Can you skip first flight of 2 flights ?

[whoistheg]

So looking for some flights to Asia for Xmas and its super expensive from MEL to Sin

i see due to some crazy pricing

qantas have

perth - mel - sin in business for $930

The first flight

per - mel is on qf and the. A 4 hour layover at MEL

the mel - sin is on Emirates

as we live in Melbourne can we skip the first flight and just fly MEL - sin on emirates in Business class
for $930 one way ? Which is a crazy price 6 days before Xmas

the emirate flight direct from MEL is $1600

 

[smartblaa]

I believe when you miss a segment of an itinerary, its referred to as "throwaway" ticketing. I think each airline has their own policy on it. [ranging from being frowned apon to having an entire itinerary cancelled] I think its more common for flyers to discard segments in the latter portions of an itinerary rather than at the original airport. I just can't imagine a MEL checkin agent being ok with you turning up with a PER originating itinerary/boarding pass.

 

[TomVexille]

Generally in the case of international itineraries if you miss any leg your entire ticket is cancelled

 

[whoistheg]

Well this is the thing.. given the second flight is from Emirates how are they going to
know if I skipped the first segment on Qantas ?

i just walk to the Emirates counter in Melb and check in? Any questions just say we took
all our luggage into the city for a meal during our 4 hour layover

but this is going from Qantas domestic to Emirates international I cannot
see how they would know..

 

[smartblaa]

Well this is the thing.. given the second flight is from Emirates how are they going to
know if I skipped the first segment on Qantas ?

i just walk to the Emirates counter in Melb and check in? Any questions just say we took
all our luggage into the city for a meal during our 4 hour layover

but this is going from Qantas domestic to Emirates international I cannot
see how they would know..

I'm guessing that as Qantas advertised this as a flight bundle/deal, it'll be under the one QF confirmation code / itinerary reference.

For example, I booked a cheap multi flight round the world ticket a few years back, all on the one itinerary reference.
I was explicitly warned at the time that if any segments were missed/skipped, I would lose the entire itinerary.

 

[CaptJCool]

Well you could fly Y to Perth for $285 then fly business from Perth via Melbourne to Singapore for $914 then fly back for $885 and simply disembark in Melbourne once you have cleared customs.

Net cost @$2085 versus $3099 Melb to Sing. Saving $1000....plus the extra status credits and frequent flyer points

 

[Steady]

Well you could fly Y to Perth for $285 then fly business from Perth via Melbourne to Singapore for $914 then fly back for $885 and simply disembark in Melbourne once you have cleared customs.

Net cost @$2085 versus $3099 Melb to Sing. Saving $1000....plus the extra status credits and frequent flyer points

this sounds like the safest option to me

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Well this is the thing.. given the second flight is from Emirates how aokcre they going to
know if I skipped the first segment on Qantas ?

Both your PER/MEL and MEL/SIN flights are on the same eticket (081 QF stock) so it will display your QF incarriage flight which is immediately prior to your MEL/SIN sector. In EK's checkin system it will flag you as having been a noshow for the previous flight so more than likely the remaining coupons in your eticket may automatically be suspended which would prevent you from checking in with EK. The reservation itself for the J seats may not get cancelled however you'd need to prepare yourself to fork out for whatever EK would charge for a one way walk up fare MEL/SIN in J which may be more than $1,600.00 pp on the day.

i just walk to the Emirates counter in Melb and check in? Any questions just say we took all our luggage into the city for a meal during our 4 hour layover
but this is going from Qantas domestic to Emirates international I cannot see how they would know.

If EK have to unsuspend your eticket it would be reasonable to expect them to verify with QF what flight you flew on PER/MEL so that they could change the PER/MEL coupon to flown. It wouldn't do you any favours lying to EK about taking your bags with you into the city because that would sound very strange as they would fully expect QF to have through checked your bags from PER to SIN and issued both boarding passes.

 

[seanpodge]

I thought most tickets with multiple legs state in the fine print that missing any leg automatically cancels the ticket for all future legs. There is plenty of examples of people using hidden city ticketing but that involve someone not bothering to use the last leg of their ticket rather than the first.

Of course, it's your money and your call, but I reckon the plan has a very high chance of ending in tears.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

as we live in Melbourne can we skip the first flight and just fly MEL - sin on emirates in Business class
for $930 one way ? Which is a crazy price 6 days before Xmas

the emirate flight direct from MEL is $1600

ozbeachbabe is on the money. By skipping the first segment you'll be identified as a no-show. Trying to use the remaining segments and QF as the issuing airline will reprice your ticket as a MEL-SIN rather than PER-SIN. In effect it will be an entirely new contract and you'll pay the going rate on the day.

If you had a round-trip ticket you could potentially throw away the last segment (MEL-PER), although the airline will claim it is within its rights to recalculate the ticket price and come after you for the difference.

 

[legroom]

ozbeachbabe

If you had a round-trip ticket you could potentially throw away the last segment (MEL-PER), although the airline will claim it is within its rights to recalculate the ticket price and come after you for the difference.

Has it ever happened - airlines chasing you after you had quit the last leg ? Or just a theoretical possibility?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Has it ever happened - airlines chasing you after you had quit the last leg ? Or just a theoretical possibility?

BA is doing it, prompted by the cheap exEU fares. Whether or not the airline comes after you for the fare (and whether they'd be successful) is one issue, but they could act in other ways such as cancelling your frequent flyer points or membership.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Just a thought re the J fare ex PER. I don't suppose being J that you're allowed to have a free stopover in MEL? If so then you could always have a separate weekend away in PER a month prior ie position MEL/PER Sat 05 Nov then book the PER/MEL Sun 06 Nov followed by the EK MEL/SIN in December. This all hinges on a stopover (not just an overnight transit less than 24 hours) being allowed. I doubt the QF website will let you book it as a multi city so you may have to use a good TA or online TA whose search engine allows you to look for a PER/SIN fare with an intermediate stopover vs sector fares PER/MEL and MEL/SIN which you don't want.

If a stopover isn't permitted then you could just book a MEL/PER a couple of days prior as your positioning flight then book the PER/MEL flight the day before MEL/SIN so that you give yourself an overnight transit of less than 24 hours ie if the EK flight departs on a Wed at 1800, ensure your PER/MEL flight arrives after 1800 the day prior. That way you could travel to PER HLO then have your bags packed read to go at home in MEL.

BA is doing it, prompted by the cheap exEU fares. Whether or not the airline comes after you for the fare (and whether they'd be successful) is one issue, but they could act in other ways such as cancelling your frequent flyer points or membership.

They're a spiteful little bunch aren't they? I'm convinced they were a major driving force in lobbying OW to allow member airlines to abandon through checkin on separate tickets. BA had all the systems in place ready for kick-off on 01 June eg the software that prevents airport staff from adding oncarriage flights in at checkin - including their own BA flights booked separately.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

They're a spiteful little bunch aren't they? I'm convinced they were a major driving force in lobbying OW to allow member airlines to abandon through checkin on separate tickets. BA had all the systems in place ready for kick-off on 01 June eg the software that prevents airport staff from adding oncarriage flights in at checkin - including their own BA flights booked separately.

Funny how so many businesses carry on about the benefits of a global economy - but then do everything possible to prevent consumers from taking advantage of it.
These measures by BA are designed to maintain the artificial division of the world into marketing regions, allowing it to offer radically different prices to different populations.
It's the same as the ridiculous situation with intellectual property law which allows content owners to make Aussies pay 10 times as much to watch the same programme as Americans.
A global market should be just that.

 

[maz1]

we actually did this on a flight from Vietnam to Melbourne via Hong Kong a couple of year's ago and it was a scary experience- You are absolutely required to take all flights booked.

Even though we'd booked a business flights using US Airways miles (Now American Airlines) - we decided it sounded like a great idea to pay for a more direct flight to Hong Kong, stay overnight and just turn up to the airport early (thank goodness early) to take the flight home to melbourne.

the Cathay desk immediately started asking questions like...."how did you get here" "when did you arrive" when I asked why, she said, because you did not take your booked flight, and this means your onward tickets are considered cancelled and you will have to buy new flights.

As I'd booked business seats, I was absolutely gutted. The only way I was able to save the situation was to call American myself (even though the desk at Cathay did try, they seemed unable to get through) I called myself, got through to the customer service at American, and in two seconds she was able to see my flights and re-route the tickets saving the day.

But it taught me a good lesson - you absolutely must take all ticketed flights.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Funny how so many businesses carry on about the benefits of a global economy - but then do everything possible to prevent consumers from taking advantage of it.
These measures by BA are designed to maintain the artificial division of the world into marketing regions, allowing it to offer radically different prices to different populations.
It's the same as the ridiculous situation with intellectual property law which allows content owners to make Aussies pay 10 times as much to watch the same programme as Americans.
A global market should be just that.

BA are dreaming if they assume consumers will just cop it sweet and just happily pay a couple of thousand GBP more for the 'privilege' of through checking and purchase a J fare ex the UK. Consumers will just fly out the day prior much earlier same day on their Avios award ticket or a paid fare o another airline altogether and give themselves the necessary buffer they need prior to checking in somewhere in the EU for their J class special fare to their destination.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

we actually did this on a flight from Vietnam to Melbourne via Hong Kong a couple of year's ago and it was a scary experience- You are absolutely required to take all flights booked.

Even though we'd booked a business flights using US Airways miles (Now American Airlines) - we decided it sounded like a great idea to pay for a more direct flight to Hong Kong, stay overnight and just turn up to the airport early (thank goodness early) to take the flight home to melbourne.

the Cathay desk immediately started asking questions like...."how did you get here" "when did you arrive" when I asked why, she said, because you did not take your booked flight, and this means your onward tickets are considered cancelled and you will have to buy new flights.

As I'd booked business seats, I was absolutely gutted. The only way I was able to save the situation was to call American myself (even though the desk at Cathay did try, they seemed unable to get through) I called myself, got through to the customer service at American, and in two seconds she was able to see my flights and re-route the tickets saving the day.

But it taught me a good lesson - you absolutely must take all ticketed flights.

Wow what sector did you skip on and did AA realise what you'd done? If so they mustn't have cared and just re-issued a new eticket. I'd say the original CX flight coupons on US Air 037 or AA 001 ticket stock were probably suspended after you noshowed and CX probably could not unsuspend them without calling the issuing carrier but were within their rights to tell you to purchase a new ticket as per the fare rules.

Glad in worked out okay for you though.

 

[Conrad_S]

On a few occasions, before the first flight of a multi leg itinerary, one of us has unexpectedly ended up in the middle city. Qantas has always let us drop the first segment (no credit) for that person but honoured the remaining flights. It is handy but I wouldn't depend on it happening for 2 tickets.
Incidentally, we've been looking at these Melbourne to Singapore flights on Emirates too. Sydney-melbourne-singapore in J is only a couple of hundred more than the current QF Sydney-singapore sale fare

 

[basso]

On a few occasions, before the first flight of a multi leg itinerary, one of us has unexpectedly ended up in the middle city. Qantas has always let us drop the first segment (no credit) for that person but honoured the remaining flights. It is handy but I wouldn't depend on it happening for 2 tickets.

Subject to fare rules and time limits, Qantas will allow you to drop an earlier segment, but under the Conditions of Carriage you need to inform them of your intention beforehand. I assume the segment gets marked in the system somehow.

 

[UP4014]

we actually did this on a flight from Vietnam to Melbourne via Hong Kong a couple of year's ago and it was a scary experience- You are absolutely required to take all flights booked.

Even though we'd booked a business flights using US Airways miles (Now American Airlines) - we decided it sounded like a great idea to pay for a more direct flight to Hong Kong, stay overnight and just turn up to the airport early (thank goodness early) to take the flight home to melbourne.

the Cathay desk immediately started asking questions like...."how did you get here" "when did you arrive" when I asked why, she said, because you did not take your booked flight, and this means your onward tickets are considered cancelled and you will have to buy new flights.

As I'd booked business seats, I was absolutely gutted. The only way I was able to save the situation was to call American myself (even though the desk at Cathay did try, they seemed unable to get through) I called myself, got through to the customer service at American, and in two seconds she was able to see my flights and re-route the tickets saving the day.

But it taught me a good lesson - you absolutely must take all ticketed flights.

I think airlines like AA and UA are pretty good, if it's not going to put them out of pocket they will just do it, BA on the other hand always seems to be trying to prove a point. Anyone remember when Richard Branson was not allowed to board a BA flight in India I think it was (Virgin didn't fly there) and instead of BA using it to their advantage they blocked him and he sued winning 5M and gave half to his staff turning it into a win for him. Ah the BA dirty tricks of the 1990's live on.