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Missing a connecting flight on purpose

My husband and I are planning our first trip to Europe. We want to start off in Munich then Prague and return from Berlin. When looking up flights, it is cheaper to buy a roundtrip ticket to Berlin with a stop in Munich and just skip the connecting flight. I don't know if this is going to cause issues on my return flight. Has anyone done this before?

Posted by
10550 posts

It will cause issues. I'm not an expert, but others on this helpline have written that your return portion will be canceled.

Posted by
9109 posts

Don't do it, it will cancel the rest of the ticket. In order to have stopover privileges you need to purchase the expensive unrestricted ticket.

Posted by
19240 posts

Have you looked at a single "open jaws" ticket from NY to Munich and back from Berlin? It should not be much more than the Berlin RT and a lot less than two one way tickets. Use the multi-leg option on the booking website.

Posted by
2430 posts

Totally agree, it might cancel your return flight,do not risk it.

Posted by
32328 posts

Geraldine, Coincidentally, one of our local Travel Agents commented on that particular situation a few days ago. She indicated that if one portion of a flight is "missed" (for whatever reason), then later flights attached to the same ticket would be cancelled. In the same situation, I'd book open-jaw flights, inbound Munich and outbound Berlin. Happy travels!

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you everyone for your advice. I will look into open jaw.

Posted by
284 posts

Do not do it. Here is what will happen: You will get to Munich, have a great trip and then show up in Berlin to find that you do not have a ticket home. Missing any intermediate leg of your trip will cancel the rest of the legs on the ticket. The only exception is when you miss-connect, but you still take that final leg eventually and it is not your fault. Otherwise, you cannot opt not to fly an intermediate leg. This is also true for the reverse. Suppose that you have a ticket that was EWR-MUC-TXL and then TXL-MUC-EWR on the way back. If you flew to TXL and then tried to catch the MUC-EWR return segment without flying the TXL-MUC segment, you will find that you have no ticket for the MUC-EWR segment when you show up at the MUC airport. You must fly all of the segments (or be reaccommodated by the airline to your final destination if there is a problem like a delay).

Posted by
11507 posts

Geraldine, when looking on airfare search sites you are looking for "open jaw" but , also known as "mulit destination" flights. Two one ways would be very expensive but multi destination flights can be only a bit more then a return ticket , and when you consider the money you save by not having to backtrack.