I just don't see how an airline can enforce this. If their website will gladly sell you the two tickets, I don't see how they can claim that you knowingly violated their policy. It would be just as valid for the pax to claim that the airline's website knowingly engaged in entrapment.

Does anyone know of a real live case where an airline penalized a customer who bought two tickets from the airline's own website? It just doesn't seem reasonable that you can be held liable and that you can be severely penalized for buying tickets from the airline's own website.

I buy from AA.com all the time, and I've never seen a disclaimer which says "Caution, clicking here could result in huge fines and the loss of your AAdvantage account". That's the same as saying "a typing error, or an errant mouse click, could cost you big time".

You'd hope that if it were against their rules, the website wouldn't sell you the two tickets. I know we have some very fine attorneys right here as FT regulars. Maybe they can shed some light on this subject. Can an airline's website really sell you two tickets which result in big penalties and losses for the purchaser?