Originally Posted by
jsloan
UA could sell JFK-YYZ-SFO on UA metal if Canada were to permit it. And nobody would complain about a mixed-carrier itinerary, JFK-YYZ-SFO, with AC on one leg and UA on the other -- that would be legal by both Canadian and US law.
And the law is the same. The distinction that you're trying to make here is invalid. If it's illegal to sell something, it's also illegal to buy it. It doesn't mean that the passenger would face criminal charges, but it's still a violation of the law.
Well, the original suggestion was to try to get UA credit, which implies attaching a MileagePlus number to the itinerary, so they certainly could be aware.
Anyway, the point is moot given the additional costs and complexities of trying to fly via Canada anyway.
There is no violation of the law when the passenger is constructing a trip by piecing together legally available itineraries since the passenger cannot violate any of these laws which do not apply to them, intent notwithstanding, and the carrier cannot be in violation for flying a customer on legally available itineraries that the customer pieced together to circumvent the law since there is no onus on the airline to determine a customer's true intent.
Cabotage is only really cabotage when an airline offers an itinerary for sale or operates a flight or series of flights that violate the law. For example flying the old CX flight JFK-YVR and a separate ticket YVR-SEA is not cabotage because the customer who created this itinerary cannot be in violation of a law that does not apply to their own personal actions....and plenty of people did this very thing in both directions.
As to the cruise ship examples, the cruise lines should have (or did, who knows) fight those fines because they have no way of forcing a customer to reboard the ship at an intermediate stop, nor would they know of a passenger's intention, nor should they know.
As to the OP's request, have a look at United Vacations (just add a cheap hotel you won't use, or a rental car that you will use) or a consolidator to try and issue a BULK ticket - it's really the only way to avoid the PQP cap.