We have a trip to CA , next month. D is joining us on a separate reservation. Now, instead of flying from SFO to RIC on the original RT reservation, she wants to fly to LAX, and fly back to RIC after a few days visiting friends. A one way flight from LAX to RIC today is cheaper then $200, which I understand is the minimum change fee. She know she will b paying for a one way from SFO to LAX in addition to the return change. Can she just be a no shown the return , and book the new return?
Yes you can no show with no penalty. But if you leave her current reservation as is, you might have to book the other flight with a different airline because some (notably Southwest - although I assume it’s not them since their changes are free) have rules that prevent you from having conflicting itineraries in their reservation system. Having said that, unless it’s a discounted round trip ticket (like many international flights) you may also be able to simply cancel (rather than change) her return without paying the change fee.
What airline?
AA
So if she cancels the return ,when should that be done ? Should she wait ,until the first leg of the RT is done . Will she get any kind of credit ,instead of being a no show? Yes, she was looking at a delta flight from LAX to RIC.
On line discussion boards general consensus is to wait as long as possible to cancel or no show, after the outbound trip is done. If it is a non-refundable fare there will be no credit for cancelling and if she cancels before travel they may consider it a change and charge more. Traveling on a different airline solves the 2 itinerary issue. Also traveling on different days with different itinerary shouldn’t hit the system as a duplicate.
If it’s all different airlines I would probably wait to the last minute in the expectation of being a no show in case there are extraordinary circumstances at the time that might allow for a refund or credit (usually weather like hurricanes but we don’t get much of that in SF), but canceling after the outbound is also fine. She won’t get frequent flyer credit either way. She might conceivably get a few dollars in taxes back at a push from the cancellation but it’s hardly worth arguing about that.
Unless you are still in the no cancel penalty window, I wouldn’t cancel until I had a satisfactory back up plan or fully understood the cost.
Read the conditions of the ticket - as well as airlines, different fare classes have different stipulations. I don’t mean just Economy vs Business Vs First. The ticket will list a Fare Class by letter - J, Y, Q, O, etc. Conditions, possible no show fees, refunds, etc will depend on the fare class.
I regularly fly an airline for which there is a “no show” fee charged. I’ve had to cancel a few return tickets with that airline. I remember one big refund of the return ticket cost. The next time, the ticket was a different fare class and I was refunded taxes only. Different fare classes within the same seating section.
Thanks to all! I think at this point she will wait to last minute to decide to be a no show or cancel.
I have seen Fare Class listed on reservations/ tickets ,but never have knew what it meant!