I want to miss my flight connection in order to save money, will I get penalized by Delta?

Question

Delta is cheaper to connect in Cincinatti, and end up in Kentucky than it is to end up in Cincinatti. So, if I make myself miss my connection, I'll be right where I want. Don't mind driving to Kentucky when I leave. What is the downside?

Answer 1

I'm not quite sure I understand your question. However, if you miss a flight and don't try to get on another flight, it can send up a red flag. With the security issues now adays, this can look a little suspicious.

Also, if you have a round-trip ticket and Delta sees that you didn't make your connection and never rescheduled, they can cancel your flight home.

I hope this is what you were looking for.

Answer 2

OK,not sure I understand exactly but here's how it works. I am assuming you are talking about the very last leg of your return flight:

If you want to end your flight in Cincinnati even though you have a continuing flight on to another airport, you can do it. Just make sure you only have carry-on baggage. Any checked bags will automatically be sent on to your final ticketed destination. Plus, if your bags go on the flight and you don't show up, it could cause security issues that might delay the flight for other passengers.

You will not be penalized for skipping the last connection. I was a gate agent for a few years in Cincinnati, and during those late flights, especially ones to local cities like Columbus, Lexington, and Louisville, we pretty much expected a good chunk of the passengers to not show up. They often lived in Cincinnati and had just flown out of those other cities to save money.

So, yes, you can do it without any dowside as long as you do not check your bags. And as a side note, you will already be in Kentucky when you land. The Cincinnati Airport is actually in Florence, Kentucky so you will be a little closer to home if you are from KY.

Have a happy flight!

Answer 3

If you do not make a segment of a trip, whether by your own choice or due to travel issues caused by the airline, the remainder of your trip will be automatically cancelled by the airline.

I have experienced this first hand in which my flight was cancelled because I missed a connection. I was travelling on two reservations (long story) and my outbound flight was delayed causing me to miss my connection. Although I thought they had straigtened everything out when the airline accomodated me on a new connection, when I showed up for the return trip, I was told that my ticket had been cancelled.

If you are planning to fly one-way, you could potentially do what you are suggesting. If you are planning to return home, then you are taking a huge risk in skipping one segment of your flight.

Also, are you planning to earn SkyMiles? If so, then you are giving Delta a way of tracking your flying habits. If you make it a regular habit out of buying tickets and missing connection, then the airline will eventually realize what you are doing and based on their Conditions of Carriage can deny selling you a ticket in the future.

Answer 4

The person, who asked the question is refering to the safety net of welfare provision but he's ignoring another issue. Think about how easy it is to borrow money or get a credit card in the UK and then think about how difficult it is to transfer money between bank accounts or pay in cheques. It now takes cheques (or bank transfers) FOUR WORKING DAYS to clear, within the UK, and UK banks charge between £10 and £40 for transferring money to European accounts. In THAT sense, he's certainly right about savers being penalised. Banks love people to be in debt: it's how financial institutions make their money. PayPal is also a rip-off. Why else is the company moving to Luxembourg, beyond the reach of the British Financial Ombudsman's Service?

Answer 5

Long story short: Airlines don't like the "throw away", but all they can (and will) do is throw away your return from Kentucky.