Can I cancel my outbound round-trip flight for one passenger?

Can I cancel my outbound round-trip flight for one passenger? - Top view of crop anonymous person holding toy airplane on colorful world map drawn on chalkboard

Right now two people, (1) and (2) have a booked round-trip itinerary from A → B → A.

I am hoping to add a stop to person (1)'s travels, and not to person (2)'s. (1) would travel from A → X → B → A and (2) would travel from A → B → A. (2) would travel on the already booked round-trip flight.

What would be the best (cheapest) way to add a stop to an existing reservation for one passenger and not the other?

Secondarily, is there a way to not change the existing round-trip reservation (as to avoid United's $200 change fee) and to retain return leg for (1)? In this scenario, (1) would not be flying from A → B, only the second leg, from B → A. (2), however, would fly the whole round-trip.

Alternatively, is there a way to avoid United's change fees if I booked the A → X → B itinerary with them? (I would be booking two more flights with them; maybe they would waive the fees?)



Best Answer

The good news: You can consider each person separate, even if you bought the tickets together.

The bad news: if a person doesn't fly any leg of the ticket, the rest is typically considered void and lost. So if (1) doesn't fly his first leg, his complete ticket is gone. Your only option option is to work with United, and change that ticket to fit the new plans (and pay the fee).

Next time, when you pick an airline, consider their fee structure and your change risks, and potentially pick another airline with less or no change fees.
Note that your argument (buy even another ticket) doesn't matter to them - change fees are not covering the cost of the change, that is zero or near zero, it is simply a revenue-generation mechanism that lives from people's plans changing. They take it because they can, not because they need to cover expenses.




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Can I cancel one part of a round trip flight?

No! It is a rule on all airlines that you must fly ALL legs of your round trip ticket in order. If you skip the first leg the 2nd one will be canceled! This will happen on all airlines.

Can you cancel one passenger ticket?

Yes, you can cancel the ticket for 1 passenger but as there are cancellation charges applied for ticket. Yes you have an option to cancel ticket for one passenger from set of passengers that you have booked tickets under same PNR.

Can you just cancel one leg of a flight?

If one leg of a flight is canceled or passengers bailout, then the whole package can be voided at the carrier's discretion. This applies to multi-leg flights across the USA, as well as international flights involving American companies.

What happens if I buy a round trip ticket and only use one way?

Can I buy a roundtrip ticket for a one-way trip? Technically, you can buy a roundtrip ticket and only use it to go one-way, but airlines frown upon this. And, you can only skip the return flight. If you miss a segment of your trip, the airline may cancel the rest of your ticket without giving you a refund.



CANCELLED FLIGHT? What to do for a FLIGHT REFUND (US Passenger Rights to know)




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