Must I cancel the return portion of an airline ticket if I decide not to fly it?

I'm considering not using the return leg of my plane ticket since I can't extend the return date beyond a year but I still have enough money to continue travelling.

When I told some friends that I should call the airline to cancel the return part of my ticket some said "Why bother since you're not using it and won't get any money back anyway".

Well I checked and indeed I can't get any refund. But if I don't cancel and don't board the plane, will an airline (Korean Air in my case) consider this as causing them some hassle and perhaps have some repercussions should I fly with them again in the future?

For instance perhaps they could've put somebody else in my seat if I had warned them by cancelling, but maybe they overbook all flights anyway so I'd actually be doing them a favour?

Best Answer

I'm presuming that you've got a non-refundable fare otherwise this is a fairly pointless question - just contact the airline, cancel your ticket, and get your money back.

If it's not a refundable fare, the best option is to NOT cancel it - yet.

There are a number of things that can happen between now and when the flight is scheduled that can give you cause go to the airline and ask for a full refund, even for tickets that don't allow it.

The first of these is a "schedule change", where the airlines sometimes rearrange their schedules and thus change the times of flights. If the change is sufficiently large (eg, more than about 2 hours) the you can normally contact the airline and ask for them to refund the ticket.

The second is "waivers", which airlines sometime publish around times of bad weather/strikes/etc. These waivers are basically the airline giving passengers the option to cancel/change their plans in order to reduce the number of services they have to fly. Generally these waivers are short (often a day or two, occasionally as much as a week) and will only cover one or a small number of airlines. Keep an eye on the airlines website in the days before the flight to see if they have such a waiver covering your flight.

The odds of either of these happening are low - but they do happen so it's worth checking!

If neither of those happen, then it's generally good form to contact the airline a day or so before your flight and cancel the ticket. It's possible that by doing this you'll end up with a "credit" for future travel, as even most non-refundable tickets can be canceled - but there'll normally be a fee involved. If the value of the ticket is less than the fee you'll get nothing. If it's more, you'll get the difference.

If you know that you're not going to get a credit back, then there's no "need" to cancel the ticket - the airline won't "black mark" you or anything like that - but it's still good practice to do it anyway. If nothing else, think of the person who needed that seat but wasn't able to get it because the flight was full - by canceling your ticket a day or two before, you give them the option of getting onto the flight!

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Can I cancel the return portion of a flight?

Call the airline at the customer service number listed within your confirmation email, within your itinerary online or on the airline's website. Provide the phone associate with your six-digit PNR ticket number and inform him you would like to cancel the return ticket.

Is it better to cancel a flight or just not show up?

If you know you can't make a scheduled flight, it's better to cancel your flight rather than be a no-show. If you cancel, you might receive a partial or whole credit for the fare purchased, to be applied to a future flight.

Can I cancel outbound flight and keep return flight?

No, you cannot only use the return ticket. To guarantee that the airline keeps your return ticket, you are required to travel on the first part of your trip and all the way to your final destination.

Airline Refunds - Flight Cancelled? Know Your Rights!

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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