Skipping the last leg of a return flight; any impact on frequent flyer miles?

Suppose I have this itinerary:

outbound: A -> B -> C
inbound: C -> B -> D -> A

A, B, D are cities in the US, C is a city overseas. I'll have only carry-on luggage.

One detail: this ticket has undergone a forceful change of itinerary (which I still haven't accepted officially).

I only need to get to D on the way back, and I don't plan to take the segment D -> A. Can I ask the airline to cancel that segment? They don't loose anything, they only get one vacant seat. Also, what if I don't travel this segment D -> A without letting anyone know? In particular, will the miles for the other segments be still credited to my frequent flyer account?

Best Answer

Airlines generally don't like this, because it's often used for Hidden City Ticketing, in which you buy a ticket A-B-C intending to only go to B, because it's cheaper than the fare for A-B.

The answers to this question cover the potential issues, but in short:

It's probably fine as a one-off.
Be aware that the airline is obliged to get you to A, not D, so if there's bad weather or something like that, you may get put on an alternative routing that doesn't go via D.
You probably won't be able to get the airline to "short-check" any checked baggage to D, so you might have to go hand-luggage only.

I'm not sure whether the miles will be credited, although airlines have been known to cancel the frequent flyer accounts of people who do this regularly.

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What happens if I skip the last leg of a flight?

But by skipping a leg of a connecting flight, you're breaching the airline's Conditions of Carriage, which gives them the right to cancel all of your frequent flyer points and any other bonuses. It's the only REAL penalty that airlines sometimes (but still very rarely) enforce.

Can I skip the return flight?

But if you intentionally miss the last leg of the journey, your ticket won't be cancelled, as there is nothing left for the airline to cancel. If you skip the first flight, your return flight also gets cancelled. To avoid that, don't ever skip a flight on a return flight.

Can you miss one leg of a 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.

Can I skip the first leg of my flight and start my journey from the second airport?

If you skip the first leg on a ticket you will be classified as a no-show and all sub-subsequent flights are cancelled. So the answer is: no you cannot skip the first leg. If you are willing to pay then contact the airline and change your ticket or just use the money you are willing to pay for a hotel at the airport.

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