I booked a round trip to India and then a one-way ticket to SFO a few days later, on the same ticket, through Orbitz. The trip to India is with Air India, and the one-way through United as a code-share with Air India. They issued me paper tickets, all on “Air India stock” (whatever that means), presumably because of the multiple carriers. The ticket number at the top of the paper tickets is the same for all legs of the journey.
Now, I’m no longer going to India, but I still am going to SFO. If I don’t show up for the round trip flight, can they cancel my ticket to California? In the past, I’ve missed a flight, and had my ongoing flights canceled on me. But in this situation, the two companies certainly don’t have their computer systems linked, and I don’t see how United could even know if I didn’t use my Air India flights. I need to detach the India portion of my tickets to send to my travel insurance company, but if I hang on to the paper tickets for SFO… they should let me board… right?
I have, and they (1) take forever to answer and (2) had pretty much no idea what I was talking about. Possibly an executive office would be more helpful than the reservations line but I’m not sure who to try to call.
That’s the safe answer, of course (necessitating buying a new ticket)–but given paper tickets and separate airlines, how could United even know whether I went to India or not?
to clarify, I’m booked from Newark to India and back, and then from Newark to SFO
For the life of me, I cannot understand why they issued you a paper ticket! I’m hoping that you didn’t pay extra for that. That paper ticket has VALUE! DO NOT DISCARD IT REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU DECIDE!
That aside, if you don’t take the first legs of the trip (Newark-India-Newark), then don’t expect to use the EWR-SFO segment.
Here’s why. Orbitz has probably determined that the fare for the entire trip is lower than the sum of it’s parts and issued the ticket with all segments relying upon each other.
Why? …Any number of reasons, really. My best good guess is that the international round-trip ticket (EWR-India-EWR) allows a free or low-cost stop-over enroute (your return into EWR) and, hence, the United Airlines portion is ticketed with an Air India flight number. Airlines often do this (code-share) as a way of partnering with each other and giving them a wider “route” than their airline alone actually fly.
Your theory that United couldn’t know that the Air India segments weren’t flown is flawed. They certainly can know that. Since those airlines have ticketing agreements (evidenced by the fact that you HAVE this ticket), if you no-show the international portion, Air India will note in their reservations system that detail and it will be sent downline to United.
Your ticket, if cancelled, should be exchangable for another Air India ticket as a whole and you should be able to purchase another with it; paying any penalty plus additional fare. Doing so necessitates that you return the ticket to Orbitz so it can be properly exchanged. Of course, this requires that you purchase a new one-way ticket EWR-SFO. Generally, one has a year from the date a ticket is purchased to use the value on that ticket. Contact Orbitz, not Air India, to ask those questions.
Orbitz is YOUR representative here. YOU paid them a fee and, as such, they should be YOUR advocate. They might be receiving a commission from Air India on the sale of your ticket, but that relationship should not enter into the equation.
However, Orbitz will most certainly document your conversation with them in their reservations system. So any future agent with whom you speak will be able to read what you’ve discussed with a previous agent. If/when you do call Orbitz, make your own notes including time/date that you called, subjects discussed, any details clarified and the name of the person with whom you spoke, their agent number and the city in which they’re located.
To answer your question…
If you don’t fly the international segments, the EWR-SFO segment will not be usable.
Right idea Rick, but wrong terminology.
The entire ticket probably isn’t void if you no-show the first leg, just unusable. Possibly rendering the entire ticket value-less. Depends on the rules regarding the type of fare used on the date the ticket was issued. Different airlines have different rules. Again, ask Orbitz to clarify.
On a side-note, the days of travelers playing fast and loose with airlines and their ticketing policies are pretty much over.
I used to work for a well known UK airline, writing software for the Passenger Revenue department - basically processing tickets as financial transactions. This was however 12 years ago so my memory is not 100% and things may have changed in that time - in those days paper tickets ruled and e-tickets were an oddity.
Paper airline tickets are almost like currency and are heavily controlled by IATA. Air India stock means that the ticket number printed on them is allocated to Air India and Air India collect the revenue from the sale.
In general this should not be a problem. When you fly the United leg of the trip United bill Air India for their share of the fare. The rules for pro-rating fares could be complex and (at least 12 years ago were) contained in a very thick manual produced by IATA and it was always a challenge to implement these rules in software. That is the airlines problem, not yours.
That said, there may be restrictions placed on how you can use the ticket to receive a discount. Check with your travel agent or the airlines. If Air India say ‘No’ it may still be worth checking with United as it is up to them if they let you fly or not.
What does “sent downline” mean, exactly? The United rep I just talked to said that their computer systems aren’t linked in any way, since they’re not part of the same Alliance. It was a little confusing, though: she said Air India could cancel my United ticket only by manually going in and canceling it, once I no-showed the international flight. The gist was that it could happen but was unlikely; “they probably don’t have the manpower.” She said to check back three days after the original outbound India flight and if the United flight wasn’t canceled by then, it would never be. Does that sound right to you?
I’m not flying Air India anytime soon, and more importantly, I need to send my India paper tickets into my trip insurance company as part of a claim.
A few points…
-By “sent downline”, I mean that the originating airline (Air India) would send a message to any other airline that has a stake in that same reservation to which your ticket number is attached.
-Their computers aren’t linked in any way?
Then how DID Air India issue you a ticket on an United Airlines Aircraft, eh?
If you don’t show for your original Air India flight then Air India cancels the ENTIRE reservation, thus generating a message to the United Airlines system and cancelling the EWR-SFO segment. Did the United rep you talked to give you any guarantee that you’d be able to fly the EWR-SFO leg having not flown the international segments? I presume not. Her words “could”, “unlikely” and “probably don’t have the manpower” will be little solace when you’re standing at the United ticket counter in Newark and the agent realizes that you’re (more than likely) trying to board using a ticket for a reservation that was cancelled. When they read the detail in the reservation WHY it was cancelled, the agent will demand that you buy a new one-way ticket right then before they let you past security. THAT, my friend, can be an expensive purchase.
-You need to send your paper ticket to your travel insurance company as part of a claim. I presume, that they need the ENTIRE ticket to process your claim. Using the EWR-SFO leg will leave that ticket-packet one coupon short.
My recommendation is that, since you currently have time on your side, to start NOW pricing one-way tickets EWR-SFO. If that’s too expensive, check out alternate dates or alternate airports. Could you depart from Philadelphia or Baltimore? Could you fly into Oakland? Check out Southwest airlines website as they’re not represented on Orbitz.
Then submit your ENTIRE UNUSED Air India ticket for your claim.
