Will Intentionally Miss Leg of Flight Make Return Difficult?

August 9, 2007 10:01 PM

I am scheduled to fly into Rochester, MN with a connection in Minneapolis on NWA tomorrow evening. I would like to intentionally miss the connection to Rochester and spend the evening in the Twin Cities with friends and take a bus down to Rochester on Saturday. I would, however, like to board my plane on Monday from Rochester as scheduled. Will NWA put up a fuss that I never made my connecting flight and prevent me from boarding Monday?
posted by gerg to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

Yes, they will make a fuss. I once asked NWA specifically if they can increase my layover for this purpose - they said they could only increase the layover if I boarded the next flight within 24 hours. Otherwise, they have no obligation to put you on the final leg of your journey. Their policy may have changed since then and you should just ask them what can be done.
posted by dendrite at 10:15 PM on August 9, 2007

Generally if you miss one leg of a flght, the airline will cancel the rest of the flight. The only thing to do then is find alternative transport to your final destination.
posted by zia at 10:27 PM on August 9, 2007

You'd be listed as a no-show on the second leg, thereby effectively canceling your entire ticket. A few threads have been done on this already.

Your other option would be to call the airline and change the ticket, but they'd charge you a change fee plus the difference in airfare, which could be substantial.
posted by HeyAllie at 10:38 PM on August 9, 2007

They will make a fuss, but when a computer error caused my segments to be cancelled because they never correctly scanned my boarding pass (and a manager in Detroit (their main international hub) noticed), I got first class seats for the rest of the day.
posted by yellowbkpk at 10:46 PM on August 9, 2007

I wonder if, during the layover, you can tell the clerk that you're feeling sick and would like to stop. I think if you intend to make the round trip as proposed they won't think you're trying to game the fares. The worst that could happen is that they'd say no and you'd have to fly anyway.
posted by rolypolyman at 11:45 PM on August 9, 2007

I'd probably go for rolypolyman's tactic, but take it a step farther. You're not feeling well, you have to go throw up now, you know you're going to miss your connection to Rochester, is there any way they could have a heart and rebook you on a flight in the morning. Saturday flights are more likely to have space on them anyway, so they might rather have your seat on Friday and give you one on Saturday. You might be able to make it to Rochester on the plane, while still guaranteeing your return trip.

This'll get really messed up if you've checked a bag, though, so I'm assuming you aren't.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:40 AM on August 10, 2007

If it weren't NWA you might have a better chance. Every experience I have had with them has been a nightmare of them not wanting to help in the least.

They are also the only emergency landing I have had :)
posted by UMDirector at 9:46 AM on August 10, 2007

i have skipped the second leg of my journey a few times, actually. even got them to get the checked luggage off of the plane.

but i have kids. i just tell the airline folks that the kids are feeling sick and we're going to have to hit a doctor/dentist when we land on our stopover and they do what they need to.

i'm sure if you just tell them you're vomitting and sick they'll accomodate you. remember ferris's tricks.
posted by taumeson at 10:28 AM on August 10, 2007

I've had return tickets canceled a couple of times even when I did make my flight (or when I took another flight standby). One phone call always fixed it. You could always deny deny deny and see what happens. (Though then I would call a day in advance of your return and say you noticed online that your reservation was canceled for no reason.)

This is a high-risk strategy, though, especially in this summer of flying hell.
posted by raf at 8:41 PM on August 10, 2007