Is there a problem not using a return Avios flight?

[gw57]

I have upcoming AVIOS return flights for my wife and I and due to circumstances I will have to return a week earlier than the return flight so…

we will fly out together but my wife will fly home on her own and I will not be there to check in for my return

Will my wife encounter any problems checking in for the return with out me ?

I am not cancelling the AVIOS flights as they were booked together and as we are going to Faro in August an economy return is over £1,000

[AJA]

Did you use a companion voucher in your name? If so technically your wife would not be able to travel home on her own.

Otherwise no issue as people no show all the time.

Not sure why you don’t amend the booking and make your flight one way unless the Avios you would get back are worth less than the £35 amendment fee (assuming you’d phone to cancel)

[yonasl]

Even if you had used a companion voucher you can miss the return flight and nothing will happen to the other passenger (what stops you from checking in and simply not showing at the gate? Will they get into the plane, find the companion under the same booking and kick her out?)

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

According to Robs table a one way peak date flight to or from Faro in economy is 12,750 so £ 127.50 as the 1p per avios valuation.

So it might be worth calling BA to have the PNRs split and then cancel the return leg from your booking for the partial refund.

Or asking if there is still avios availability and then change the date of your flight home.

[gw57]

I did not use a companion voucher and my reluctance to cancel and rebook is based on the fact that I am not 100% confident that the flights would reappear as reward flights and hence be able to book as singles.

Even if I call BA they are not in control of the algorythm which would determine if the reward flights would reappear

The conclusion seems to be my wife will be okay getting the return flight alone and I will lose 21,500 AVIOS for not being able to cancel my flight home

[AndrewT]

As per BA Flyer’s post above you don’t need to cancel and rebook. Call to split the booking in to two separate PNR’s, then cancel the return half of your booking. £35 change fee for 21.5K Avios seems worth a few minutes of time.

Or better still rebook your return leg for when you want to return if there is a reward seat available that day.

[C2K77]

@Yonasi This isn’t true. Whilst OP has clarified an Amex voucher is not in play it’s not accurate and risks future, less experienced, readers being denied boarding and/or liable for new, day-of, ticket(s).

There is zero ambiguity on the named person travelling. If in this case his wife avoided the check-in desks any self service machines would require the person named on the voucher to also check-in and it would fail compliance when his passport isn’t present to be scanned. This would need staff intervention and when the voucher owner isn’t present the flight would be void and she would be required to purchase a new one. If they used the app and went straight to security they may get away with it but there would be a manifest discrepancy. If she scanned his BP and boarded then the onboard count would show a missing pax which immediately becomes a security breach and the plane would not be allowed to take off until he was found or she admitted what she’d done. As that action would have delayed the flight incurring costs to BA it’s doubtful they’d then just ignore that she is traveling on a ticket which becomes invalid without his presence. If she didn’t scan it at the gate there’d be another miscount where they’d presume the pax was late to board, check their iPad’s and identify her where she’d again have to admit he isn’t flying and again there’s likely some delay to the flight and everyone else aboard.

Yes it’s probably within certain airport based staff’s discretion to let her fly without him if she was honest and told them as soon as getting to the airport but it would be directly breaking conditions of carriage and policy which may or may not get them in trouble down the line.

The rules on use don’t soften or change just because it’s the return sector. And the compliance/ security breach SOPs are immovable meaning that if she or anyone else made it as far as boarding then YES they probably would pull her off the plane

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

gw57 wrote:

I did not use a companion voucher and my reluctance to cancel and rebook is based on the fact that I am not 100% confident that the flights would reappear as reward flights and hence be able to book as singles.

Even if I call BA they are not in control of the algorythm which would determine if the reward flights would reappear

The conclusion seems to be my wife will be okay getting the return flight alone and I will lose 21,500 AVIOS for not being able to cancel my flight home

It’s important to remember that even though you are both on the same booking you both still have separate tickets ans absent some very specific circumstances what one person does (or doesn’t do) has no effect on the other.

Splitting the booking isn’t the same as cancelling it. It just means is that you will each have your own booking confirmation code. Your ticket at that point isn’t affected save having a new booking reference.

You only then ask about cancelling the return leg. But you can check this yourself by seeing if there is availability on the outbound. If there is fine. If not then you’re no worse off. And it then also means you can keep checking to if see availability appears right up to just before the 24 hours before departure cut off for avios cancellations.

People miss flights all the time with no ill effects or retribution. What airlines are concerned about is people “skiplagging” and missing the last leg of a multi flight trip and the last leg only really tagged on to save money and even then only with people doing it multiple times. You aren’t doing this.

[Ihar]

I’ve not travelled on plenty of flights (cash and Avios). Recently when I decided to stay an extra few days and my DW and son returned home – on an Avios booking. No-one batted an eyelid. PAX don’t turn up all the time. Hence the practice of over-booking.

Personally I wouldn’t have given it a second thought, even if I’d used a 241 voucher. Obv the outbound flights are different as they will cancel the rest if a no-show.