Originally Posted by spamkiller

You are assuming that he is trying to game the system. To me, if I didn't know better, that he could have done what he had done. If he was trying to game the system, he could have said that the 2 y/o had the same name as on the boarding pass. Would they have checked his driver's license?

What I suspect happened, and yes I know it is speculation, is that he called Delta and said "we are travelling on this flight and my 18 y/o son Joe (or what ever the name is) would like to return earlier. Can you get him a return flight on (insert date here)? And of course, the Delta rep did that for him, not picking up on the change.

Inexperience travelers might not think of it immediately, that if you were away, you might want to fly home and return to where you were away. If I was spending 3 weeks in Hawaii, I might need to fly home for a couple of days for a meeting, only to return for the remaining week.

It does not look like he was gaming the system, but just not understanding the rules and the reservation agent not explaining it.