Clarity please on not catching the last leg of flight

littlereddevil

Although I have flown loads,I have never not caught the last leg.
Now with all the offers from different airports I have booked a couple for this year.
First is in April, Dublin to Miami. BA.
I booked connecting flights to Dublin, sorted. Only Aer Lingus have now changed the time of my return flight by 3.5 hours so I miss it.
Only one flight a day. My alternative, if I manage with hand luggage,
is to exit at LHR. Problem is I would have to buy a flight from LHR to ABZ with BA, so when I go to checkin and they scan my passport will it come up and show that I am already checked in on a BA flight to Dublin?
My only other alternative is fly to Dublin as planned, fly back on the same flight , then onwards to ABZ.
Any advice on this please?
Thankyou

Moto2

I can't see it being a problem
Besides if you're hand luggage only there's no need to go to check-in

eDicky

littlereddevil wrote: »

My alternative, if I manage with hand luggage,
is to exit at LHR. Problem is I would have to buy a flight from LHR to ABZ with BA, so when I go to checkin and they scan my passport will it come up and show that I am already checked in on a BA flight to Dublin?

An interesting question.

Check in online, handluggage only? Passport still scanned at the gate...

Or declare your 'sudden' change of plan in Miami with new BA onward flight in place of last leg - but a decent priced LHR-ABZ booking made now would look strange.

To avoid possible complications, depending on timings you could fly LCY-ABZ on Flybe for £45. 09:35 or 19:20 departures.

Or Easyjet from LGW or LTN... etc.

Pincher

Is this the BA ticket?


Outward: Dublin > Heathrow > Miami


Inbound: Miami > Heathrow > Dublin


With really cheap tickets, there is something called tariff abuse, which is when people use the legs they need, and not use the rest, and that is precisely what they don't allow.


Check that if you don't complete the journey, they will not retroactively charge full price for the legs you do use.


With a flexible regular price ticket, you can just say I want to fly Miami to Heathrow, please check my luggage to Heathrow. Alas, I think you have a cheap deal there that is not flexible.


Since Aer Lingus was at fault for changing the return flight schedule, they should move you to the flight next day. If you are really good at complaining, they might even give you a free night in a hotel.


If you have to spend money on a hotel, you could get a Dublin to Edinburgh (or Glasgow) flight, then train or bus to Aberdeen, instead.


These complicated itineraries are a nightmare.
The Ryanair type flights typically have lower luggage allowance as well, so adding the connecting flight creates its own problem.

SW17

littlereddevil wrote: »

My alternative, if I manage with hand luggage,
is to exit at LHR. Problem is I would have to buy a flight from LHR to ABZ with BA, so when I go to checkin and they scan my passport will it come up and show that I am already checked in on a BA flight to Dublin?
My only other alternative is fly to Dublin as planned, fly back on the same flight , then onwards to ABZ.
Any advice on this please?
Thankyou

If you check in online for LHR-ABZ, they won't see your passport until you get to the gate, and you don't actually need to show a passport for BA domestic flights in the UK (technically no photo ID at all, people have been known to use frequent flier cards as ID, though photo driving licence might be advisable, if you have one).

You will be declared a no-show for the LHR-DUB flight if your boarding pass for that flight has not been scanned at flight connections or departures security at least 35 mins prior to departure. I doubt BA will make any connection between the 2 bookings at that stage.

You could fly to Dublin and back, though back-to-back in Dublin is not for the faint-hearted, you will most likely have to come through immigration and then back through departures security again. It's doable (many people, including me, have done it), but it can be tight if there is a queue at immigration or a zoo in security. I would want to be seated right at the front of the incoming flight.

In theory BA could reprice your whole ticket, but they haven't shown any appetite (yet) for going after the travelling public on this. If you are not a serial offender with dropping last legs, there is unlikely to be any comeback from your doing this once, though only with hand luggage, of course.

eDicky wrote: »

An interesting question.

Check in online, handluggage only? Passport still scanned at the gate...

Or declare your 'sudden' change of plan in Miami with new BA onward flight in place of last leg - but a decent priced LHR-ABZ booking made now would look strange.

As mentioned above, passport not needed for the domestic. Not sure exactly what you meant by the change of plan in MIA, but I wouldn't recommend telling BA that you want to change LHR-DUB to LHR-ABZ, if they allowed it at all, it would only be for a repriced ticket, which would almost certainly be a lot more expensive. Better not to tell them at all if doing this.

Pincher wrote: »

Is this the BA ticket?

Outward: Dublin > Heathrow > Miami

Inbound: Miami > Heathrow > Dublin

With really cheap tickets, there is something called tariff abuse, which is when people use the legs they need, and not use the rest, and that is precisely what they don't allow.

Check that if you don't complete the journey, they will not retroactively charge full price for the legs you do use.

Wouldn't recommend checking with them as to whether they would charge full price, the answer would almost certainly be Yes, even if they didn't actually do it in the end. Their T&Cs say you have to fly all the sectors.

There are quite a few rumours/anecdotes about BA clamping down on dropping the final legs of trips booked with a non-UK start/end, though the only hard evidence I've heard to date is regarding hitting certain travel agents who have sold such tickets with large ADMs, rather than the passengers themselves (despite having many direct booking passengers doing the same thing). Travel agents are a much softer target for BA, though they could get to the end consumers in the end too. There have been some stories of BA Exec Club account being audited for serial offenders, which is a real threat if you have status and/or a load of Avios in the BA account.

agrinnall

Could you fly to Dublin as planned and then fly to Edinburgh or Glasgow and get the train to Aberdeen?

eDicky

SW17 wrote: »

Not sure exactly what you meant by the change of plan in MIA, but I wouldn't recommend telling BA that you want to change LHR-DUB to LHR-ABZ, if they allowed it at all, it would only be for a repriced ticket, which would almost certainly be a lot more expensive. Better not to tell them at all if doing this.

My idea was when checking in ( or before) at MIA, to explain change of plan and show new separate booking LHR-ABZ on BA, so last leg LHR-DUB no-show is avoided and replaced by the new flight, enabling check in with luggage also, only to LHR or perhaps even onward to ABZ included. But their reaction is uncertain..? Might be worth enquiring beforehand..?

jpsartre

eDicky wrote: »

My idea was when checking in ( or before) at MIA, to explain change of plan and show new separate booking LHR-ABZ on BA, so last leg LHR-DUB no-show is avoided and replaced by the new flight, enabling check in with luggage also, only to LHR or perhaps even onward to ABZ included. But their reaction is uncertain..? Might be worth enquiring beforehand..?

They are unlikely to agree to short-check your bag to LHR or to a different destination. If you enquire beforehand they will probably ask you to pay to change your ticket. They won't let you cancel the flight to DUB without penalty. Your best bet is to fly handluggage only and abort your trip at LHR. The BA systems won't pick up that you have a seperate booking to ABZ.

littlereddevil

You could fly to Dublin and back, though back-to-back in Dublin is not for the faint-hearted, you will most likely have to come through immigration and then back through departures security again. It's doable (many people, including me, have done it), but it can be tight if there is a queue at immigration or a zoo in security. I would want to be seated right at the front of the incoming flight.



I would have 55mins btob?
i would be at the front as club.
Maybe safer to book the next one 1hr15 mins after that one?
Maybe best to abort my idea of getting off at LHR !

Moto2

Jeez, this sounds way over complicated from some posters

KISS

littlereddevil

agrinnall wrote: »

Could you fly to Dublin as planned and then fly to Edinburgh or Glasgow and get the train to Aberdeen?



I could but it would take longer than flying back to LHR and on to ABZ