Airlines forecast these possibilities. You're called a "no-show" on the return leg. It's standard and happens all the time. Don't worry about it.
Uhh, no? Why would an airline be angry at you for not showing up for the return flight? Empty seats don't hurt them in any way whatsoever. They forecast no-show demand (people who don't show up) anyway, so there's a forecast out there for people like the thread creator. These forecasts are used to overbook flights. Airlines love overbooking, and a no-show helps prevent denied boardings. What's really alarming is that their round trip fare is cheaper. Some flight analyst screwed up. It's not Continental, is it?
Major airlines invariably charge more for one way than round trip (in so much that the one way fare is more than 1/2 of the round trip). I just did a quick search on a round trip flight from MSP to IAH for 03/09 - 03/16 and the cost is $235. A one way fare on Delta for 03/09 is over $600.
The one-way should be more than half the round trip. But for the whole round trip to be less than a one-way perplexes me. I'll have to ask around and see why that is... I just work on the software, but don't know the business reasons for such things too much.
Hmm, thinking about it more, it may be possible that the demand for the return trip is very low, so the airline is trying to sell seats for it by making the round trip fares lower. Airline revenue management is crazy like that.
Huh, this is weird. I asked my mom about a few things (she's a flight analyst) and it turns out that you are actually contractually obligated to show up for the return trip if you buy a round trip fare (it's probably in the fine print somewhere). I'm not sure what's stopping you from making up some excuse as to why you can't show up, though. The one-way flights are sometimes cheaper depending on the time of day and the carrier. There could be high demand for an earlier flight, driving the price up, and less demand on a later flight, driving the price down (and subsequently the round trip). There are some other things like advanced purchase that can drive a price up/down, too. For the same exact flight number with the same departure time on the same carrier, however, the round trip fare will never be cheaper than the 1-way fare. Anyway, the first point addresses your concern.
I flew to Syracuse for the holidays, bought a round trip ticket. While in NY some of my friends family asked if I would drive back to Houston with them to help them with the drive. I called Continental and asked if I needed to do anything. They told me I could cancel on the phone or just not show up, my choice. Decided not to officially cancel just in case my plans changed again at the last moment...so I just didn't show up.
lol you must fly United or US Airways all the time lol. And as far as checking in online and not showing up. Trust me, when people do this to our flight, I have no problem closing that door 10 mins before flight time. Since you where supposed to be in boarding area 20 mins prior to depature. The fact of the matter is this, if you follow the rules. Then you will be happy and comfortable. Show up 5 mins before last check in and expect that middle seat. Show up 1 min after last check in and expect to get denied. Its not the airlines fault YOU cant get to the airport on time. Traveling is so easy, but 90% of people dont bring there brains with them when they travel. Buy the round trip, call the airline and tell them you arent taking the return. Problem solved.
