[SimonS1]

In this case the positioning flight appears to involve transferring from LHR to LGW, a short trip to DUB and then back to France on Ryanair.

To me that sounds like a test of endurance and a massive waste of time rather than an enjoyment trip. So I’d skip the final leg and leave it at that.

There are always risks but there are postings about this going back years on here and FlyerTalk and no-one has ever been repriced. BA clearly know it happens and I would expect some warning shot before they start hitting people with penalties bearing in mind the number of regular travellers who could be affected (BA does have a staffer who feeds info like this into FlyerTalk).

[BrotherJim]

Once you have purchased your ticket they cannot then charge you more for simply missing a flight.

Of course if there are still flights remaining they can cancel those flights, meaning you need to buy new flights, but that is a different matter.

[Charles-P]

I had a dispute with Eurotunnel some years ago when it was my habit to miss the home leg of a return ticket between Folkestone and Calais as a result of business meetings changes. I would then book a single to return home a few days later. I received an email saying I was breaking their rules and that I would be receiving a credit card charge for a “non completed journey”. I replied, copying my solicitor, with words along the lines of, “Good try, see you in court sunshine” and never heard a thing again.

I also know of friends who have property in France who use the husbands UK credit card to book one way tickets to France and the wife’s French card to book one way tickets home. Easyjet didn’t like that at all but did admit they could not stop them doing it.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

If you book through an agent and don’t take the last leg then the agent will be billed for the fare difference. This may be passed onto you. So if you are going to do this – book direct with the airline.

I was booked a return from Newhaven to Dieppe on the ferry and booked a cheap £1 return day trip offer. Didn’t plan to come back as off to France for the World Cup in 98 and inter-rail for 3 weeks. Ferry company very nearly didn’t let us on as we hadn’t paid the right fare (£24 one way for foot passenger). But we did get on in the end!

[nmh1204]

Jim, they can legally charge you the fare difference for missing a flight.

“3c2) Your ticket is no longer valid if you do not use all the coupons in the sequence provided in the ticket. Where you change your travel without our agreement and the price for the resulting transportation you intend to undertake is greater than the price originally paid, you will be requested to pay the difference in price. Failure to pay the price applicable to your revised transportation will result in refusal of carriage.”

http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/legal/british-airways/general-conditions-of-carriage

[BrotherJim]

nmh1204, not on the end. Read the para you quoted carefully and you will see you only get charged more if the ‘resulting transportation you INTEND to take is greater than the price you paid”. In other words if you change plans, of coursing skipping a flight is such an example of an unauthorised changed, but if you simply forgo the rest of the coupons then there is no further recourse.

So I stand by my statement. Not turning up for the LAST flight they have no recourse to a higher fare what so ever.

[SimonS1]

Not convinced by that BrotherJim. I would be inclined to go by what Tim says ie it does happen for bookings through a TA. But I think you would be unlucky to get pulled for it.

[nmh1204]

Jim, often not taking the last flight would mean a higher ticket price, so legally, they can bill you, same as with one ways, they’re often more expensive than a return flight, so if you don’t get the return flight, you’ll be billed the one way fare, which can sometimes be 3 or 4 times the return cost

[LuganoPirate]

CharlesP, not sure why Easyjet would make a fuss as they sell one way fares without a surcharge so can’t see what difference it makes who pays. Or am I missing something?

Once turned up at the Eurotunnel with the car (on Swiss plates) full to the gunwales on a day return with no intention of coming back. £29 v £200.

The lady at the control said she can’t accept the ticket and we’d have to pay extra as clearly we weren’t going just for the day. My answer back was we were dropping the nanny in Laon where she was being met by her sister and would return that evening for the train to continue our holiday in Cornwall. Hence the car being so full. She reluctantly let us board with a warning if we didn’t come back we’d be billed the difference plus an admin charge. We weren’t billed anything at all.

[MartinJ]

mh1204
“3c2) Your ticket is no longer valid if you do not use all the coupons in the sequence provided in the ticket. Where you change your travel without our agreement and the price for the resulting transportation you intend to undertake is greater than the price originally paid, you will be requested to pay the difference in price. Failure to pay the price applicable to your revised transportation will result in refusal of carriage.”

I doubt this particular t&c clause would stand a legal challenge. Just because something is in a company’s t&cs it doesn’t mean it’s legal.

[SealinkBF]

What BA tend to do (reportedly) is to not credit tier points and miles for an uncompleted journey.

However the savings are generally so good that may be a price worth paying.

I would not book your Paris flight on BA however as they may realise what you are doing.

[Falcon7x]

Hi all,

I’m going to try my first ‘ex europe’ trip early next year. MAD-LHR-SFO-NYC-MAD on BA/AA/IB business for £1467 (wow). Being based in London, I was going to book BA LHR-MAD-LHR for the starting and finishing flights. I am planning to take all of the flights.

I am pretty sure there will be no issues, as I am planning on arriving into MAD 4 hrs before the start of the proper trip, but are there likely to be questions asked?

[SimonS1]

Questions asked about what?

[FirstClassWannabe]

None whatsoever, you are not doing anything wrong.

When/where do you get this as I am looking for an ex-MAD-LAX?

[MartynSinclair]

Falcon7x – why not take the BA flight LHR-MAD, that will be returning to London as the first leg of your main ticket..

Let the crew know you are returning straight away to London and they may speak to the handling agent to speed you through….

Presume you will check your bags in for the LHR-SFO, before you go to Madrid…

[Author]

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