Originally Posted by
Henwurst
Although it seems the OP is doing it for the purpose of mileage earning, another legitimate reason is in order to protect seats. I was booking award tickets for a friend who already had a round trip GUM-ROR-GUM, but then realized he needed to go to SFO for a few days immediately afterwards. The only available routes from ROR went via GUM, so the cheapest way without backtracking was to get a one way ticket GUM-ROR, and an open jaw ROR-(GUM)-SFO-GUM. In order to be sure not to loose any seats I wanted to book the ROR-SFO-GUM itinerary before changing the GUM-ROR-GUM ticket to a one way, leaving me with a double booked ROR-GUM segment for a while. I explained the situation to the agent who advised against it, so I took the risk and changed the ROR-GUM leg right before booking the ROR-SFO-GUM.
I am not sure if the cancellation is immediate, especially if you wait putting in the FF#, but in my case the agent advised against having the same person booked on the same flight even for a few minutes.
I would think the company would see this as a way to hold seats and would be highly discouraged by the airline as mentioned in the poster above me. If the airline found out that you were double booked, I think they wouldn't be too happy with you.
I would also think that in this post 9/11, they would also see that duplicate name on the flight roster and send up a red flag. If I was the TSA/Gov't, it would be a HUGE red flag for me (i.e. maybe a terrorist trying to get on or something?). Hence, I don't think the GA would be willing to scan two BP's (or would be very VERY difficult to convince him/her to do so).
Like one of the posters mentioned, if you want to get more miles, then just use the Elite Maximizer. Easier and Hassle Free (and maybe even cheaper)!