paulman214

So tomorrow at 0700 my return flight to Scotland departs Calgary. I however will not be on it. The airline is Air Canada, and I was wondering if anyone can shed any light on the possibility that I may incur extra charges for not showing up? The return was cheaper than a one way you see, and it was a safety net incase I couldn't find work and accommodation. Surely they will just chalk it down to me missing my flight? People miss flights all the time lol

scrubbedexpat091

I wouldn't worry, not likely they will do anything but cancel the ticket and keep the money...

JAJ

If you tell them beforehand, then they could possibly give the seat to someone else who needs it (if the flight is full).

paulman214

Yeah I was thinking that, or changing it for a flight in the summer, that way I have half of the next trip home sorted already. I just don't know if they will try and charge me the extra money that the one way flights would have been. I've heard a few people say they incurred a penalty, or extra charges for this reason. I can't see it myself, just figured I would ask incase anyone had first hand experience with this sorta situation.

orly

Was thinking along those lines myself.

Nothing wrong with a call to the airline a few hours ahead of time to let them know. It's up to them what they decide to do after that.

kimilseung

they over book flights anyway, based on an assumption that X% will be no show on the day, I doubt informing them would make much of a difference.

foreigngirl

I've waited a few times to get on partiular flights and managed to always fly thanks to people like you.

wolstie

If you do it in good time, usually 24 hours before your scheduled departure, they will change your return ticket to a travel voucher (that will expire a year after your original outward (from England) travel). There is no charge to do this.

If you use this 'voucher', you may be charged a change fee depending on your class of ticket (approx $150) plus any difference in fare from what you paid originally.

If you choose not to use it, you are entitled to a small refund (taxes etc), but it's up to you to cancel the 'voucher' 24 hours before the year is up (year from original travel) in order to get this. They'll likely say on the phone that you won't get anything, but to e-mail their revenue dept if you want to be sure. That's what happened with us, and we ended up getting about $300 back off tickets worth
$2,000. Not great, but still better than paying for a one way, and you have the flexibility of a return ticket in your pocket if you need it.

cheeky_monkey

i thought you can claim a partial refund if you let them know you will not be using the return portion of your ticket?

jobop

Just phone up and ask Air Canada the question.

We are flying soon with Virgin on a return ticket as cheaper than a one way, I asked the same question and they said there were no penalties but that it would be best practice for you to at least let them know if not intending to show up, so yes they could sell it on perhaps.

Also with a return, but with a charge, you can change your flight up to 12 months so good for an emergency ticket home if needed.

And I asked about a possible refund of the return ticket, that was a no, if you don't use it you loose it.

MrWindUpBird

Likewise - And they'll know you've not checked in anyway.

Aviator

You have paid for the seat, whether you show up or not to use is up to you. If it flies empty, it costs the carrier less than if you were in it, less weight. If they sell it again at a lower cost, extra revenue.

The problem arises when you check bags and then don't get on. Lots of people get very upset at having to wait several hours while baggage is unloaded and the flight gets on its way.

comet555

I agree with everyone, there is no penalty for just not showing up. You don't show up they will just give the seat to someone on stand by. Problem solved. Although it wouldn't hurt to call and find out if you have any options of selling/transferring the ticket to someone else for a fee (you could put it on Kijiji), or changing the date, etc.

However.... I just wanted to point out that this only works on the return flight. If you bought a return flight and wanted to skip the first part and only take the second then they would cancel your second flight when you failed to show up for the first. Hope that makes sense!

I know that's not what you're doing but I just wanted to point out that it doesn't work the other way around. My husband once had a one way trip from Fort McMurray-Edmonton-Ottawa. It turned out he was going to be in Edmonton anyway so he wanted to skip the first leg and just board on the connecting flight in Edmonton. He had to pay a fee to change his ticket or they would have cancelled the second half of his trip.

Siouxie

Possibly not after 2015 - new EU Passenger rights that are waiting for approval state "...under the new rules a passenger may not be denied boarding on the return flight of their ticket on the grounds that he or she did not take the outbound part of the return ticket..."

When I used to fly extensively back in the late 70's and early 80's, we used to use the tickets 'in reverse' quite a lot and never had any problems in doing so. We also used to utilise the 'maximum permitted mileage' on tickets which meant we managed to get stop-overs at no cost.

Ah... the good old days.

comet555

Well that would be nice if it worked out that way. I suppose it would depend on where the tickets were booked.

In our case the ticket was a domestic flight with Air Canada so would fall under Canadian regulations. Would be nice if the rules in Canada would allow you to skip the first part of a flight. I thought it was incredibly unfair to have to pay a fee to give up half of a flight when they would turn around and sell it to someone else.