In the end, in this case, because the client had high status with United, I told her to call the 1K

Most industries have stupid rules. But, the airlines often seem determined to lead the pack. As a travel agent, it s hard to tell what their stupidest rule is. But, this rule of treating two one-way fares, sold on one ticket as a round-trip ticket, ranks up there. Let me illustrate.
A client booked a month in advance from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., returning from New York. The trip was booked on one ticket, with two one-way fares, for a total of $410. Then one of her best friends had an emergency Caesarean delivery. manila hotel travel com Both mother and baby  survived, but the baby will spend some time in the ICU. The friend is recovering but would love support and company, so my client wanted to see about changing her trip from San Francisco to Washington D.C. to stop and see her friend manila hotel travel com in Chicago.
Because she only had a week s notice, the additional fare, plus United s $200 change fee, would have been significant. While United will sometimes reimburse a change fee after the fact on a case by case basis, there was no guarantee that the airline would consider this an emergency, since the traveler decided to try to visit several manila hotel travel com days after the baby was born.
Fair enough, rules are rules. So my client decided to cash in frequent flier miles for a ticket from San Francisco to Chicago and then one two days later to D.C. No problem. But she then emailed me, casually, to explain manila hotel travel com she still planned to use her return flight. She asked if she could reuse the original outbound ticket, or if she had to throw it away.
If a traveler no-shows an outbound flight, the entire ticket value is voided. This makes at least some sense, as the airline may have lost revenue on selling the space. It would have been easy, in theory, simply to cancel the outbound and let her use the return.
But not with United. The airline does not allow the return of a ticket manila hotel travel com to be issued when the outbound isn t flown, even with one-way fares, manila hotel travel com unless it s reissued with a $200 change fee. So the airline keeps the money for the entire trip and effectively requires the passenger to purchase a new return ticket. The customer gets no credit for unused legs.
Now, my agency could have easily issued two one-way tickets. But, that means that either canceling such a ticket, or changing it completely, with penalties, would leave almost no value. (The outbound was $242, the return $158, and each penalty would have been $200.)
This policy isn t universal in the industry, manila hotel travel com but almost. Southwest, for example, allows passengers to cancel an outbound flight and keep the original return fare in a Southwest manila hotel travel com ticket bank. This is a legacy carrier rule.
Not allowing a passenger to use half of a ticket where the price is based on a roundtrip fare is understandable. It s breaking the fare rules. But with two one-way fares, the additional penalty seems arbitrary and ridiculous.
(I d suggested to the client that she visit her friend on the way home, because manila hotel travel com no-showing a RETURN flight, at least now, for domestic flights, doesn t result in a penalty. But she wanted to visit as soon as possible.)
In the end, in this case, because the client had high status with United, I told her to call the 1K desk back and plead her case. The 1K agent agreed, partly because she had booked a new outbound with miles, ONLY to charge the $200 penalty. My client also got a voucher for the $242 outbound value, but she was told this was a major exception.
Another client had to change a San Francisco to D.C. roundtrip this week with two one-way fares because he needed to stop in NY for business. He had to pay not only a $200 fee to use his original return, but a $232 higher fare. In addition to a high one-way fare to New York, and a ticket between the two cities.
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