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In the last few years I’ve twice booked US flights out of Europe in Business to take advantage of them being much cheaper. Each time on the return leg I have booked USA to LHR, then LGW to wherever my starting place was, and collected my luggage and just skipped the last leg. Albeit one time was due to a work issue meaning I needed to stay longer in London, not that it really matters.
Weirdly both times I’ve still had the TP’s and Avios for that last flight show up on my account.
Am about to book some flights and can save £2k by doing it this way again.
Is this likely to raise a flag on my account and potentially cause me issues further down the line?
If BA follow the lead of many US airlines, yes it will.
Lots of noise/news in the US re “skip lagging”. Run that term in a search engine and read various US news sites and make your own informed decision.
If you do it too often yes it will.
But just book to end the trip in London. Won’t get the same savings though.
The TPs and avios for unflown legs still credited ?!
The TPs and avios for unflown legs still credited ?!
Yeh I know, weird right?
If you do it too often yes it will.
But just book to end the trip in London. Won’t get the same savings though.
What do we think ‘too often’ is?!
Part of this is how many other flights which you fly like normal passengers do, do you book across any time periods concerned, with this airline.
People can and do encounter change of circumstances when travelling but it would normally be a very low percentage of the overall flights they actually do.
I’ve also delayed the last leg for months when making the booking with the intention of using it as the positioning flight for a new trip. It may cost very little more.
Part of this is how many other flights which you fly like normal passengers do, do you book across any time periods concerned, with this airline.
People can and do encounter change of circumstances when travelling but it would normally be a very low percentage of the overall flights they actually do.
I’ve also delayed the last leg for months when making the booking with the intention of using it as the positioning flight for a new trip. It may cost very little more.
Good points, this year probably 10 flights with the airline, been building my status with SkyTeam so have put more through Virgin. Good note on delaying the last leg, although I think that’ll incur APD
I’d always approach the US news with a grain of salt. Granted, it was an issue in the US and most airlines “fixed” their pricing algorithms, I believe that, the worst that can happen here in the short term is that they read this and fix their pricing to prevent it.
If the TPs credited then BA probably thinks you took the flight, so no need to worry.
There’s a long thread on FT about an OTA who BA went after for a 6-figure sum for selling these types on itineraries!
Good note on delaying the last leg, although I think that’ll incur APD
You’re saving two grand so a few quid on APD is a drop in the ocean.
There’s a long thread on FT about an OTA who BA went after for a 6-figure sum for selling these types on itineraries!
There is no issue with a TA selling ex-EU tickets. BA sells them itself.
The issue is when people deliberately drop the last leg even after assuring the agent that they would complete the trip as booked.
Just don’t do it too often.
Although, there are plenty of people out there who are looking at the considerable delays and broken connections with BA short haul on the inbound that they are understandably giving up and heading to Euston or Kings Cross (or even St Pancras) and grabbing the first train available.
I’d always approach the US news with a grain of salt. Granted, it was an issue in the US and most airlines “fixed” their pricing algorithms, I believe that, the worst that can happen here in the short term is that they read this and fix their pricing to prevent it.
I don’t think that’s a very accurate analysis!
US airlines (and Air Canada) haven’t “fixed” their pricing at all – it suits them just as it is, but they will actively pursue agents and passengers who abuse tickets or fare rules (eg skiplagging or nesting) and they have much more explicit terms than European airlines to enforce the tariff rules by either charging the difference on the spot or after the event, removing miles/tier point equivalents or just shutting down mileage accounts.
In terms of “fixing” the pricing/algorithms in the UK vs EU, that also won’t happen – the differential between ex-London and ex-EU prices has persisted for over forty years to my certain knowledge. BA is very alert to the issue and strikes back from time to time vs agents and passengers. Domestic sectors are less of an issue than unflown European ones.
The simple answer is to just fly the last leg. I usually do City to Dublin. I get my case back at Heathrow if I checked luggage, go home, have a shower, and then head off to City to do a quick Dublin and back. No hardship and usually the additional TP are needed. I do miss the days of the simple B2B at Dublin, but nothing lasts.
The US problem has definitely not gone away, and they can’t fix the pricing as they’re priced that way for a reason. The people they’ve gone after have typically been abusing it on a large scale, 50+ flights to Austin for example whilst always leaving at DFW.
Again, BA has struck back against at least one travel agent, so if you’re doing this book directly with BA. It might have struck back against a passenger or passengers 40 years ago that JDB knows about, but there has been no news recently. US Airlines are hotter on acting against it, but BA isn’t a US airline, even if it wishes it was. As an example, BA have absolutely no problem with nested tickets, but as you say US airlines don’t like that either.
If you are doing it regularly there is a chance that BA might act against you, but that chance is fairly low at present – change is possible though.
The advice to book the last leg off into the future and have a weekend away (or use it to position for your next ex-EU) is a good one, but occasionally dropping the last leg isn’t going to cause a problem for you at present.
Don’t count in getting the tier points for missed legs though!
Once you see people complaining about being charged extra or losing BA accounts or TPs/miles on Flyertalk then would be the time to reconsider. I suspect BA would be on sticky ground under UK/EU261 though denying boarding if you don’t pay more money at checkin, if your flight has been ticketed. Again, here is not the USA.
The simple answer is to just fly the last leg.
Indeed if you’re not prepared to fly as booked then don’t book that as part of trip
You can start ex-EU and properly end the trip in LON it’s just that the savings aren’t as good so you make the choice that suits you.
Or you can book the last leg and repositioning back to be a date in the future. Again the saving aren’t a great but at least you keep yourself honest and collect the avios and TPs
@Matt the forty years reference was about the big gap between ex-EU prices and ex-London prices that the OP suggested might somehow be fixed suggesting it was somehow recent. As it happens, some captains of industry were stopped at First and Concorde check-in about forty years ago for having ex-EU (or whatever it was called then) paper tickets with an unflown first sector and was in the newspapers as intended and planned by BA as an effective method of curtailing or at least limiting the practice. I was tangentially involved then and remain so.
More relevantly however, people are getting caught today with various types of fare/ticket abuse and the fact that you don’t read about it on FT or here means nothing. The fact is people, even the cockiest ones, are incredibly sheepish about announcing they have been caught out on this in exactly the same way as we read about incredibly few people having their Amex accounts shut down vs those actually closed.
The bottom line is that if you breach the terms or fare rules, there is a risk of consequences. It’s probably not a very high risk, especially if only done occasionally but it’s a risk and there’s nothing to stop BA or anything other European airline having a blitz if they felt it was getting excessive. For revenue recognition purposes, airlines are very aware of unused coupons. The structure of fares within Europe (vs US/Canada) makes BA less bothered by nesting.
If you are doing this once a year it will not cause any issues. It only becomes a problem if you buy tickets through an agent of will be doing it regularly.
As a long term user of ex EU and BA gold card holder as a result, I have never had an issue. Sometimes I fly the last leg, sometimes I get caught in traffic and I have been ill!
In April however I encountered an issue with my bags for the very first time with AA refusing to check bag only to LHR, even though I had 22 hours and an overnight stay. There was no point in arguing the point in LAX as it was an automaton shift, but remarkably in T3 I did get it back within about 20 minutes. Going forward I will book LGW or LCY to force delivery of bags in LHR
Yes being discussed on FT in regard short checking. Has been pointed out there’s no publicly available policy on this and with AA you’re at the mercy of the checkin agent, even with an overnight at LHR. Most agents will short check with an overnight, but they certainly won’t all do this. You take your chances.
The bigger issue is why doesn’t the EU regulate against this sort of pricing in the first place. It’s crazy that so many short intra-Europe flights are taken entirely because of these pricing structures. It’s incredibly inefficient economically and environmentally damaging that at this very moment someone is flying from London to Amsterdam to get on a flight to New York and someone else is flying from Amsterdam to London to get on a flight to New York. Madness! I fully understand why it is so, but it’s a complete waste of the passengers’ time, the airlines’ money and the environment and I’m sure some smart regulation could cut it out!
The bigger issue is why doesn’t the EU regulate against this sort of pricing in the first place. It’s crazy that so many short intra-Europe flights are taken entirely because of these pricing structures. It’s incredibly inefficient economically and environmentally damaging that at this very moment someone is flying from London to Amsterdam to get on a flight to New York and someone else is flying from Amsterdam to London to get on a flight to New York. Madness! I fully understand why it is so, but it’s a complete waste of the passengers’ time, the airlines’ money and the environment and I’m sure some smart regulation could cut it out!
The smart regulation would lead to higher prices and less consumer choice. As an example of that, try going shopping for Bisto in England at 5pm today. Your nearest major supermarket will have closed at 4pm. So you’ll go to a convenience store and find you have to buy Bisto beef granules when you wanted Bisto Best chicken granules. And you’ll pay far more than at your supermarket. The less governments interfere with consumer markets, the better.
The smart regulation would lead to higher prices and less consumer choice.
This is utter guff. Totally unregulated markets tend to monopolies, which are terrible for consumers. Some regulation is essential. In this case it would reduce the overall cost to suppliers and as long as competition is present those savings would flow to consumers.
Doesn’t BA create some of the problem itself by providing more 241 flight availability from the Regions compared to direct from LHR /LGW ?
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