I tend to agree with Doppy and Clublounger on this one. Exploiting this loophole has a lot of less-than-desirable side effects. My first reaction when I read the initial post was that this simply adds unnecessary volume at the security checkpoint, on the phone, and in the checkin lines. Yes, I know one case is trivial, but it might not be to the person behind you in line, waiting for you to do something unnecessary and against the current desires of our country (misguided as the FAA can sometimes be...).

As for cost to the airline, I know we all hoard miles here, look for bonus opportunities, and are pretty good at finding cheap airfares when we need to. But that doesn't mean we don't want our airlines to be profitable. Doing something idiotic like this DOES cost them money. I don't buy the argument that because they jammed you once before for a change fee that you should jam them right back with fraudulent ticketing.

Finally, I'd react differently if this were a case of a disabled person or an elderly person unable to travel without assistance. In those cases, you can get a pass to go to the gate, plain and simple. But this isn't that case at all.