Airlines and the No Show Policy

Ever heard of a No Show Policy? Neither had I until about an hour ago. But it's important that travelers know what the policy is, and what it means before they learn it the hard way.

Basically, the No Show Policy means that if you do not board the plane for any leg of a trip, the remaining flights in your name will be cancelled. (That means your return flight too!) So here's what you cannot do, and what will happen if you try.

Round Trip Tickets - Imagine you have a ticket from Charlotte, NC to Durango, CO with a five hour lay over in Denver. It takes just as long to drive to Durango as it does to sit in the airport waiting for the next flight. So, renting a car in Denver and driving to Durango and enjoying the scenery seems like a great idea, doesn't it? Wrong! The moment that plane leaves Denver without you on it, your return flight home from Durango to Charlotte is cancelled.

Possible solution 1: Get the car, skip the last leg, let them cancel your return flight and book a new, one-way ticket home. $$$

Possible solution 2: Call the airline and have your tickets switched up. Yes, they will make Denver your final destination and then you can drive to Durango and you'll still have your return flight in order. But you're most likely talking a couple hundred dollars, per traveler, to make these changes. $$$

Possible solution 3: Suck it up, you won't be seeing Denver or the surrounding scenery. Durango will just have to do. Zero $$$.

Yes, this all just happened to me. Yes, I'll be going with solution 3.

So what about one-way tickets. Well, as long as it's the last leg of your trip that you're skipping on, you should be ok. As long as all of your luggage is carry on.

The best thing you can do if you encounter this situation is to contact your airline and see what they can work out for you. It will probably cost you money, but I'm sure in some cases that is worth it. Just remember that if you skip a leg of your outbound flight, you won't be getting home without purchasing brand new tickets.

Check some no show policies for individual airlines below:
Virgin America - "If you fail to check in, Virgin America will cancel that flight reservation and all subsequent segments for continuing or return flights."
United Airlines - "Inventory spoilage caused by the failure to issue tickets and/or cancel ticketed or un‐
ticketed reservations." Whatever that means. Simply, no show = big no, no.
JetBlue - "If a customer does not cancel their flight prior to scheduled departure time resulting in a no-show, the tickets fare is forfeited.

Also visit Jason Clegg's blog for more information about particular airlines' no show policies.