BigBoss1984

Hey all,

So I fly out next month, May 28th, and I booked a return flight with British Airways - purely because it was so much cheaper than buying a one way. The return leg of the journey was set for some time in October, when I was planning on visiting the UK again anyways - but now I'm thinking when I get to the US, it may just be better to call BA and cancel the return leg - and re-book with the US as my starting destination, rather than back booking each time I wanna visit the UK.

Do airlines, or specifically BA, have any policies around cancelling a return leg?

Mercury39

It's going to depend on the booking conditions, which vary, but it is likely it's a non-refundable fare (as you mentioned it was cheaper than a one way, which are typically sold as full flexible and refundable only on international routes).

Most likely there will be change or cancellation fees that mean you will get little or nothing back. If that is the case, then one option is do nothing and on the rare chance the actual flight gets cancelled or rescheduled significantly you may be able to cancel for a full refund with no penalty

BigBoss1984

Yeah I think it is a non refundable. I don't really mind about not getting anything back in the way of money, I didn't expect to to be fair - it's more a convenience thing of being able to book a return ticket from the United States

Pulaski

Return flights from the US are much more expensive than from the UK. If there is any chance that you can predict when your next trip to the UK might be after October you could book another UK-US-UK return to get you back to the US in October. We tried that for a couple of trips after relocating to NY, but eventually couldn't predict when the next trip would be.

BigBoss1984

I'm sure we could predict, roughly, when it'll be - how come they're much more expensive? Airport taxes being higher in the US and so forth?

Pulaski

Nothing more than market economics as far as I know - the taxes are on top, but IME a $1,000 return flight starting in the US seems to compare to a return flight costing around $700 equiv. starting in the UK at the same time of year.

petitefrancaise

I read that there has been a large drop in the number of people booking trips/flights to the USA after all the immigration fiascos. The seat prices between the EU and USA are likely to drop quite heavily.

Pulaski

Considering that the "immigration fiascos" have the potential to impact only about 6% of the UK population and 12% of the French population (I am not sure about Germany, but I'd guess somewhere between the two) I suspect that raw economics, of a pound that only buys $1.25, and affects 100% of the UK population, has had as much or greater impact on transatlantic travel.

Maybe you're reading biased sources!

rpjs

I actually did what you were considering, timing the return portion of my flight to immigrate to the US for when I knew I'd be returning due to a family member's operation. I found a pretty reasonable one-way back to the US on Aer Lingus (OH hates flying, so going one way on EI when we moved was a non-starter as it would require two separate flights).

That was back in 2011, but more recently (2015) I had to make an emergency one-way flight to the UK on miles (pro-tip: NEVER fly American Airlines direct from New York to Manchester). When it was OK to return, once again I found a reasonable one-way fare on Aer Lingus.

Giantaxe

Or maybe it's a mixture of both factors. After all, the pound plummeted five months before Trump was elected at a time when overall tourism to the US was increasing. And in the three months since Trump was elected, overall tourism spending has dropped 10%. No separate figures for UK tourism to the US though.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/artic...-tourists-away

“[The ban] had an unintended effect in sending out a message to the whole of the world that the US is not as open for business and is now starting to be unfriendly,”

https://www.ft.com/content/36a40fae-...0-768954394623

And really, this is about more than "the potential to impact 6% of the UK population". If people perceive that the US has become more hostile to visitors, that will likely be a factor beyond that "6%".

As for airfares, they have certainly dropped from the Bay Area. I'm paying less than half this summer as compared to my trip last summer. Part of that is likely due to increased competition, with both Norwegian and BA now flying non stop from Oakland to Gatwick, and Virgin flying non stop to Manchester.

Pulaski

Agreed - I said "as much or greater", I didn't deny that US immigration enforcement had an impact. Given that people usually plan holidays many months ahead, it was always going to take at least six months for the sharp drop in the value of the pound to have a significant impact on anything other than the "city break" short visit market. It will likely be 12 months before the full impact is felt.
As is often the case, my opinion is likely to be different from yours. I don't see most British people being phased in the slightest by the narrowly defined increase in scrutiny on some visitors to the US.

Giantaxe

I agree that it takes many months for currency effects to play out. Six months took us to the end of last year and doesn't explain the large fall since then. Given the pound has been pretty stable since it crashed, I doubt the exchange rate can be blamed for any further decreases in visits.

It's about more than a "narrowly defined increase in scrutiny". Although there's a big difference between 6% and "most", there's some evidence that the fall is likely to be more than the former number. For example:

"Data released this week by travel search engine Kayak reported a 58% decline in searches for flights to Tampa and Orlando from the UK, and a 52% decline in searches for Miami. Searches for San Diego were also down 43%, Las Vegas by 36% and Los Angeles 32%."

"Flight app Hopper released research earlier this month month that showed flight search from international origins to the US has dropped 17% since Trump’s inauguration, compared with the final weeks of the Obama administration."

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2...-a-trump-slump

"Thus, the prestigious Travel Weekly magazine (as close to an “official” travel publication as they come) has set the decline in foreign tourism at 6.8%. And the fall-off is not limited to Muslim travelers, but also extends to all incoming foreign tourists. Apparently, an attack on one group of tourists is regarded as an assault on all."

The Travel Press is Reporting the 'Trump Slump,' a Devastating Drop in Tourism to the United States | Frommer's

littledorrit

I did the same thing. Moved to the US in July and booked a round trip (with the return the following may). Essentially looked like I was going on a 10 month holiday!
Then I found a one way from the UK to the USA on Norwegian. As they're a discount airline, the one way was literally half price (about £180).
That is for this year, so worth trying if you live near an airport served by Norwegian...

Pulaski

Your logic is completely upside down. As a result in the decline in value of the pound I wouldn't expect much decline in tourism until after six months, so the complete opposite of your "explain the fall since then" - a sharp fall starting about six months after the fall in the value of the pound is exactly what I would expect, as I said above, not much change for the first six months, and then a sharp decline. Obviously this drop now coincides fairly closely with the inauguration of President Trump, so separating the two possible causes of the decline is nigh-on impossible. ..... How do you research people who are not searching for holidays in Orlando?

Giantaxe

I would expect a bell-shaped rate of decline with the effects tailing off significantly beyond the six month mark (i.e. just what I said in my previous reply...). I doubt many people were booking 2017 travel to the US before June 23rd 2016. Ergo, almost everyone travelling in 2017 will likely have booked their travel at the post-collapse exchange rate.

I think you are rather missing that the fall has been across the board since Trump became president, not just confined to the UK. Hard to pin that "Trump slump" on the dollar/pound exchange rate. You also seem to be overlooking that online flight lookups from the UK (and elsewhere) to the US declined significantly after Trump became president from the last few weeks of Obama administration. Again, that cannot be exchange-rate related as regards the UK.

"Online travel sites are reporting that searches for travel to the U.S. have fallen sharply. “It’s known as the ‘Trump Slump,’ ” Arthur Frommer, of the eponymous Frommer’s guide, lamented. “And I know of no reputable travel publication to deny it.”