I’m looking into booking flights from the USA and NZ. On the way down, the flights would go from here, stop in Auckland, and then finally get me to the Blenheim on the South Island. Return flights do the reverse: Blenheim, Auckland, USA.
Only thing is, my plans down there aren’t firm yet, and I might wind up driving around the North Island and up to Auckland during my stay, anyway. So … is it possible to “miss” my flight out of Blenheim, but still catch my “connecting” flight from Auckland to the USA? Or is that not possible in the post-9/11 world?
I did something like this on a Brazil trip once. I flew into Rio and my return flight was Rio to Sao Paulo to the U.S., and I got them to cancel the return flight from Rio and flew home from Sao Paulo.
But that was pre-9/11. My impression is that this is really frowned upon now.
I was able to do it by appealing to the airline at the time when if they didn’t let me do it, I’d have been screwed. I strongly recommend you don’t do that, and instead inquire of the airline beforehand if it’s possible.
Depends entirely on the ticket/plan you purchase. The bottom rung of things you can’t change get your money back and they will cancel the other tickets if you miss your first flight. The top end they will do everything to accommodate schedule changes and offer full value refund if you cancel or change plans.
In order to do what your looking for be prepared to pay handsomely.
Your flight from Blenheim is on a domestic carrier and involves transferring yourself (and probably your luggage) from the domestic to international terminals at Auckland. As long as you contact the airlines involved beforehand - you should not have any problems - this is not a multi-leg single flight, it is two separate flights with separate carriers (even if it is Air New Zealand international vs Air New Zealand Domestic). Don’t expect much of a refund on the flight you miss, though.