can one do this?

adityabee

am planning a trip from Delhi to Colombo and back - JetLite is the cheapest option at Inr. 12020 for the return flight (it used to be cheaper); but i found out that if one were to book the reverse return flight it would cost only Inr. 5655! i.e. Colombo - Delhi - Colombo (these flights all are through Chennai were one changes the plane).

my wierd thought was - why not book the reverse ticket and then pay the extra amount to get the Colombo - Delhi part shifted to after the Delhi - Colombo flight? as a matter of fact one date change is free, and further ones are at LKR 2000... should i try or is not possible and i am only wasting my time? (i am not considering only a date change, but rather the juxtaposition of the flights - the first flight actually being the second).

what do you IMers think! anyone ever tried this?

p.s. the Delhi - Colombo return flight on JetLite used to be Inr. 6950!

Haylo

If you do not use the outward portion of a return flight, the airline will cancel your return ticket and resell the seat, so doing this is not possible.

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adityabee

okay, thanks - what i thought was not not to use it, but rather shift it before the flight to after the return flight. but point taken. once again thanks!

Haylo

Well, it's a clever idea - it won't cost anything to ask the airline just in case they'd allow it, it's worth a go!

adityabee

i know Haylo... that's why i thought it up... technically it should be possible, i can't find a caveat that the first part of the trip has to be before the second part... e.g if i reschedule the outbound part to be after the inbound... it would be worth a shot... (the price is less than half!). if i try it, will let you know! (i wonder why the disparity to such an extent on the fare).

nycank

Be very careful. Airlines will cancel and probably not refund if they see a circumventing of a fare-rule.

What is possible: DEL-CMB one way first flight.
CMB-DEL later on as a part of the round-trip, and you not using the return ever. You can get away with this only once. Computers have long memories... Airline reservation systems might not forget you

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gaurav1441

If the airline has agood reservation system this will not be even technically possible even their Customer Care executives would get error pre-poning tickets. But if those checks are not in place you can enjoy a free ride. Do let us know what happened.

adityabee

thanks all, as the one way fare (Delhi - Colombo) is at 4350 Rs. right now, i wouldn't spend an extra 1305 Rs. just to find out its not possible to do... but definitely weird that the same sector booked from Colombo is 5655 Rs. when from the Delhi its 12020 Rs. (on the same dates and same flights - just in the reverse direction).

p.s. even the one way fare when added to the return one way fare from Colombo (3650 Rs.) is 4020 Rs. less than the combined return fare (and i am only checking the exact same dates... so there whole ticket pricing system is weird to say the least).

p.p.s. one avoids the high international UDF from IGIA as the Delhi - Chennai leg is a domestic flight (so the highest airport tax is at Bandaranaike Airport in Colombo @ 684 Rs.)

adityabee

that's exactly my point.... i couldn't find a fare rule that said you had to fly the outbound flight first... and if i bought the ticket, i would first ask JetLite outright if it was possible, i am not intending on any subterfuge or underhand methods here, just was wondering if it was possible in a perfectly legit way or not - the fare rules allow one date change for free and further ones @ 2000 LKR, they also indicate that the ticket has to be used within 12 months of the purchase - but nothing about the question i had.

RPG

Cannot be done. Forget about it.

Fares are based on origin; India-US-India fares, for example, are much cheaper than US-India-US. It's called capacity control. They set the fare to match what the market will bear while filling the large plane and maximizing profit. So they have to make sure (and do make sure) that people can only buy the fares intended for their own market.

Now there is a way around it for people who travel regularly. I know someone who lives in the US and travels to India regularly on business (he is self-employed), and he does it by buying a series of India-originating tickets. But this only works if you travel predictably and frequently