'No show fees' charged by Qantas (and others) if you do not show for a return flight

has anyone else noticed the 'rip off' no show fees being charged by Qantas (and others) if you do not show for a return flight. Seems very dodgy to try and charge someone for NOT using a product they have bought and paid for. Might be a good questions to ask consumer affairs.

Seriously? It's 2013 - has this happened to you? 

Why shouldn't they charge you? If they don't it allows people to book on cheap tickets in advance which then stops other people that really want to travel from getting those cheaper fares when they run out. It also means that airlines have to cater for a number of no shows for every flight which inevitably means people get inconvenienced and it also means that airlines show as full when in fact they might not be because people don't show up! So it's a pretty selfish thing to do if you ask me!

I'm all for it!

No show penalties are a norm in the aviation industry, nothing new here. But your question/post is not very clear as you elude that when you did not show for a return segment you got charged. Can you please elaborate on that?

"Why shouldn't they charge you?" Maybe because you've already paid for the ticket, even though you're not flying. Why should they charge you extra because you didn't fly, when they still have made their hundreds or thousands of dollars? There is NO inconvenience factor to the airline. There's one less passenger to check in, one less set of checked luggage to handle.

"No show penalties are a norm in the aviation industry." Doesn't mean they are right.

The 'no show fee' charged is a deduction off any refund you are eligible for. Some fares are not refundable and you will forfeit the fare you paid for; whilst others are refundable (or partially)  and if you do not show up you will  lose a portion of fare to the 'no show fee' and then be refunded the remainder (or be given a credit).

You don't get charged a 'no show fee' + lose the airfare in full. So I don't see the rip-off.

So basically if you paid for a ticket then don't show up, the only "loss" would be the fare you already paid for? There will not be a mysterious charge to your credit card for a "no show fee"?

That's what I understand... not everyone books via credit card and it would be pretty hard for the airline to recover an additional 'no show fee' off me if I paid via Bpay etc.

Here is QF's policy for a Red-e-deal:

• Before the day of scheduled departure:
  • Re-booking - see 'Booking Changes' above.
    • Ticket value can be used towards payment for a new booking for travel anywhere on the Qantas network within 12 months of the date that the original ticket was issued. However, you cannot re-book and travel on the same day.
    • Any credit is the Australian dollar price.
  • No refund.
• On the day of scheduled departure (including no show):
  • Not permitted. Loss of fare.

In relation to international flights (and I am less certain on this), the $300.00 'no show fee' is for people checked onto flights, who then miss them and then are re-booked onto other flights (plus I assume they would also pay any fare difference too)

A long long long long time ago when return promotional tickets were cheaper than a one-way, if the passenger didn't return there was a chance that the airline would tap the travel agent for the fee who would pass this on to the passenger. 

Perhaps the OP didn't take their return trip and is cranky they couldn't get a refund? *shrug* They need a lesson in yield management. 

I have heard about that, but I don't think that is practice anymore. Theoritically, you could just ring up the airline after flying there and cancel your return ticket... which would make it a cancellation as opposed to a 'no show' and you'd just foreit your return ticket.

I hope I am right on this as I have a return LH flight booked intr-Europe coming up and I don't intend on flying the return leg. I did some reading on fees before booking, so hopefully I covered my bases.

according to a travel agent I recently spoke to the addition of a no show fee is new for QF the relevat section is

What fares are you exactly referring to?

No show penalty has always been in existence. In the case of the cheap domestic fares, a no show means loss of fare altogether.

On International fares, they may charge a no show fee cos a one way ticket sometimes cost more than a return international ticket.