Questions and Answers

Hello

I am going on a trip to South Africa next September. I live in Washington DC and have already booked a return from Johannesburg to Washington on a direct flight. For the outbound, I found some award space from London to Joburg with South African and booked it, so I basically need a one-way flight from Washington to London. It seems the cheapest option is to book a round trip with BA from Washington to London and just not use the return, but was wondering if A) BA will charge a no show fee on the day of the return flight if I do not show up and B) if the return flight is on the same day at around the same time as my flight on South African Airways to Johannesburg, will either airline know I am double booked? In other words, would the BA system know I am booked on South African, (or vice versa), and if so, would either system automatically cancel my reservation?

No, neither airline will know so you’re fine. As long as you don’t make a habit of dropping segments you should retain the Avios you earn on your paid ticket. And remember that since you’re dropping the return leg anyway you can pick the cheapest date/time for the return leg that you can find to help bring the price down.