas catolico que el Papa, which means more Catholic than the Pope...meaning do not over do it...

Hi UN,

This is not an ethical question, as long as you notify the airline the day before the plane leave that you are incapacitated and won't be using the return ticket.

That way, there won't be lost time and money trying to find you.

The airline will fill your seat.

As far as those who think that you are technically violating the airlines terms of carriage or otherwise not fulfilling your side of a contract, you can't be held to a "contract" if you are ill.

Besides, the airline won't care. They are being paid twice for the same seat.

Enjoy your trip.

((I))

At most I'd call sometime before your return and tell them you aren't using your return ticket.

I booked a flight to Frankfurt with a layover in Amsterdam. I found out I could get a better deal leasing my car in A'dam so got off the plane there instead.

I told them after I landed and before I left the airport so they wouldn't worry (as if they would worry). My return was out of Rome a month later.

I think I have a pretty well-formed sense of what's right and wrong and would never, e.g., grab lunch from the breakfast buffet or sneak an extra person into a hotel room, but I have done this at least twice and wouldn't hesitate to do it again. I just don't consider this unethical. I have called both times in advance to say I wasn't able to use the second portion of the ticket, and the response was "thanks for letting us know."

UNCalum, assuming your question wasn't rheotrial, are you never returning from your one-way trip?

Can one buy a ticket with an unknow-as-yet return date?

Why would the airlines charge more for less and not expect flyers to adjust accordingly??

I don't think it's dishonest to buy the roundtrip tik.

<<This is not an ethical question, as long as you notify the airline the day before the plane leave that you are incapacitated and won't be using the return ticket.>>

You are suggessting a person lie to an airline by advsising you are incapacitated, and then go on to say this is not an ethical question? The ethical thing would be to tell the airline is that you have decided to take advantage of their round trip fare because it is a great deal less than your one way fare, and that you have no intention of using the return

The bottom line is this: If you buy a round trip ticket with the express purpose of saving money, knowing 100% that you are traveling one way, than you have consciously deceived the airline. Otherwise you would have told them at the time of purchase that you are only traveling one way.

Is it the worst thing one can do? Of course not. Do plenty of people think its' ok to shaft it to the airlines as they have been doing it more and more to us every year? Of course! But please do not tell me this is anything but purposeful deception on the purchaser's part

Are people chasing their tails more on this thread or on the hotel room thread?

LOL Kerouac......It's probably close :>)

Actually any discussion of ethics, no matter where it goes, is encouraging in my view

>>The bottom line is this: If you buy a round trip ticket with the express purpose of saving money, knowing 100% that you are traveling one way, than you have consciously deceived the airline. Otherwise you would have told them at the time of purchase that you are only traveling one way.<<

Let me see if I understand you.
a. I go online and see that a roundtrip fare is lower than the one way.
b. Still online, I purchase the roundtrip fare with the intent of using it one-way.
c. Exactly how have I "deceived" or "lied to" the airline? At what point did I consciously commit to flying both ways? Was there a button on the Web site that I clicked to make that commitment? If you say I agreed to the terms and conditions, I would ask: Do the terms and conditions say, "You agree that you will fly all legs of the ticket"?

Honestly, I'd love to be able to understand your point, but it's not coming clear.

"shaft the airlines?"

Oh come now. In the past few years, it's been my impression that the airlines were out to shaft me. Steep increases in fares, a gazillion new taxes and airport fees, having to pay 5 euro or 8 dollars (as I had the offer to do yesterday on the way home from Paris) for a glass of wine or beer, more and more lost luggage....it just gets worse and worse each year. If they're charging less for a RT ticket than for a one-way, I'm not going to be too concerned about taking the lower fare.

Oh, and I'm also guilty of buying a PREM fare from Paris to somewhere and getting off the train before I reach my destination. Imagine the horror if anyone found out I disembarked early!!

Let me be very careful about this...there's reality and there's theory.

Back a decade ago, although not a travel agent, I worked in an office doing other things where the office was a travel agency and dealt with some of the accounting.

Invariably, we would always be inindated with notice from the airlines concerning obeying tariff rules. They constantly made 3 points of ways they would debit the travel agency.

1. Booking back to back round trips. That worked like this...airlines cheapest fares require a Saturday stay over to try to see business people don't use these fares so let's say some cmpany has to have one of its employees travel JFK-LAX for a 3 day stay...and the fare for such a round trip (no Saturday night stayover) was $900 but JFK-LAX excursion with a Saturday stayover was $238...so the obvious solution was to book 2 tickets...one say from Monday to Sunday JFK-LAX and Wednesday to Monday LAX - JFK meeting the conditions of the $238 excursion fare both ways; hence the total fare would be $576 quite a bargain compared to $900....to avoid the chance of being caught in this game, we would book the two trips on different airlines. An absolute violation of airline tariffs...(also if you wanted to make two separate trips from JFK to LAX, you could do an outside and inside back to back a couple of weeks apart)...we did it a few times and never had a debit notice issued (but again had to use 2 different airlines)...is that ethical?

2. The thing we're discussing, selling a round trip when we knew very well they would not use the return. We did it too, and never had a debit notice issued. But we were in violation of airline tariffs (it would be very hard for the airoine to prove we knew the passenger would only use the one way but I would assume if this was done more than occasionally, the airline computers would have the ability to pick it up).

3. The third was the "hidden city." In this scenario, say the JFK-LAX had heavy competition but JFK-STL did not...so invariably fares for the St. Louis flight would be much higher than Los Angeles. So you book a trip JFK-STL-LAX...you get the LAX fare but the passenger gets off in St. Louis...that trick had some built in possible problems such as no baggage could be checked..you couldn't do a round trip as once the passenger was a no show for LAX-STL the rest of the reservation would be cancelled and what if flights were cancelled or re-routed and the airline told you they would be able to do you a big favor and fly you to LAX directly! (or perhaps by way of DFW)...again the agency did a few of those and never received a debit notice.

Now you can argue it's different for a travel agency which has signed an agreement with the airlines and you probably are right but I'm not sure that when you buy a ticket online, you don't agree to be bound by the airline's tariff rules.

Now that's the theory. In reality, I don't see anyway they can enforce these rules but I'm sure in this era of charging for a bottle of water, it hasn't crossed the minds of airline executives to clamp down on these "illegalities."

Whether they could do it or survive a court challenge in case they tried it is a different story.