Independence Air iClub - Happy Bags coupon code for $40+ on RT

I checked in two luggages and noticed that the $20 discount code in my luggages were numbers in ascending order. I had to book another ticket for Seattle and I used another random number and got a $20 off on one way trip.

Independence airline is basicaly giving these coupons away I guess and mebbe thats why the codes are in ascending order. Also if u r booking round trips book each leg seperately and get $20 off on each leg ($40 off immediately) andl along with the corporate discount of 20% (stackable) .. wow ... :)

http://www.flyi.com/specials/businessweeksave20/Default.aspx

So in essence u dont need to check in luggages to claim the discount. One has to just increment or decrement the number to claim their $20 off on each leg. But I am not sure about whethere I am permitted to do so on this forum ..

The code : HBAG - xxx,xxx (i think it starts with 100,000 or so but keep trying - increment number) and u will hit jackpot soon. :)

Is Independence Air foolish or they dont care ... ?

-V

I checked in two luggages and noticed that the $20 discount code in my luggages were numbers in ascending order. I had to book another ticket for Seattle and I used another random number and got a $20 off on one way trip.

Independence airline is basicaly giving these coupons away I guess and mebbe thats why the codes are in ascending order. Also if u r booking round trips book each leg seperately and get $20 off on each leg ($40 off immediately) andl along with the corporate discount of 20% (stackable) .. wow ... :)

http://www.flyi.com/specials/businessweeksave20/Default.aspx

So in essence u dont need to check in luggages to claim the discount. One has to just increment or decrement the number to claim their $20 off on each leg. But I am not sure about whethere I am permitted to do so on this forum ..

The code : HBAG - xxx,xxx (i think it starts with 100,000 or so but keep trying - increment number) and u will hit jackpot soon. :)

Is Independence Air foolish or they dont care ... ?

-V

Ok, i had a bit of a problem following you, but basically you are saying that you are STEALING discount codes? you realize that by doing this, you are taking a discount from someone who righfully deserves it for checking their bag, right?

Ok... I agree that we are in a grey area when we speak about using online discount coupons. But,

1. Recently flyertalk had a mistaken/low fare of $115 from BOS-MAD. We all knew it was a pricing error like the $51 to Fiji. yet so many people booked in. I guess I can argue that it is not ethical on our part to chear an airline and people should voluntarily give up their claims?

2. Do you know that the person sitting next to you on DH may have paid $600 for the same trip for which you pay $200. Do you feel it is unethical to pay less and travel with somebody who has paid more than you?

3. This airline will have made more than a million coupons available based on a simple assumption that a million checked in luggaes during a month and half promotion. If they had so much cared for maintaining the secrecy of the codes they would have issued randomly generated codes. They didnt - so they dont care ... Its easy to blame average joe for him trying to save $20. But let me tell you everyone booking online is trying to save every dollar. There will be many people not using the coupons and many who will want them and use it my way ... Its for the airline to maintain a system of checks and baances ...I will do my best to remain ethical but I agree with you that this is a grey area and it is open for debate ... If you feel it is unethical then you have every right to think that way ....

4. I believe that Online discount coupons are being used to lure customers to book more with the specific airline .. There is very little one can do when it comes to online bookings as everybody creates their own rules...

1. I almost see what you are saying here... but the major difference in my mind is that you aren't purposefully wronging a fellow passenger by buying these tickets. Even if you care nothing of slighting an airline, you must also look at the other passengers you are wronging. Like flygirl2004 stated you are taking a code away from a fellow passenger that has more right to their discount than you do.

2. I have no idea how this justifies stealing codes!? Without going into it all several things jump to mind... advanced purchase, supply and demand, capitalism, etc...

3. If DH "didn't care" who got a code they would have been handing them out on the street, in the terminal, at events, or even dropping them from the air over heavily populated areas. But they aren't doing any of those things... they set up these rules which you are breaking. I was taught that if someone doesn't care if you take something it won't hurt to ask them to make sure. Why don't you call DH and ask them if it is OK to use someone elses code.

4. ?????

Also, why would you need to steal the codes? There are several ways to get 20% discounts which have been discussed on this forum and in some cases this will save you almost as much if not more than $20.

It is a very sad reflection on our society when people can lump things such as stealing from someone else as a "grey area".

FYI - Word on the street is that DH is aware of the fraud, and will be contacting those people they feel have stolen codes. (Not sure how they are going to tell who they are, but it's probably going to be by looking at their old reservations and bags checked, and comapring it to how many coupons they have used)

1. I almost see what you are saying here... but the major difference in my mind is that you aren't purposefully wronging a fellow passenger by buying these tickets. Even if you care nothing of slighting an airline, you must also look at the other passengers you are wronging. Like flygirl2004 stated you are taking a code away from a fellow passenger that has more right to their discount than you do.


Why is it worse to wrong a fellow passenger than wrong an airline?
It ends up being the same thing. If the airline is wronged, then they attempt to make up the lost revenue from other passengers, thus, in the end wronging the passenger.

FYI - Word on the street is that DH is aware of the fraud, and will be contacting those people they feel have stolen codes. (Not sure how they are going to tell who they are, but it's probably going to be by looking at their old reservations and bags checked, and comapring it to how many coupons they have used)


Just so that you know - I landed at DC and couldn't find a happy bags coupon attached to mu luggage. Went to the DH guy handling the luggaages and told him my problem. He smiled and said I am sorry about that and took out a stack and asked me to pick one from it. I asked him if I can take two and he said, go right ahead. This from an employee working for Independence airline. This does mean that everybody working in Flyi doesnt care as much about the codes as you do ... He literally gave two away and did not ask for any proof that I even travelled by DH.

This does mean that everybody working in Flyi doesnt care as much about the codes as you do ... He literally gave two away and did not ask for any proof that I even travelled by DH.

That IS interesting. I landed at IAD two weeks ago from PBI where Happy tags weren't available. Went to ticket counter to get them (the kids love them), and the desk agent asked which flight I'd been on, and how many bags I checked, then actually checked it in the computer!! He picked the first 5 out (matching the # of bags checked), and handed them to me.

vivique - Hey, i was just trying to be nice and give people a heads up. You don't want to hear it? Have a good time with IA's legal department.

This does mean that everybody working in Flyi doesnt care as much about the codes as you do ... He literally gave two away and did not ask for any proof that I even travelled by DH.

No... If an employee gives you several coupons there is no problem (in my opinion). But when you use a code that is still floating around on someone elses tag... and then they get home and try to use the code and it doesn't work, that is wrong, how are they supposed to get their discount? :(

And yes, I realize it isn't like you are stealing a million dollars, but it is the principle of the matter. I wouldn't do it (whether I was an employee or not), and I don't think you should.

This is so silly. I can't believe that someone would want to steal someone else's coupon. It was really nice of Independence air to offer such a promotion - and if people keep doing stuff like this, then they probably won't offer up anything like this again. I really like this airline. They have great customer service, the flights have been good for me, and the fares are amazing. So i hope they continue to offer these kinds of promotions!

After reading some of the responses in the forum, I decided that what I have done is not the right thing and hence called Flyi last afternoon. Today a very pleasant customer service rep called me back and told me that Flyi has already gathered all this information and it was aware of the glitch and how many more people had used the coupon codes. He offered me a chance to go ahead and pay the extra fare else cancel my reservations. I decided that I would cancel my reservations as I would just drive down to from IAD. What I learnt frm them was that Independence Air can and does police its discount coupon usage for compliance with the rules and that anyone who tries to take use these coupons will be refused transportation by Independence Air.

Moreover, I just felt it was inappropriate that I be defrauding 1. Co-passengers and 2. My favourite Airline.

The rep was quite nice and was very happy that I was also cooperating with him. I am letting know everybody who may have taken my advice and used these coupons that I am pretty sure by now Flyi knows about this and your ticket will be cancelled at the last moment. This is sure to leave you stranded and its better you call up beforehand and pay up the extra $20 .... Lastly thanks to Flygirl ...

Nice followup. I respect the way you (ultimately) handled this.

After reading some of the responses in the forum, I decided that what I have done is not the right thing and hence called Flyi last afternoon. Today a very pleasant customer service rep called me back and told me that Flyi has already gathered all this information and it was aware of the glitch and how many more people had used the coupon codes. He offered me a chance to go ahead and pay the extra fare else cancel my reservations. I decided that I would cancel my reservations as I would just drive down to from IAD. What I learnt frm them was that Independence Air can and does police its discount coupon usage for compliance with the rules and that anyone who tries to take use these coupons will be refused transportation by Independence Air.

Moreover, I just felt it was inappropriate that I be defrauding 1. Co-passengers and 2. My favourite Airline.

The rep was quite nice and was very happy that I was also cooperating with him. I am letting know everybody who may have taken my advice and used these coupons that I am pretty sure by now Flyi knows about this and your ticket will be cancelled at the last moment. This is sure to leave you stranded and its better you call up beforehand and pay up the extra $20 .... Lastly thanks to Flygirl ...

I am so impressed that you took the initiative to right the situation. I am also glad that the customer service representative handled the situation in a manner that you thought was professional and helpful. I can only imagine that they deal with some difficult people when trying to police fraud. Kudos to you for handling yourself appropriately and probably making their day a little easier!

Flygirl's faith in the traveling public is restored :)

Happy flying!

I'm with these guys! That was very respectful of you to call in and let independence air know what's going on. I'm so happy you did that and I'm sure you feel better about yourself too now! It was the appropriate thing to do - Awesome..Now Independence Air will continue to feel comfortable giving out promotions like this!

Just so that you know - I landed at DC and couldn't find a happy bags coupon attached to mu luggage. Went to the DH guy handling the luggaages and told him my problem. He smiled and said I am sorry about that and took out a stack and asked me to pick one from it. I asked him if I can take two and he said, go right ahead. This from an employee working for Independence airline. This does mean that everybody working in Flyi doesnt care as much about the codes as you do ... He literally gave two away and did not ask for any proof that I even travelled by DH.

Kudos for doing the "right" thing. But you posted the original message and because you had a change of heart, you most likely will be responsible for someone being booted off a flight (which Independence Air technically can't do by the way because if you have a confirmed seat and you paid for the ticket, regardless of what you paid and regardless if the airline had an internal error) you still may have caused some people some grief. I'd suggest looking deep down inside before making a choice to post an error like this in the future. You'd save yourself and the rest of us a lot of drama. Though I'm sure you like to bargain hunt and if you found a fare to Europe for $0.00 you'd certainly buy it. Sounds a bit hypocritical to me. Sorry, no offense, but you shouldn't be posting to FT.

Kudos for doing the "right" thing. But you posted the original message and because you had a change of heart, you most likely will be responsible for someone being booted off a flight (which Independence Air technically can't do by the way because if you have a confirmed seat and you paid for the ticket, regardless of what you paid and regardless if the airline had an internal error)

Actually they can remove a passenger or cancel their reservation if a fare or discount was obtained fradulently. I have included below the part of the contract of carriage that covers this. For anyone who prefers to read the whole thing, it can be found at http://www.flyi.com/images/tools/coc.pdf.

5. REFUSAL TO TRANSPORT-REVISION 5
B. Independence Air will not accept the following customers:
17. Customers who at any time may hold or have held reservations or claim or
have claimed eligibility for fares or fare discounts that were improperly or
fraudulently obtained and customers who advise others how to so improperly
or fraudulently obtain reservations or access to fares and fare discounts to
which customers are not entitled.

Also, i don't think that by posting on here, she is RESPONSIBLE for these people's actions. While it may have made them aware of the possibility, they also knew it was wrong and made the choice on their own to take advantage of the situation. That's whats wrong with people today...they don't take responsibility for their actions. We are not puppets of other people...these choices are made on a personal level. Ok, i'm getting of my soapbox now.

Kudos for doing the "right" thing. But you posted the original message and because you had a change of heart, you most likely will be responsible for someone being booted off a flight (which Independence Air technically can't do by the way because if you have a confirmed seat and you paid for the ticket, regardless of what you paid and regardless if the airline had an internal error) you still may have caused some people some grief. I'd suggest looking deep down inside before making a choice to post an error like this in the future. You'd save yourself and the rest of us a lot of drama. Though I'm sure you like to bargain hunt and if you found a fare to Europe for $0.00 you'd certainly buy it. Sounds a bit hypocritical to me. Sorry, no offense, but you shouldn't be posting to FT.

Isn't most of Flyertalk devoted to finding good deals - especially ones that slipped through the airlines cracks.

It seems unlikely that this would cause people some grief - in fact it may have actually reduced grief that would be caused. There are plenty of Indy employees on the board, and by posting the airline was allerted to an easily observable flaw in their promotion. The OP helped them to be able to catch this earlier and be able to reduce problems that others may encounter.

Kudos for doing the "right" thing. But you posted the original message and because you had a change of heart, you most likely will be responsible for someone being booted off a flight (which Independence Air technically can't do by the way because if you have a confirmed seat and you paid for the ticket, regardless of what you paid and regardless if the airline had an internal error) you still may have caused some people some grief. I'd suggest looking deep down inside before making a choice to post an error like this in the future. You'd save yourself and the rest of us a lot of drama. Though I'm sure you like to bargain hunt and if you found a fare to Europe for $0.00 you'd certainly buy it. Sounds a bit hypocritical to me. Sorry, no offense, but you shouldn't be posting to FT.

Hey DCPAUL....two words from a newbie here:

"LIGHTEN UP"

Good grief.

Hey DCPAUL....two words from a newbie here:

"LIGHTEN UP"

Good grief.

First of all, if you are going to take the initiative to post a "good deal" or an airline error that you happened to stumble upon, and then later you feel guilty for posting it, fair enough.

But, my point was that before posting things like this, just make sure that you have accurate info and that you aren't going to "take back" what you did. It just seems very hypocritical to me. Has nothing to do with lightening up.

And thank you, original poster for taking the time to find it in your heart to feel guilty. We need more people like you, really we do. And even better, you were able to go to I's website and find the contract. I applaud your efforts!

Changing the subject a little bit, but staying on the Happy Bags promotion...

To go and do this legitimately, the rules of the Happy Bags promotion allow you to send in up to two SASE per household and get a "game piece". Since every game piece is either a $20 off or a free r/t, is there any negative to following the rules to get the two game pieces for $1.48 in stamps and use those to book my future tickets on Independence? Is there someone else one can win other than $20 off or a free r/t?

For the $20 off coupons, when do they have to be used by/flown by?

On a related note, anyone know how long it taks Indy to fulfill the requests for game pieces by mail? I sent them a SASE in early May.

On a related note, anyone know how long it taks Indy to fulfill the requests for game pieces by mail? I sent them a SASE in early May.

Sent mine right after the announcement of the promotion...still nothing.

It's probably a third-party doing fulfillment and they haven't gotten their stack of game pieces to mail out or they're waiting to do a whole bunch at once. I've seen that happen with some other third-party fulfillment vendors.

Do you HAVE to check bags in order to get the $20 off? And do you get $20 per passenger, per leg?

Yes from what I have read, you do have to check in bags to receive the $20 off. It's a game piece that they attach to your bag in route. And I believe you get one game piece per bag when you collect your bag at your destination...

I just recieved my happy bags pieces today. I sent in the request the same night I saw the promotion on these boards; I requested, and received 2 pieces, both for discounts. I live in central NY. Thanks to all on these boards! :p

take a "chill pill" DCpaul :rolleyes:

Hey DCPAUL....two words from a newbie here:

"LIGHTEN UP"

Good grief.