Originally Posted by
fumje
Asking for curiosity's sake: what are the chances this (-IAH-YYZ-LAX) actually would have been noticed by anyone? Are agents trained to look for that and correct it? Do regulators do audits of tickets?
I've never heard of regulators doing an audit without someone complaining first.
The computer should pick it up at check-in (actually, UA's computer should have picked it up before offering it for sale). I don't know whether or not agents are trained to check for it. It wouldn't entirely surprise me -- at a minimum, it should look weird to an AC rep that someone's checking in for a flight transiting Canada and going back to the US.
Originally Posted by
fumje
Although my awareness is limited, it seems like most cases of fines are for systematic violations rather than odd one-offs.
Agreed, but the law doesn't require a pattern of violations -- it's just, a single instance won't be a priority from an enforcement perspective.