Can I connect on one flight, but not on the other when buying a roundtrip ticket?
I'm from Ontario, Canada and going to visit my friend who lives in South Carolina this summer. She's probably going to be at a beach when I arrive (she wants me to be at the beach with her) so what we planned to do to save her gas money is for me to get a connecting flight to Charleston, SC, which is where the beach is. But after a few days, she is going to drive back to the city she lives in and we're going to spend the rest of our time there. While looking at the plane tickets online, a lot of the flights to Charleston connect in Charlotte, NC, and her hometown is actually closer to Charlotte. So would it work if on the way there I connected and went to Charleston, but on the way back didn't connect and just flew directly from Charlotte back to Toronto where I live? I could always buy 2 separate tickets but that is more expensive and if my friend just drove to Charlotte for me to fly home then I still have a ticket I paid for, I don't see the difference. Would this not be allowed or would my flight not be valid, or could I do this?
Other - Destinations - 2 Answers
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1 :
Check with the airline. They probably won't let you check in at Charlotte on the return trip unless you pay a fee for changing your booking. However you might be able to buy an "open jaw" ticket that covers your journey and is cheaper than 2 separate tickets.
2 :
PQR Theorist is right. If you miss the first flight, the airline will cancel the remaining leg of the flight. People used to do this to take advantage of cheaper fares to take advantage of some special rates on flights. To book an open jaw ticket, you use the multiple destinations choice rather than round-trip or one-way. Multiple destinations is the name on Expedia http://www.expedia.com/default.asp ; Kayak http://www.kayak.com/flights calls the option Multi-city - other sites may have other names, but it's a common option. In any event, this allows you to set up a single booking to fly from Toronto to Charleston and then from Charlotte to Toronto.
