BA - change / cancel return leg flight

lozbish

Hi,

I bought a British Airways return flight between London and Dubai (I live in Dubai). I used the London - Dubai part in June 2014 and the Dubai - London part is booked for the end of January 2015.

I've just got a new job starting beginning of January so think it's unlikely I can travel back to the UK so soon after starting. I don't have plans to go back until August for a few weddings but that is more than 365 days after the first flight so it won't let me change it.

If I cancel I assume that I only get the taxes back but no idea how much this would be as you have to commit on Manage My Booking without it telling you the amount.

Anyone know if there is any way round the 365 day rule (I have to pay GBP 100 to change the flight anyway)? Or if you can find out beforehand how much you would get back if you cancelled?

Thanks!

Caz3121

lozbish wrote: »

Hi,

I bought a British Airways return flight between London and Dubai (I live in Dubai). I used the London - Dubai part in June 2014 and the Dubai - London part is booked for the end of January 2015.

I've just got a new job starting beginning of January so think it's unlikely I can travel back to the UK so soon after starting. I don't have plans to go back until August for a few weddings but that is more than 365 days after the first flight so it won't let me change it.

If I cancel I assume that I only get the taxes back but no idea how much this would be as you have to commit on Manage My Booking without it telling you the amount.
I would not assume that at all. It is very likely that the ticket you bought as a return was much cheaper than a one what ticket from London to Dubai, looking at random dates a return is £546 and a one-way ticket is £1,290. By contacting the airline to cancel the return portion, you are making a return into a single and they can reprice as such and ask you to pay the difference (the advice normally when not using the return half is to keep quiet and forget about it - the refundable taxes would be minimal)

Anyone know if there is any way round the 365 day rule (I have to pay GBP 100 to change the flight anyway)? Or if you can find out beforehand how much you would get back if you cancelled?

Thanks!

Not aware of any way round the 365 day rule and unless the price you paid for your ticket was more than £1,290 there is nothing to be refunded.
In case your ticket was higher, a dummy booking shows the tax breakdown
of the £341 taxes and fees on a return economy ticket
£213 carrier imposed surcharge (not refundable)
£71 APD (was applicable to outbound flight so "used")
£42.06 UK PSC will also have been used
...so around £13 that may be refundable

lozbish

Ah OK, so it may just be worth not turning up for travel then? Any penalties for that?

I will try and find other ways to use it before June 2015 but wanted to know what worse case scenario would be if I can't so your reply is really helpful, thank you!

Caz3121

lozbish wrote: »

Ah OK, so it may just be worth not turning up for travel then? Any penalties for that?

strictly by the ticket rules they "could" reprice the ticket if you skip the return. There have been a couple of cases of people being contacted for repeatedly missing a final leg (10 times in a year?) but as a one-off there should be no issues