Any problem with being a "no show" on a connecting flight?

April 16, 2024 7:13 AM

Let's say I have booked a flight from Paris to Chicago via New York. But I have decided I want to stay in New York for a couple of days before flying on to Chicago. Is there any problem with just not showing up for the connecting flight and booking a separate NY to Chicago flight for later? I will have to get my luggage in New York anyway so that's not an issue. I just want to check if there is any negative consequence to being a "no show" on a flight I have checked in to. (Bear in mind that I will have a flight back to Paris a couple of weeks later with the same airline).
posted by rouleur to Travel & Transportation (17 answers total)

did you book a round trip/return flight or two separate one-way trips? a 'no show' will cancel all remaining legs of your itinerary (including a return trip) with no refund.
posted by noloveforned at 7:17 AM on April 16 [14 favorites]

They are likely to cancel your return to Paris if it is on the same itinerary. The specific airline may ding you in their system overall, but not sure / that will vary.
posted by quadrilaterals at 7:18 AM on April 16 [4 favorites]

It's called skiplagging and will likely result in the cancellation of your return ticket.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:18 AM on April 16 [8 favorites]

That's not really skiplagging, as the traveler still intends to travel to the city, just later. However, the airline will indeed cancel a return ticket, since from its point of view you never made it to Chicago to be brought back.

If you do this often enough, you may get flagged as (from the airline's POV) manipulating ticketing. Airlines have gotten more sensitive to it in recent years, but doing it once in a great while is probably okay.
posted by praemunire at 7:26 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you. I did book two further legs of the trip together. All booked with the same airline - JetBlue.
posted by rouleur at 7:27 AM on April 16

Yeah, you will have to contact the airline BEFORE you miss the flight. Hopefully it will be straightforward and you can just have them process your new NY-Chicago flight as a schedule change.

If you just miss the flight, your return flights will be cancelled.
posted by mskyle at 7:34 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

I’d call the airline to see if they would allow you to change the date of the NY to Chicago flight in your current ticket. The cost all depends on the airline, the type of ticket, or the whims of agent you speak to.
posted by ShooBoo at 7:36 AM on April 16 [2 favorites]

Maybe you can fake an "omg I missed my flight oh no" call to the agent? Maybe you could fake an illness after the first leg of your journey? IDK if it will work but perhaps some careful scheming will uncover some method of getting away with it.

I've been tempted to do something similar before, I tell myself, scruples schmruples, they're a big ugly predatory corporation with no defensible reason for their policy about this particular thing, but alas I've never had the gumption to follow through. You could be the badass I wish I was!
posted by MiraK at 7:39 AM on April 16

Response by poster: I talked to the airline. The agent I spoke to said I couldn't just switch the NY to Chicago trip to a later leg. If I cancel Paris to Chicago and re-buy Paris to NY, that's going to cost more (I think just because the price of flights has risen since the original booking). The agent said I should just no-show and didn't think I would face negative consequences, but I don't fully trust that.
posted by rouleur at 7:46 AM on April 16

The agent said I should just no-show and didn't think I would face negative consequences, but I don't fully trust that.

That sounds extremely.....unlikely....their terms should address this though...normally it says somewhere that if you miss a leg and it is not the airline's fault, the remaining legs are all cancelled.....
posted by koahiatamadl at 7:56 AM on April 16 [8 favorites]

Definitely don't just skip the flight and assume the rest of the ticket will be valid. A few years ago I no-showed the last two legs of an international flight into the US (adverse weather, re-scheduling totally collapsed, made more sense to take a train than risk spending the weekend in a random airport hotel). Before leaving the airport, the employee at the customer service desk swore up and down that I could just walk out and there would be no issue with the return journey. Turned out to be completely untrue, I checked online the next day and my ticket was cancelled, I spent more than two hours on the phone straightening it out. Thankfully the seat hadn't been resold.
posted by nanny's striped stocking at 8:02 AM on April 16 [10 favorites]

I would absolutely not trust the airline on the lack of negative consequences for the rest of your trip; I think you should assume if you do this, you are likely to have the rest of your trip itinerary cancelled, and to pay a lot more for last-minute flights than you would to rebook this properly now.
posted by Stacey at 8:26 AM on April 16 [5 favorites]

Often there is a discount on multi-stop flights where City A -> City B -> City C (as a single trip) is cheaper than you would pay to do a single leg of either City A -> City B or City B -> City C. That's why skiplagging is a thing that people do often enough that airlines have policies discouraging it, and it's why CDG-JFK is more expensive than CDG-(JFK)-ORD. And also why you can't just delay the JFK-ORD leg, because now you're doing two more expensive trips instead of one.

What does your return flight look like? Maybe you could look at changing that flight from a Chicago departure to a New York departure and buying a one way from Chicago to NYC at the end of your trip, since it's a little further out.

(I would not recommend trying to extend your same-day layover in NYC because getting from either JFK or Newark EWR to the fun parts of the city is in a best case scenario 80 minutes, and you'll need 80 minutes + whatever amount of time to get back through security on the other end.)
posted by thecaddy at 9:14 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'd call again and try again with another agent. I have found in the past that you may have to try more than once to get an agent who can or is willing to change your airline ticket (as seen in my old post)
posted by ShooBoo at 10:00 AM on April 16 [2 favorites]

This is called skiplagging and it's low rish but not no risk!
posted by DarlingBri at 10:27 AM on April 16 [1 favorite]

It depends on how you bought the ticket. if you booked a series of one-way flights, even if you booked them all on the same booking you'll be fine but, if you booked 'packaged' flights, being a no-show on any leg may cancel all subsequent flights. Read all of the conditions attached to your ticket very carefully - the airline will apply them exactly as they're written, so make sure you understand the often complicated fare rules. If you're not sure, call the airline itself (not a travel agent, unless they booked the tickets for you).
posted by dg at 3:32 PM on April 16

Response by poster: Thanks, all. I called back and got a different agent. This time, I was able to move the New York to Chicago leg to a few days later, something I had previously been told was impossible. So, no need to risk being accused of skip-lagging!
posted by rouleur at 6:17 AM on April 17 [3 favorites]