Need to cancel one outward bound flight for one passenger out of 3 on return booking - SIA says no

[Warks]

So the story is back in October booked SYD-SIN-CPH return with Singapore on the cheapest fare available. Fast forward some months and one of the pax has to be in Europe some weeks earlier so no longer needs the outward bound flight to CPH. But will return to Australia at the same time as originally planned. I know that I need to cancel the outward bound flight to ensure the entire ticket doesn't get cancelled due to a no-show for the initial flight and don't expect any refund on that leg.
I've called SIA and have struggled to make clear what I am trying to do. The phone operator just kept saying that the passenger "needs to make that flight or it will be a big loss". There's zero point in spending money to come back to Australia just to fly back to Europe of course.

From what I can gather from their response, I can't cancel the outward bound leg without cancelling the whole return flight. But is this carved in stone or can I escalate it to the supervisor level and get some satisfaction? Or am I doomed to just lose the whole ticket and should look at buying another one?
I am a cheap flyer, generally speaking but avoid the Jetstars and Easyjets of the world, and have never had issues before with cheaper flights from the better airlines.

 

[Quickstatus]

@Warks
Can you please confirm what type of far you bought - is it economy lite?
Im assuming the entire travel itinerary is on one ticket as well
What will be the new itinerary?
Also are all passengers on the one booking?

If the above is true then unfortunately a cancellation of one sector will cause the rest of the ticket to be invalidated - its not a matter of just taking one sector out
it is likely there will be cancellation fees or at least change fees depending on the type of fare and what the new itinerary is + repurchasing a ticket for the new itinerary.

 

[JohnK]

That is correct, it's not just SQ as you'd get the same answer on QF or any legacy carrier.

Cannot cancel the outbound leg as that would make it a one-way flight.

 

[AIRwin]

Try splitting the passenger out to a separate PNR first?

 

[Quickstatus]

Cannot cancel the outbound leg as that would make it a one-way flight.

Which then triggers a repricing.
Unless bookings are one ways on separate tickets or Frequent flyer redemptions, there is no really no way around this

 

[Warks]

It is the lite ticket.
So does there is the possibility of all three tickets being cancelled? They are all return tickets on the one booking.
They can't cancel our outward bound flights at this stage as the third passenger would just be a no-show but could that cancel our returns?
This is an issue I have never encountered before but then again I've never had to attempt this before.
(thanks for the responses so far)

 

[Quickstatus]

They are all return tickets on the one booking.

Generally wont affect the other travellers. For example if one member of a travelling party gets sick, it does not automatically cause everyone's ticket to be invalidated.
Unfortunately as it is a lite ticket, cancellations and changes are not allowed including removing one sector from the booking.
Economy lite = "use it or lose it"

I would still ask the passenger in question (not you) needs to call SQ to request that he/she be "moved into a separate PNR" (using these exact words when speaking with SQ) as suggested above by @AIRwin . This should not be an issue for SQ to do unless the passenger is a minor.

What is the new itinerary of the said passenger and how is it different to the existing one?

 

[serfty]

Ok first the passenger in question (not you) needs to call SQ to request that he/she be moved into a separate booking PNR as suggested above by @AIRwin . This should not be a problem unless the passenger is a minor.

What is the new itinerary of the said passenger and how is it different to the existing one

Agreed, @Warks can you get the bookings split?

 

[Warks]

Generally wont affect the other travellers. For example if one member of a travelling party gets sick, it does not automatically cause everyone's ticket to be invalidated.
Unfortunately as it is a lite ticket, cancellations and changes are not allowed including removing one sector from the booking.
Economy lite = "use it or lose it"

I would still ask the passenger in question (not you) needs to call SQ to request that he/she be "moved into a separate PNR" (using these exact words when speaking with SQ) as suggested above by @AIRwin . This should not be an issue for SQ to do unless the passenger is a minor.

What is the new itinerary of the said passenger and how is it different to the existing one?

The passenger (not a minor) went to Europe for work on a one way ticket (with another airline) two weeks ago. It was completely unforeseen so nothing I could have done. I will investigate this option, thank you.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

As others have said, split the booking, carving out the person who has already flown.

Nothing you can do with the ticket of the person who has flown already, but don’t be too hasty to cancel. Depending on the fare there may be no advantage in cancelling if you are going to forfeit it anyway… and you never know, the flight could be cancelled or delayed on the day of departure and you’d get a refund!

This actually happened to a friend of mine on an SQ lite fare… work meant they couldn’t use the ticket. They didn’t cancel and SQ later announced a schedule change. My friend said that wasn’t any good and they got a full refund!

 

[Quickstatus]

there may be no advantage in cancelling

Great point. As it's a use it or lose it, there is no advantage to cancelling. Anything can happen up until departure date.

 

[Warks]

Thanks to everyone for their help. Will advise how I go.

 

[Warks]

Okay so second time lucky - I managed call again to get the bad news about the total loss of the fare but was able to split the dead fare off to a separate booking number to avoid complications. The operator seemed to say we'd have issues with our tickets if there was a no-show for the third ticket so we didn't need that. It was simple enough and done in a few minutes without any input from our third passenger - I was worried I'd have to get her to call but she's in Europe already.
Then went looking for a one-way ticket CPH-SIN-SYD and got one on our flights for about $1100. So enough out of pocket to have afforded a bit higher class of fare. Love wasting money.
It's odd they won't cancel the fare so they can re-sell the seat though. Would be nice if the empty seat stays next to us.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Okay so second time lucky - I managed call again to get the bad news about the total loss of the fare but was able to split the dead fare off to a separate booking number to avoid complications. The operator seemed to say we'd have issues with our tickets if there was a no-show for the third ticket so we didn't need that. It was simple enough and done in a few minutes without any input from our third passenger - I was worried I'd have to get her to call but she's in Europe already.
Then went looking for a one-way ticket CPH-SIN-SYD and got one on our flights for about $1100. So enough out of pocket to have afforded a bit higher class of fare. Love wasting money.
It's odd they won't cancel the fare so they can re-sell the seat though. Would be nice if the empty seat stays next to us.

The ticket split off has or hasn’t been cancelled? I would not have cancelled it.

In any event, once checkin closes it will be cancelled anyway as a no show. Having a spare seat might stick, but could also be filled by staff.

 

[Warks]

Just on this again. The flight that I had separated out is still active (not cancelled). Some here have advised to retain it rather than cancel it because if something happens to the flight I might get a refund or something like that. But Mrs Warks seems to insist that no-shows incur some sort of 'fine' from the airline. I didn't think that was true and wondering how they'd levy it anyway.
If we kept the ticket we could also ensure an empty seat next to us for the first flight at least couldn't we? I assume the no-show would knock out the rest of the flights though.
Edit - I just noticed the reply above after I refreshed the page. Thanks.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Just on this again. The flight that I had separated out is still active (not cancelled). Some here have advised to retain it rather than cancel it because if something happens to the flight I might get a refund or something like that. But Mrs Warks seems to insist that no-shows incur some sort of 'fine' from the airline. I didn't think that was true and wondering how they'd levy it anyway.
If we kept the ticket we could also ensure an empty seat next to us for the first flight at least couldn't we? I assume the no-show would knock out the rest of the flights though.
Edit - I just noticed the reply above after I refreshed the page. Thanks.

The no show fee usually only applies if you (a) no show (obviously!) and (b) want to use the remaining ticket as credit towards another flight. In these cases they would deduct the no show fee and the balance of the ticket is available towards another flight.

If you forfeit the entire ticket anyway, there is no ‘no show’ fee in addition. (I suppose there could be exceptions to this for cases like throw-away ticketing, or hidden city ticketing where the airline might want to go after you… but in ordinary circumstances you just lose the fare.)

 

[Warks]

The no show fee usually only applies if you (a) no show (obviously!) and (b) want to use the remaining ticket as credit towards another flight. In these cases they would deduct the no show fee and the balance of the ticket is available towards another flight.

If you forfeit the entire ticket anyway, there is no ‘no show’ fee in addition. (I suppose there could be exceptions to this for cases like throw-away ticketing, or hidden city ticketing where the airline might want to go after you… but in ordinary circumstances you just lose the fare.)

Thanks!

 

[Quickstatus]

It's odd they won't cancel the fare so they can re-sell the seat though.

They have already sold the ticket and pocketed the $$$. The also know that they can resell it if the ticket is not used.

 

[Warks]

They have already sold the ticket and pocketed the $$$. The also know that they can resell it if the ticket is not used.

So they won't be able to resell the first leg as that will only cancel with the no-show but after that they probably can and will I guess.