Uh - yeah. Unless you booked two completely separate one way fares that's the way it works, and has worked for years. There's nothing shocking or surprising about this. Is this his first time flying? Only a newbie would ever think he can miss their outbound and the rest of the trip would stand waiting. Sucks there's not more info on that rule (I guess this story helps) but it's nothing new.

I love the last paragraph insisting he'll never fly them again. (For the second time in his e-mail) That's been the joke here and everywhere for the past year. Of course he'll fly them again with the schedule and price match his needs.

I read and re-read this and still don't know what USAirways has done wrong. I dislike airlines and their archaic policies as much as everyone else. But as far as I know, all legacy and most discount carriers will cancel your return if you never show up, it's part of the contract of carriage.

Did Chad notify USAirways prior to the outbound? If he had, he would of faced the standard change fee plus any price difference for the new ticket. Otherwise, USAirways is behaving correctly and the same as most other carriers would.

Do a chargeback on your card.

Also I've flown enough times to consider myself "seasoned" - and my advice (for the future) is confirm confirm confirm.

He should have confirmed he could(n't) use his return. He should have confirmed the basic ticket rules. He also should have called the airline BEFORE his departure to work something out.

Maybe his credit card will help him out - but I unfortunately only see it as an expensive lesson. Or at least a lesson to others that if you plan on MISSING your outbound you better be on the phone changing plans.

Its standard industry practice. They charge high one-way fares, and if everyone bought a cheap roundtrip and only used half of it, they couldnt charge high one way fares.

Your best bet is to fly on a low cost carrier like Southwest or Jetblue where they charge most fares as one-way and won't penalize you as much if you miss one of the flights.

Call you credit card company and cancel the charges.

Same thing happened to me, but with Continental. Called Amex, and then charged Continental back.

Boy was Continental pissed. They called me up and threatened all kind of stuff. I told them their beef was with Amex, and to not contact me again.

It all went away after that.

What does this mean "The 23rd came and went and no phone calls or e-mails from any parties"

Is he referring to the AIRLINE? Am I understanding this right - that he expected US AIR to call HIM, asking "Hey Chad what's up dude, didn't see you on the outbound - where you at?"

Is that right or did I miss something?

u.s. airways never ceases to amaze me.

I've had this happen to me with AA. I called and tried to reschedule my flight 3 days in advance. I was told it would be $1,000 (no joke) to change my flight. I said, "Okay, well, I don't want to do that, but can I keep my return flight?" I was told that I could, even though I told her I was going to look into alternative travel arrangements (read: JetBlue). So I go to the AA ticket window in Florida and find myself stranded because I didn't get on the original flight.

And I haven't flown AA since, nor will I ever.

He's the reason that they sell the same ticket to 2 people. No-show factor for people that choose to drive with their friends.

Wow. This guy is a total moron. Of *course* his return flight is going to be canceled if he missed the 1st segment. This airline practice has been going on for *years*.

Why is even posted on this site? It's not news.

Agreeing with @jamesdenver. It's always been that way - the airlines will indeed cancel your entire itinerary of you do not show up for any leg of your flight. If there are any exceptions I don't know of any.

@jkaufman101: I don't know that this is common knowledge, so it's a good thing that it's posted here. To disseminate the information.

I've known since I was 12 and flying to grammas that if you miss a leg of your planned ticket they cancel the rest...if you don't show up to LEAVE the city, why would they assume you made it to your destination and you want to go back?

@DrGirlfriend: Indeed, I didn't know that, but then again I rarely fly. Now I know in case something comes up when I go on vacation in a few months.

I've got to jump on the blame the victim bandwagon.
Seriously, has the OP flown before?

If I were an airline I would act the same way. Assume someone who didn't show up for a flight or call about it won't be at the far end of the flight to take the return trip. I'd cancel the whole ticket and resell the seat. Non-refundable tickets work this way. A round trip ticket for $300 is a pretty good deal. Think what it would cost in gas and wear and tear on your car. If you were driving alone you'd stay in a hotel overnight both ways.

People don't seem to realize that if you purchase the most restricted, non-refundable ticket, you must fly the route exactly as scheduled. You cannot make any changes whatsoever without incurring extremely high penalties.

If there is a decent chance your plans may change, it may be worthwile purchasing a less restrictive class of ticket or travel insurance.

Um...it's called a ROUND-TRIP TICKET. Singular. Meaning ONE ticket for the WHOLE trip. If you're not there to get ON the plane to depart, your WHOLE ticket is cancelled.

Do you think they just assumed you would drive 1000 miles to get on the return flight? How many people miss planes that go that far and still get on the return flight?

I don't think U.S. Airways did anything wrong in this case.

C'mon, on know the favorite game here is Blame The Victim, but many travelers don't know that if you miss one leg they cancel then entire itinerary.

But, yeah, dude, it's called a nonrefundable ticket for a reason.

Also if he demonstrated the same smarmy 'tude with the CSRs as he does in his letter I'm not surprised he wasn't offered any breaks.

I agree it's good to post an extremely stupid mistake so others won't make it. Anyone crawling out of a cave and making a rez should at LEAST read the bullet points on the contract, fine print as they are. And call ONCE the day of flight to confirm.

But sorry - I'm driving the blame/victim bandwagon. Chad shows NO sign of being proactive, and reading between the lines: "they didn't call me" and "I finally decided to call them" makes it seem as though he thinks he booked a private charter or something.

"Goysh darn it they sold TWO seats to the SAME person." Christ my retired mom even knows this - and uses it to attempt getting bumped.

Chad yeah it's your fault but you are sharing a story for others. But for some perspective I'm curious

1 How old are you?
2 Have you booked a ticket and flown before?
3 When was the FIRST time you call USAIR?

This is strange becaus everyone says it's been this way for years...nu uh. My friend just did something similar and she flew with Alaska Airlines, she has a one-way waiting for her to use with no hassle, no fees no nada. Not all airlines are the same people...However...he still should have checked with the airline.

I think the airline was in the right to assume that he wasn't going to be on the return flight. They need to maximize the seating and can't leave empty seats when other people want to purchase the seats. However I cannot understand why the airline wouldn't put him on the next available flight. I can't imagine this situation comes up very often. It wouldn't cost them any more money and it would keep an angry customer from complaining to a consumer driven website.

@maximeyocks: This would be the *extreme* exception then. Alaska's rules are the same as all the other airlines when it comes to honoring the remainder of a partially abandoned r/t ticket without an additional charge.

The OP is a retard, plain and simple.

@maximeyocks: That is an exception, really. The norm is for airlines to cancel your itinerary.

@jkaufman101:

The friend, or friend of a friend, probably called Alaska PRIOR to departure and made arrangements to use keep (rebook) the return portion.

Maybe she got fees waived depending on flyer status or by not being a complete dick to the CSR.

God bless Southwest. Better routes, better prices, AND YOUR TRIP IS ALWAYS SOLD AS 2 PARTS (out and back). I fly from Chicago to Portland Oregon 2 times a month. I could Drive to Portland, miss my flight, check in and fly back to Chicago and no one cares. Oh, and I can get my money for the ticket from Chicago to Portland applied to another flight.

I flew US Air once. NEVER AGAIN. Flew from Chicago to Phoenix, was forced to get my bags and ride to another terminal, check in again, go thru security again, and on to Portland. Oh, and the same on the way back. Did I mention that I bought the ticket from AMERICAN WEST!!!!

US Air is all about bait and switch! If anyone from US Air is reading this, please fix your crap or roll over and DIE!!!

Another lesson here folks: read the fare rules when you buy a ticket. This would have happened on US Airways, United, Frontier, Singapore Airlines, etc.

I do have to say that the airlines don't make it clear that you can't just pick and chose which legs of your flight you'd like to show up for. I'm guessing if he just called and said he missed the flight at or around the departure time but intended to use the return leg they probably would have honored the ticket.

Here's the USAirways policy:

"If any part of the ticket is unused after the ticketed departure date and the reservation has not been canceled, the ticket has no value."

[www.usairways.com]

This is not the way it is for all airlines. Pre-9/11 I had a roundtrip flight out of CVG I missed, but caught my scheduled flight back. It was Delta, and I'm not even a Gold Member, or whatever it is, with the company. No big deal at the time. Things may have changed since airlines really need the money now, even if it is at the expense of a customer hating them.

"Non-refundable Tickets: If any part of the ticket is unused after the ticketed departure date and the reservation has not been canceled, the ticket has no value. "
US Airways General Policies

Incidentally, the best advice I received in college was from a sign taped above the computer lab help desk: R.T.F.M.

I don't get why so many people here are being total dicks about this - I've been flying for years, but I had no idea it would work this way. I've never had reason to even consider the possibility. Even if there's technically nothing wrong with what US Airways did, at least this post on Consumerist lets people like me know this is a possibility. Jesus. Lighten up, people.

Agree with @pestie.

Hang on everyone. Is this a consumer blog, or an airline apologist blog?

Yes this is the policy with many airlines, but it's not brought to people's attention, it's not common knowledge, and it's definitely not in the interest of the consumers. More, when people run into it, it's EXACTLY like above. The level of resentment and inconvenience is really hard to match.

I flew for years before I ran into it, found the documentation buried in the fine print about 3 paragraphs in. I didn't even know I was buying non-refundable tickets at the time!

The bottom line is, this is not acceptable behavior from a business. If they're going to have such a policy, they damn well better make sure it's really really obvious. They shouldn't have the policy to begin with. Heck, I even agree they should have called. Even an automated system saying "you missed your flight, your return trip has been canned," would have been quite an improvement.

It's no wonder the majority of the american airtravel industry is barely surviving when they have such complicated, inconvenient, and non-customer oriented processes.

If thats their policy then so be it, but my seat that I paid for had better be empty when the plane takes off cause I paid for it and the airline should not be able to sell it again and keep my money since my lack of performance did not cost them anything. I used to fly 36 weeks a year and have avoided USAir since they stranded me in Ithaca NY many years ago.

So it's perfectly fine for us to break their rules, but when they break their rules, we go into an uproar?

Please, if you expect them to play by the rules, you should too.

it's always been like this though. A lot of times airlines have promotions where flying A to B costs 1000, while flying A to C through B costs only 300. If you get the one stop ticket and skip the second half of the journey, they'll go back and retroactively charge you the difference. I guess it's basically saying you reneged on a contract

@Alex Morse: "Is this a consumer blog, or an airline apologist blog?" Last time I checked, it's not a dumb@$$ customer apologist blog either. Read the terms of service when you buy the ticket and if you don't like them, travel by other means. That little box you check when buying the ticket actually means something, and it's not a license to be a moron.

My parents, sister and I flew to Vegas from Philadelphia this summer and used US Airways. We bought round trip tickets and paid for non-stop flights both ways. When we showed up at McCarran to board our return flight, we found out it had been cancelled, and the next flight was in twelve hours... oh, and it wasn't a non-stop. It was a red-eye to Columbus, OH, another three hours of waiting there and then a quick jump back to Philadelphia. We'd already checked out of our hotel, so we hung around the airport.

We were frustrated, but polite. The people at the US Airways desk in McCarran gave us each meal vouchers valid anywhere in the airport and were very nice and apologetic. It was an annoying experience, but when I made a polite and reasonable complaint to US Airways customer service later that week--I missed a day of work because of the whole thing--I received $1000 in airfare vouchers that I can use anytime over the next year. Originally it was four vouchers of $250 each, in each of our four names, but when my family told me they don't intend to fly again anytime soon, the customer service folks at US Airways agreed to waive the $100 name-change fee (?!) on all the vouchers... so I can use them all (I am the big traveler of the family).

I know lots of people have US Airways horror stories, and what we went through wasn't exactly fun, but I feel they did a great job of responding to my personal complaint.

TEAPOT that's a great story but it has nothing to do with the context of this issue. Every company has wonderful stories and horror stories.

@weg1978: Good point. EVERY website has an agreement box stating "I have read blah blah blah" I don't read them either, but you're right it DOES state you agree to READ the terms.

Or if he had purchase by phone they rattle off the restrictions before confirming the flight.

So the rules AREN'T hidden away in a dusty book somewhere.

p.s. I'm sure this is stretching it - but if I make reservations at my favorite restaurant on a busy night and don't show up - why would I think they could or would accomodate me later in the evening?

So enough of the "it's in the terms of service numbskull". That explains why they wouldn't refund the ticket or let him change the date or something. Still doesn't justify not honoring the return flight. The way I see it, he paid for the outbound seat and if was empty so what, it's paid for. But the RETURN flight is also paid for, and he didn't miss it, and as long as he shows up on time, they're the ones that should be responsible for putting him in the seat or compensating him.

If I showed up late to a movie, and they wouldn't let me in to see what was left because I have to start from the beginning commercials and all, yeah I'd think I was being ripped off. I'd say try a chargeback, when that fails take them to small claims court. Ask for the selling price of the replacement ticket, not the $150 of the return ticket. It won't be worth their time to even send someone, worst that will happen is you'll be there alone, the judge still rules against you, you've lost a couple of hours and the filing fee, but keep your pride.

I still regret not being in a position to sue Bank of America for the five dollars unlawfully removed from my account without notice. Do it, it'll be therapeutic. Oh and for the airline shills, I have 50k miles in the air in 2007 and I wouldn't expect or accept this crap either.

Ok, this might be Dumb Question of the Day, but if the airline cancels the flight or if you miss an out bound connection because your flight was late does the airline then turn around and cancel your return?

@jamesdenver: My mistake, I thought this story involved a personal experience with US Airways and its customer service department, just as mine did. Previous commenters pointed out that a person often gets a better end result by being polite with customer service, and speculated that the OP might not have been... I thought my story was an example of that, as well.

sidenote: you should actually be requesting 10,000 packets, seeing as they cost $0.03 cents per package
[[consumerist.com]]

@pestie: I have flown for years (over 50,000 miles last year alone) and I have never, EVER heard of this rule. Sorry that this guy had to learn the hard way so if I have to do the same thing in the future, I will definately call ahead.

I don't see what the big deal is.....If I paid for a round trip ticket from point A to B and back, what does the airline lose if I don't show up on the A-B trip but do show up on the B-A trip? If anything, they're saving 3 cents since they don't need to give me any pretzels. I'm the only one losing out, as I'm paying for a service and not using it.