Hidden City Ticketing on INT'L flights

[seanpodge]

Hello all! I've heard of HTC being used for domestic flights in the US and other places to save money, but in my case there are a few issues regarding international travel I need answers to.

A friend of mine is doing a trip to the US, Canada and the UK in May/June this year and I've been helping him with the fares. So far he's got himself MEL-LAX-IND and JFK-LAX-MEL on QF/AA. He also wants to go to Montreal and London so we were looking for return fares to London from North America. Of course, it is cheaper to go YUL-JFK-LON-JFK-YUL than actually booking a ticket to just go to NYC on the way back to connect with QF108. Points/FF aren't an issue in this case, so there's no real way the airline could "punish" him. So my questions are:

1. If my friend has check in luggage, will he be able to access it at JFK so that it doesn't continue on to Montreal?
2. If not, is it advisable/possible to ask at check in at LHR to only tag the bag to JFK?
3. What issues, if any could this cause with the TSA or US immigration?
4. Assuming that my friend does drop out at JFK on the way back, is it advisable to inform some member of airline staff of this in JFK?

 

[Hvr]

Of all the countries to disembark at without notice the USA is one of the worst. If they're not expecting you to arrive then you probably wont be welcome.

Also, once you leave a trip any further legs are automatically cancelled so you would have to have a one way ticket out of the USA (assuming you would be allowed to stay).

Basically don't do it with the USA involved.

 

[seanpodge]

Of all the countries to disembark at without notice the USA is one of the worst. If they're not expecting you to arrive then you probably wont be welcome.

Also, once you leave a trip any further legs are automatically cancelled so you would have to have a one way ticket out of the USA (assuming you would be allowed to stay).

Basically don't do it with the USA involved.

Interesting......:shock:

Although the ticket shouldn't be an issue as only leg 4 of 4 would be missed and the ticket is a completely separate booking to the other flights.

 

[Formal Hall]

This won't be a problem if the leg you want to drop, JFK-YUL, is well into the future - you could book it for a few months after the previous legs. If this would cause the ticket to reprice higher, you may have to book the JFK-YUL for within 24 hours of the previous legs. However, even in this case, you can book it for the next day and no agent will object to tagging the bag only to JFK as it will be assumed you want it for the overnight.

Immigration will not be an issue as your friend already has a ticket out of USA, being JFK-LAX-MEL. Just make sure they have a printed copy of their QF/AA ticket.

Finally, has your friend considered an open jaw to europe? YUL-JFK-LON eurostar PAR-JFK-YUL may well be cheaper than YUL-JFK-LON-JFK-YUL as they will avoid UK departure taxes.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

If i have the situation correctly, all arriving passengers into the USA are required to complete immigration and customs, then bag drop for any ongoing flight.

So the JFK-YUL won't be an issue. You'll have the bags and simply don't go to the next flight. You may wish to inform them you're not turning up. But not a lot they can really do.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

If i have the situation correctly, all arriving passengers into the USA are required to complete immigration and customs, then bag drop for any ongoing flight.

So the JFK-YUL won't be an issue. You'll have the bags and simply don't go to the next flight. You may wish to inform them you're not turning up. But not a lot they can really do.

The problem with being through checked LHR/JFK/YUL & having bags tagged to YUL is that if you intercept the bags when you clear customs & immigration at JFK then fail to redeposit them & subsequently are a fail to board pax at the gate you are still showing as being a pax who has checked in with bags & is a noshow at the gate.

As it's an international flight the airline more than likely will have to get the baggage handlers to strip the hold to look for your bag which of course won't be there because you have it so the search has all been for nothing & the end result will be a delayed flight with a lot of angry passengers as the airline has been on a wild goose chase.

If you are not going to take the JFK/YUL flight I strongly suggest that in LHR you tell the airline to check you & your bags to JFK only as you've had a change of plans & have new flights JFK back to Aust.

Of all the countries to disembark at without notice the USA is one of the worst. If they're not expecting you to arrive then you probably wont be welcome.

Also, once you leave a trip any further legs are automatically cancelled so you would have to have a one way ticket out of the USA (assuming you would be allowed to stay).

Basically don't do it with the USA involved.

I don't really foresee any immigration issues as they will be expecting you to clear customs on arrival in the USA anyway at JFK so the only difference is your continuing flight is now to SYD not YUL. As the OP has already mentioned he does have an onward ticket JFK/LAX/MEL so there wouldn't be any dramas.

 

[serfty]

... you are still showing as being a pax who has checked in with bags & is a noshow at the gate.

As it's an international flight the airline more than likely will have to get the baggage handlers to strip the hold to look for your bag which of course won't be there because you have it so the search has all been for nothing & the end result will be a delayed flight with a lot of angry passengers as the airline has been on a wild goose chase.

If you are not going to take the JFK/YUL flight I strongly suggest that in LHR you tell the airline to check you & your bags to JFK only as you've had a change of plans & have new flights JFK back to Aust. ...

I am sure they would generally know if the bags had been redeposited or not - I have looked out the window many times in the USA and watch the barcode of each and every bag get scanned as it is loaded (let alone the scanning when the bags are redeposited).

 

[seanpodge]

Sorry I haven't replied recently, a bit busy!

Thanks for all your replies. To clarify, my friend has tickets return tickets to the US and wants to do a side trip to LON while he's there. This GCmap might give an idea of the plan:

Great Circle Mapper