viveque

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/busines...0/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

flygirl2004

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?

viveque

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...

spampurse

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".

flygirl2004

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)

L Dude 7

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.

viveque

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.

L1011toHNL

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.

flygirl2004

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.

spampurse

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.

chicka12

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!

viveque

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 ...

haruspex

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

flygirl2004

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!

chicka12

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!