Mary2Go

I need a one-way ticket to Maui from LA and I am finding I can book a RT ticket for $100.00 less than a one way. If I use the 1st half of a RT ticket and don't use the return ticket (I have a FF miles return ticket with a different airline)what if anything will happen?

GoTravel

You shouldn't have any problems. Out of curiosity, why wouldn't you use the remaining half and just redeposit you FF miles?

Mary2Go

Long story...but I can't use my miles on the dates I need to fly.

travelisfun

I think what GoTravel meant was since you are paying for the round trip ticket anyway, why not just save your FF miles for another trip down the road and use the RT ticket?

You might also check to see if you could use the remaining one-way portion of your ticket at a later date (different destination, obviously) with a change fee. Probably not, but worth asking.

starbuck1105

Nothing will happen, but wouldn't it be smarter to simply pay for the RT ticket for this trip and hold on to the FF miles for a rainy day?

Judy24

I thought I had read something a while back on this forum to the effect that if you only use part of your ticket in order to save money (as in this case), there will be some type of penalty. In that case, you'd need to be careful. Maybe it was in reference to multi-leg flights? My memory is really not my best friend these days, so maybe someone else could help me out here?

GoTravel

If you miss any leg of a flight the airline automatically cancels all remaining legs of the flight.

TxTravelPro

I cannot recall the legalities but you are not "allowed" to book a one way trip and not use the return.
Airlines may be able to charge you for the one way flight as the full price if you are caught...

Odds are they will never know.
Who's to say you did not get ill and have to fly back at a later date.
It would be hard to prove that it was intentional but I am not so sure they have to...

Hey smart people... is this covered in the rules of carriage (is that what it's called)?

TxTravelPro

While it is true that the airline cancels any downstream segments if you miss a flight, this is not a problem if you are planning to use the outbound only.

BeachBoi

Conditions of Carriage....this is the contract between the airline and the passenger......Most airlines have a section called something likeCompliane with Terms and Conditions of Sale, in which you will find that "Back to Back " Ticketing, and in this example "Throwaway Ticketing" are specifically prohibited.....Throwaway of course meaning purchasing a round trip for one way travel....

TxTravelPro

Thanks Beach! Somehow I figured you would know!!!

Judy24

Thanks to those of you with far better info (and memory). So the next question is, if Mary2Go doesn't use her return ticket, which according to BeachBoi is now a Throwaway ticket (love that term) and this is supposedly prohibited, what is the penalty. How can they re-charge her? What if she paid cash (does anyone still do that these days?) Sounds like an unenforceable rule.

SAB

I have a relative who has been booking overlapping tickets for years and not using the return. Never been noticed by airlines. She does it because it is actually cheaper when you need to take short duration mid week trips i.e. no Saturday night stay.

Mary2Go

Thanks for the input. My long story is...Hub & I trying to use FF miles to fly 1st class fm LAX to either Oahu or Maui...after many calls and game plans best he could find around our anniversary was an 11 day trip where he could spend a couple days in Oahu seeing clients while I shopped & did the beach, then we would move on to Maui for the vacation part...all sounds good except for part where someone has to watch our 17 year old! That isn't working so I am going to meet him in Maui and then fly back with him..I think. Of course the 17 year old has generously volunteered to stay home alone for 4 days but he can forget that!

AAFrequentFlyer

Travel agencies have been known to be asked to cough up cash when it was proven that their clients were doing this on a regular basis.

A Joe Shmoe throwing away his return ticket will not land anybody in any airline jail. The airline's tarrif security is usually a small office, located in the basement of the HQ, and they ONLY go after a case when there is a pattern or an obvious case of big time fraud.

The urban legends about people getting charged and having to pay later are just that, URBAN LEGENDS! The airlines love these stories, but it doesn't happen.
Just for instance, what if I charged a R/T ticket, used it only onr-way to save tons of money and cancelled the CC after that. How is the airline going to collect the money if I'm somewhere in beautiful Hong Kong? . This is an exterme example as nobody has to do this, but I hope you get the point.

k_999_9

A friend of mine pulls this one-way thing often and has never had a problem. As for a Throwaway being "specifically prohibited," they can prohibit till the cows come home, but if there's no practical penalty, the prohibition is meaningless.

Short story: There's just about no way an airline can force you to use a return ticket. The situation isn't the same as failing to use a leg of a trip, since they can cancel you for subsequent legs or your return trip. There's no possible penalty for failing to use a return ticket. What are they going to do, cancel the reservation you didn't keep?

LilyLace

I take advantage of the rt deals sometimes. The travel agents are not allowed to book for you this way, but what would happen? Nothing. If you purchase the ticket and decide not to use the whole thing thats your business.

lenleigh

I used to sell airfare for all airlines and we were told it was strictly prohibited. There would probably be a penalty to the travel agency/company that booked the flight if it was caught. I was told the airline could prohibit the passenger to ever fly with them again if caught. Who knows how often they catch this.

AAFrequentFlyer

LilyLace

I will agree with you as I'm the one that posted above calling the individual punishment an urban legend, but I will have to disagree with you partially as to the travel agents.

There are instances where TAs were sued and had to pay up.

One of following has to be proven:

The TA tells many of it's customers to do this, developing a pattern which is easily traceabke by ticketing.

or

A corporate TA doing it on a regular basis to save the company money, thus earning their business.

There was a very recent case where the corporation and it's TA lost and were fined a substanial amount of $.

I will try to look for a link.

here_today_gone2Maui

I flew from LA to OGG in Jan with a RT ticket. My return was May, but I could not make that date. I was told by the airline (ATA) that is was no problem, and I had up to one year from the date of the missed flight to use that ticket. I can apply it to a future flight for a $50 fee. If I find a good fare on ATA and it works out that I can apply that portion of the ticket to it, so be it. If not, oh, well. The airline will not charge me or penalize anything other than I don't get those FF miles until I actually use the ticket, even though I paid for it.