Risks of Back-to-Back Ticketing on Airlines?

June 2, 2009 12:53 AM

AirlineFilter: How risky is it to do back to back ticketing? Is there any other way I can reasonably get from VIE-CCS-JFK?

I need to do VIE-CCS-JFK. Here are some sample prices for the dates I need:


VIE-CCS-VIE: $800
CCS-JFK: $450 (Carribean air)
VIE-CCS: $2500
VIE-CCS-JFK: $3000 (Air France)
(VIE-JFK-VIE): $800-1000

What are my options here? Seems like the cheapest and most convenient is VIE-CCS-VIE + CCS-JFK, and then not show up to the second half of my round trip. However, that violates back-to-back ticketing rules for most airlines. It's fairly not OK with me to get stuck in Venezuela.

posted by sdis to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

Also, anyone able to find Air France ticketing rules? I cant find anything about back to backs
posted by sdis at 1:18 AM on June 2

As far as I know, you're not violating anyone's rules if you book your CCS-JFK flight on a different airline. I've done the same thing in the past (canceling my return trip with the first airline, that is, or a second leg of a flight, for instance) without any problems.
posted by halogen at 1:29 AM on June 2

Yeah, as long as you're on different airlines, you should be fine. Done this before.
posted by mdonley at 1:39 AM on June 2

Is it technically against any rules or laws? Venezuela is a crazy, crazy place with nonsensical government controls, particularly the airport..
posted by sdis at 1:54 AM on June 2

Sounds fine to me, but if you really want to be sure, the experts are likely on flyertalk.com.
posted by gushn at 8:14 AM on June 2

Are you currently in Vienna? You could always try calling or visiting the Venezuelan embassy and asking them directly.
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:35 AM on June 2

One warning, there seem to have been a lot of delays lately at JFK, it's congested and we've had bad weather. Two weekends ago, I flew to DC and had a 2 hour delay on both ends. So leave plenty of time (and even more time if you have to switch terminals, especially if you have to clear customs in the process.)
posted by Jahaza at 4:15 PM on June 2