Originally Posted by
Fly4SCUBA
On a related note, why don't airlines allow you to purchase a ticket, not fly and get the miles? This would benefit the airlines because they then could either resell the ticket (this could be built into the agreement if the person does not fly) or fly without the added weight of the person and his/her baggage.
Because then there would be nothing to stop you living in EWR and buying el cheapos around the world without having to be there.
Certain routes/markets on certain dates/times are cheaper because UA wants to encourage people to
fly them, not to buy EQMs on the cheap. Think about the arbitrage opportunities if airlines let you do this: You could simply buy tons of el cheapos you had no interest in flying, then take the miles and redeem them for premium/expensive tickets. MRs sort of do this, but there are limits. You can't find a super-cheap sub $0.02 CPM fare, then buy 10 of them, one day after the other, with no intent to fly.