Out of Sequence Flights

[sweens]

Can anyone advise if this is normal?

Last week I was due to fly SYD-HKG-TPE-HKG-SYD...I flew up on QF & was due to do the HKG-TPE legs with CX. I am a WP FF with QF.

In HK I met up with our company owner who invited me to fly to TPE in his private jet...very nice. I had to make my own way back to HK then SYD.

The day before I was due to leave TPE I rang CX just to confirm my seat back to HK...I did this as my travel agent suggested that I should always do this if I miss a leg of a flight...in this case HGK-TPE.

I was confirmed on the flight....the next day about an hour prior to leaving the hotel in TPE I had a call from CX saying BIG PROBLEMS. AS I did not take the CX flight leg HKG_TPE I was flying out of sequence and both my TPE-HKG & HGK-SYD flights had been cancelled...after much debate I got onto my Australian Travel Agent and let her talk to CX & QF...at the airport CX allowed me to fly to HK as a "good will gesture" but would not issue me with a HK-SYD boarding pass.

By the time I arrived in HK my agent had got through to QF & I was given my HKG-SYD boarding pass without any issue.

The question here is:
Is this normal & if it is, if I am invited on our owners jet again, hopefully I will be, how do I get around this issue of missing a leg and then being out of sequence.

 

[NM]

Yes, this is normal. Once you miss a flight on a multi-segment ticket, you cannot skip it and take the next one. All subsequent segments are normally cancelled in this situation.

This is to stop people rorting the systems when it can be cheaper to purchase a ticket with specific routing and then choosing not to fly some of those sectors. For example, in the USA and in Europe especially, it can be a lot cheaper to purchase a ticket to a point beyond your destination than to a major hub, such as LAX-DFW-AUS-DFW-LAX may be a lot cheaper. So people would like to purchase the through fare and skip the DFW-AUS-DFW.

Or in some cases like your it is cheaper to purchase a return fare rather than a series of one-way fares or an open-jaw itinerary. So someone may want to pay for the cheaper return ticket and no fly some of the segments.

I know that was not your intention and in fact you have probably paid more the ticket than if you had just purchased what you wanted to fly. But that is the way the airlines operate.

 

[sweens]

Thanks NM...it appears that one should be careful about accepting free rides on private jets!

 

[NM]

Thanks NM...it appears that one should be careful about accepting free rides on private jets!

Indeed it is an unfortunate side effect of the boss' generosity. But I bet the flight was good!

 

[sweens]

Yes a great experience...but what a hassle it caused.

There has got to be a way around this when it in genuine.

 

[NM]

Yes a great experience...but what a hassle it caused.

There has got to be a way around this when it in genuine.

About the only ways around would be:

• ask the boss for a return private jet experience
• purchase a one-way ticket back to the point where you can continue your original itinerary