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[qrypt]

I am trying to arrange a flight from London to Buffalo in August for my wife.  This is a notoriously expensive destination; tickets below £700 are not abundant. 

Using Kayak, I've see a flight for £652, which goes London-Toronto-Chicago-Buffalo.  I could just collect her in Toronto -- but would there be difficulties with the return portion of her ticket if she doesn't get on the Toronto-Chicago-Buffalo portion of her outbound itinerary? 

The obvious solution would be to buy a ticket with Toronto as the destination -- but that is *more* expensive (at least £700), and I'd prefer not to have to drive again to Toronto for her return trip (which goes Buffalo-Dulles-London). 

So, again, when someone fails to make a connection on an outbound trip, does the airline then cause difficulties for the return portion of the reservation?

[_touchedbyanoodle_]

She will need to board from Buffalo for the return trip, but the airline cannot "do anything" to her for skipping out on the last legs of her other flight. I use this method frequently and, once, out of courtesy, I decided to tell the agent at the gate for the next leg that I wouldn't be boarding. The banshee started screeching at me about how I should have been charged for the more expensive ticket.

They're all morons.

People miss connections all the time. Airlines don't give a s***. Don't bother to tell any idiots at the boarding gates.

[goldenapple]

If she doesn't complete her outbound trip, the airline can cancel the rest of her itinerary. She may not have a return reservation at all.

[larryc]

If she doesn't complete her outbound trip, the airline can cancel the rest of her itinerary. She may not have a return reservation at all.

I have heard this as well, but haven't tested it.

[wet_blanket]

If she doesn't complete her outbound trip, the airline can cancel the rest of her itinerary. She may not have a return reservation at all.

I have heard this as well, but haven't tested it.

Me too. I think I've heard of actual cases of it happening.

And, of course, if she has checked baggage, she can't get it at Toronto.

[peppergal]

Might there also be customs/immigration issues with buying a ticket to the US but getting off the plane in Canada?

[scotia]

If she doesn't complete her outbound trip, the airline can cancel the rest of her itinerary. She may not have a return reservation at all.

I have seen the airline do this once, and had another colleague report it had happened to him. I was with a guy on his way home from a conference who had to pay the full single fare rate to get from Toronto to London. He had bought a return ticket from London to Toronto via JFK, but had only used the outward portion of his ticket as far as JFK so he could enjoy a few days driving through New York state en route to the conference. When he tried to check-in at Toronto on the return flight he was told he had voided the ticket by not continuing to Toronto. The cost of the single fare to get home was more than twice the original return ticket price. The second guy hadn't used the outward leg a flight to Copenhagen and found his return trip had been cancelled by the airline.

[qrypt]

If she doesn't complete her outbound trip, the airline can cancel the rest of her itinerary. She may not have a return reservation at all.

I have seen the airline do this once, and had another colleague report it had happened to him. I was with a guy on his way home from a conference who had to pay the full single fare rate to get from Toronto to London. He had bought a return ticket from London to Toronto via JFK, but had only used the outward portion of his ticket as far as JFK so he could enjoy a few days driving through New York state en route to the conference. When he tried to check-in at Toronto on the return flight he was told he had voided the ticket by not continuing to Toronto. The cost of the single fare to get home was more than twice the original return ticket price. The second guy hadn't used the outward leg a flight to Copenhagen and found his return trip had been cancelled by the airline.

<sigh>

Perhaps some day it will work to do this on the return portion of an itinerary.

[madhatter]

Yes, the remaining portion of the itinerary will be cancelled. It's not like the airlines haven't figured this out.

[bookishone]

Why do they often make it more expensive to go fewer legs? I never understand this.

[concordancia]

If she doesn't complete her outbound trip, the airline can cancel the rest of her itinerary. She may not have a return reservation at all.

I have heard this as well, but haven't tested it.

I was told this by the airlines themselves, on more than one occasion.

[finallydone]

Why do they often make it more expensive to go fewer legs? I never understand this.

The difference in fares has nothing to do with the legs but what your time and convenience are worth to you.  Higher fare = less travel time, fewer changes and more convenience.  More changes, more travel time, more inconvenient = cheaper fare.  What's your threshold for price versus convenience?  This will vary by consumer and purpose of the flight. 

[concordancia]

Why do they often make it more expensive to go fewer legs? I never understand this.

They are trying to fill up planes. If they can usually fill the flight from A to B, but not always the one from C to B, then they will reroute whoever they can through C. In the end, the books only show how full each flight was, not how many extra passenger miles they generated by using bizarre routes.

[verbena]

If she doesn't complete her outbound trip, the airline can cancel the rest of her itinerary. She may not have a return reservation at all.

I have heard this as well, but haven't tested it.

Me too. I think I've heard of actual cases of it happening.
 

It has happened to me. Thankfully I hadn't paid for the original RT ticket, and the folks who had paid for it simply bought me a new one-way ticket on the spot.

[dr_strangelove]

The craziest example of this I have personally experienced was some years ago (before 9/11 and long enough ago that I booked by phone) when I flew Southwest from the midwest to LAX. When booking, the Southwest agent said "Oh, there's a special on flights to Oakland, so it's $X cheaper if you flight to Oakland and then connect to LA." I didn't realize until I got the airport that the flight to Oakland itself stopped in LA, so the agent had booked me midwest -> LAX -> Oakland -> LAX. I did get off the airplane in LA (and so arrived about 4 hours "early") and was even able to get a refund on the unused Oakland-> LA leg. I think that's the last time I flew Southwest.