Originally Posted by
davie355
Stealing is taking something, not keeping something given to you. There are cases when you shouldn't keep something, but that is a matter of honesty, not theft.
A better analogy to OP's flight rebooking is: what if I order california rolls, but upon delivery, I receive rainbow rolls, which are much more expensive. This happened to me yesterday. I just went ahead and ate the rainbow rolls. Did I steal from the restaurant? Was I dishonest?
No you were not. If you had not eaten the rainbow rolls, they would probably just have been thrown away.
If the OP did not take the erroneously booked flight to PVG or DUR or wherever he ended up, the seat would most likely have gone out empty.
The key here is intent. The OP did not set out to fly 8,000 miles for the price of 1,000, any more than you conspired to get bargain rainbow rolls.