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Multiple leg airline tickets

Hello, I have round trip tickets from DFW to Valencia via Madrid. The plan is to drive the south of Spain and only use the Madrid to DFW leg on the return trip. But I've heard that if you don't use the 1st leg you could void the 2nd leg (Madrid-DFW). Still want to tour from Madrid thru Seville to Valencia, could do the same on the outbound leg and not use the Madrid Valencia leg. Does anyone know if not using a leg of a trip voids either that multi-leg trip or the entire tiCket? Appreciate the help.

Posted by
1167 posts

On the return they will for sure cancel the entire reservation if you don't board in Valencia. It is possible that they would do the same if you skipped the MAD/Valencia outbound leg. You should look into changing the roundtrip to an open jaw itinerary.

Posted by
2 posts

Before I change my non-refundable ticket I need to know if there is any penalty to not using the Madrid to Valencia ticket.

Posted by
11294 posts

Yes, if you do not show up for a segment of your itinerary, the airline will cancel the rest of the ticket. If you hadn't already booked this, you could have done it as a multi-city itinerary (DFW to MAD, then VLC to DFW), all on one ticket. But since you did already book it, you have to either change the ticket, or fly all the segments and make other arrangements. For instance, you could fly to Valencia, then take the train back to Madrid and proceed as you originally planned.

Posted by
3057 posts

You are going to have to either change your ticket or change your plans. Harold's suggestion to take the train up to Madrid would work, there is a high-sipped AVe train. Buy your ticket two months in advance on Renfe to get a good fare. Check the fares for your date of travel ( pretend you are buying a ticket, don't just check under the Fares and Schedules section) and then compare to the change fee for your airplane ticket.

Posted by
23178 posts

Alan, understanding in the airline business you do not have two ticket - Valencia - Madrid and Madrid - DFW. You have one ticket - Valencia - DFW - with a change of plane in Madrid. Once you fail to check in at Valencia, the airline assumes you missed the plane and you seat goes to the next one on the list. Obviously, you can skip the last leg of flight because there is little the airline can do but skipping a leg in the middle cancels the rest of the ticket. Should have booked an open jaw. Probably would have been cheaper so keep that in mind for the next trip.