United Airlines - would they cancel my reservation for the flight back

Question

I bought tickets to and from the US. And I wonder if they would cancel my tickets for the flight back if I miss my first flight.

PS It's just I accidentally bought tickets with a stopover in Toronto and it turns out (didn't see that coming) that I need a transit visa to Canada. And to me it looks like it would be cheaper to buy another ticket to the US (with no stopovers this time)

PPS My connection time in Toronto is 1 hr 40 min and I am required to have a transit visa. And I can get one sending my passport to London (nearest Canadian embassy where they have glue and paper to make visas). This is just ridiculous.

@AndersD: Are you holding a Norwegian passport? According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Norwegian_citizens, you should be able to get an "e-visa", which is electronic and can be done on-line without leaving your desk. — DCTLib, Feb 02 '17 at 14:54
The question wasn't about visas/my citizenship. I see that adding PS and PPS to the question confused so many people. — unorsk, Feb 03 '17 at 09:44

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 02 '17 at 10:48

4

The normal procedure is for all legs after any that is not flown to be cancelled, without compensation. The terms for United are:

C. Failure to Occupy Space - If a Passenger fails to occupy space which has been reserved for him/her on a flight of UA and UA fails to receive notice of the cancellation of the reservation before the departure, or if any carrier cancels the reservation of any Passenger, UA may cancel all reservations (whether or not confirmed) held by such Passenger on the flights of UA or any carrier for continuing or return space, provided UA or an authorized agent of UA originally reserved that space.

So if you advise United in time it seems you may be lucky and be able to preserve your return reservation. However if your return flight is also via Toronto then you would still have the transit visa issue.

answered Feb 02 '17 at 10:48

pnuts

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However, if you advise United in advance, your itinerary will likely be repriced as a one-way ticket with a change fee slapped on top, and you will need to pay the difference. – lambshaanxy Feb 02 '17 at 10:50
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That's airline pricing for you... – lambshaanxy Feb 02 '17 at 11:14
Yeah, from what I read it is extremely common to cancel the rest of journey when you get one leg missed. But it looks like sending my passport to London (nearest Canadian hq where they issue visas) and getting Canadian visa is the only way. Considering that I have no plans visiting that country or even leaving Toronto airport... This is horrible. – unorsk Feb 02 '17 at 11:18
@pnuts, I don't know what's up with the site you link to, but the CIC web site says nationals of Norway are visa-exempt and only need an eTA to enter by air. There is no exemption for transit, but an eTA can be obtained online, more or less immediately in most cases. – user38879 Feb 02 '17 at 19:23

United Airlines - would they cancel my reservation for the flight back

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