Not flying all legs of a flight with checked bags

I am scheduled on a return flight to fly from Ft Lauderdale to Birmingham AL through Atlanta and will be checking a bag. My son needs me to babysit in Atl on the day we are connecting through and will drive me home to Birmingham the next day. If I don’t fly that last Atl-BHM leg, can I just route my bags to Atl when I am leaving Lauderdale?

luggage

Best Answer

Typically you can't do this.

Getting off at a layover is explicitly "forbidden" in the Contract of Carriage of most airlines. This rule is to protect certain pricing policies and to prevent customer to save money through "Hidden City Ticketing".

The "correct" way o do this would be to change your ticket to return to Atlanta, and not Birmingham. Chances are the airline will charge you a hefty fee for this.

You can try to sweet talk the check in agent into routing your bag to Atlanta, but it's unlikely to work.

The only "loophole" would be an international arrival, where you have to pick up your bags anyway, but for a domestic itinerary, this will probably not work

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Can I skip one leg of my flight?

Can I skip the first leg of my flight? No, you cannot skip the first leg of any itinerary. As stated above, after you've skipped a flight, all remaining flight legs on your itinerary will be canceled by the airline. It may seem silly, but this is a common mistake many infrequent travelers make.

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.

Do you have to grab your luggage on connecting flights?

If your bag is tagged to your next or final destination, you may need to pick up your bags and place them on the connection drop-off belt. If it is not tagged to your next or final destination, then you will definitely need to pick up your bags and check them in for your next flight.

What happens if you miss the first leg of a round trip?

"Normally what happens is if you miss one leg, your entire itinerary is cancelled," he said over the phone. "That's just a standard practice.

What Happens to Your Checked Luggage at the Airport

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