Bikeguy

Actually, we only obey laws if we think they are stupid and the risk of getting caught is slim.

You've never done 56 in a 55?

Shame on you if you have.

If DLs "laws" weren't so outside what is considered normal (restaurant analogy), people would have a harder time easily disregarding them.

MikeMpls

Please excuse my Bronx cheer (with apologies to those from the Bronx). The contract, so called, is barely worth the paper its written on.

All the arcane fare rules & related "contracts" exist only because the airlines can't get people to buy their products at prices that will turn a profit. Consequently they turn to convoluted routing & fare rules intended to extort the maximum revenue from their customers.

It's not at all unreasonable response for many/most consumers to thumb their noses at this and ignore the so-called contract. And I really don't have a problem with that. Individuals have every right to look after themselves.

However, if you wish to take advantage of certain programs that an airline might offer, e.g. a frequent flyer program, where you can obtain substantial benefits, it's probably a good idea to play by the airline's rules. Likewise, when an airline becomes as closely intertwined with a credit card company as Delta is with AMEX, it's probably not a good idea to assume that the credit card company's stance will necessarily be pro-consumer to exclusion of its business partner.

That doesn't necessarily mean that I endorse what DL & AMEX do from time to time (I don't!).

allergictocoach

If an airline has the "moral integrity" to charge me $700 one way to fly to a hub city that they will fly me thru for $59 than I have no problem packing light and employing this practice from time to time.

To avoid complications, always buy one way fares and I would suggest not flying your preferred airline (if possible) - maybe even consider leaving out the FF#. Most airlines don't have the staff to track down every instance of this activity so I'm sure only frequent abusers or the very unlucky run into trouble.

svasandani

I have a much simpler situation and did not want to start a new thread. Please let me know if you see any problems with this approach:

I have already bought a ticket for a relative on DL with the following routing:

DFW-ATL-MCO-ATL-DFW simply connecting in ATL with no stopover. Due to some recent development she would like to spend a 1-2 days in ATL on the way back. Obviously any changes to the ticket at this stage would incur significant cost due to change fee, fare diff etc. I was looking into buying another one way ticket from ATL - DFW on Airtran and foregoing the last segment of the DL ticket. I can get that for an additional $120.

Does anybody perceive any problem with the above scenario?

AndyTLe

DO NOT CHECK BAGS. Other than that, should be ok.

duanes42

I think the restaurant analogy is missing one key point to make it analogous. The restaurant is actually an all you can eat buffet, where you can consume as much as you want, but, whatever you take you must consume (signs posted all over telling you about this) - as the restaurant claims that this reduces waste and consumption, helps to ensure that there is food available for all customers and helps the restaurant to plan the right amount of food so everything remains fresh and doesn't spoil (or something like that). If at the end of the meal, you do not finish all you took to the table, the restaurant weighs the remaining food and charges you $15 per pound or portion thereof (1.01 lb. = $30).

Since you undertook to eat all those "legs" but didn't, the restaurant/airline fines you. Any problems?

Isn't this topic/action plan similar to going into the grocery store and changing the bar code for bottled water ($1) with another bar code that charges ($0.05), because we all know that bottled water didn't cost $1 and is an insane mark-up ... just like flying between or out of legacy carrier hubs. Are we justified doing some repricing on our own to fix such abuse?

If you know the fare is $500 to fly what you want to fly, and $200 to fly something else, and you buy a ticket promising to fly the $200 flights, but don't, then you have received a more expensive ticket for less than the airline would have sold it to you had you not lied.

Back to the OPs enquiry: Since WN is an option for the route OP wants to fly, shouldn't that be the solution?

Otherwise, as someone else mentioned, OP should try pricing FNT (and actually fly into it - a great little airport where everything is so much faster than DTW you will wonder why you didn't always go there).

A search for (I believe it is...) Delta Revenue Protection should yield some more stories of people getting caught for this type of activity. This is the department at Delta that goes through flight activity to find this practice, and they do nail people for it.

On another side note, the hidden city/point beyond issue predates airlines. I recall reading at some time past (so forgive me if I mess this up) the railroad industry had similar types of fares, and that one of the railway Acts (as in acts of congress) actually addressed the issue, prohibiting higher prices on shorter routes where a lower fare existed for destinations further afield....

gpez

The point is: no such restaurant policy exists anywhere. Doing this is virtually unheard of in every other industry but somehow people think that it is perfectly fine in the airline biz. Pure insanity.

What the heck are you smoking? This isn't even a remotely close analogy! There is no price swapping going on here this is about buying more than you need and having the right to do with the remainder as you please. To infer anything else is just plain insulting!

You want a bottle water and grocery store anaolgy fine. You go to the grocery store to buy 6 bottles of water and find that the 6 pack is more expensive than the 8 pack because the 8 pack is on sale. You don't need the extra 2 bottles so you buy the 8 pack then, as you are leaving the store, you throw away 2. Then the store manager comes running after you, yells at you, cuts up your savings club card, calls your credit card company and charges you the difference between the 6 and 8 pack, then blacklists you from that store. Tell me on what planet that scenario makes even a remote amount of sense! Any other industry did that and you'd be promised to see a line of people out the door to get in on the lawsuit.

I can't believe how myopic these arguments are and I simply won't stand for this BS any more.

motytrah

Perhaps we have the seeds for a new food amenity at the SkyClub!

Boilertube

To me this issue is analogous to casinos and card counting. The casinos are in business to maximize their profits whenever they can (e.g. the odds on all games are always in the casinos' favor). At blackjack, the consumer can level the odds by using their brain and counting cards (which is not illegal), but the casino has the legal right to throw them out and not let them play longer.

The airlines certainly have a convoluted pricing model, which is intended to charge the highest fares to people who have few options (last minute bookings, cities that are not high traffic, etc.) and make it diffilcut to find lower cost, convenient flights. Using the airlines' own systems to find the best combination of flights to achieve the lowest cost is using your brain (this is not remotely the same as the illegal case of switching price labels as a mentioned in another post). There is nothing illegal about it. But, the airline (like the casino) can do the equivalent of throw you out - make you pay the price difference on the spot, confiscate FF miles, etc.

In both cases, I elect to play by their rules - I don't count cards, and I don't use hidden cities or back to back. It's not that I enjoy paying more, but I really don't want to be thrown out.

BTW, I've heard lots of horror stories from travel agents regarding people who have been caught, had their records reviewed while they waited, and required to pay the fare difference on all past flights, before being allowed to get on a flight home. Add the potential for cancelled flights due to mechanical or weather issues, and it just ain't worth it! The OP was trying to book a flight for $168 vs $300 - you've got to ask yourself, is it worth this much potential pain to save $132? For me, the answer will always be no.

baccarat_king

In Nevada, Yes;

In New Jersey, No.

But, now we are getting way way off topic.

Also, IMHO, casinos are operated by even bigger idiots than most airlines. Only difference, is that the casinos most often are profitable.

fti

Excellent points! The 6 vs. 8 pack of bottled water is a very good analogy to what the airlines are doing. No bar code swapping, just taking advantage of the best offer that some supplier/vendor/supermarket/airline is offering at the time.

duanes42

Incorrect points, not excellent points.

There are restaurants that have exactly such policies, thus the reason I used it ...

By doing this, one is swapping prices! The price of what is wanted (MSP-DTW was it?)(BEST OFFER) is $300, and you are only paying $180 for it by lying to the airline about what you are buying (swapping the bar code, disguising the purchase....MSP-ORD), one doing this is not buying "more" (an 8 pack) but is buying something entirely different (a green bean / ticket to another city which the airline prices lower, probably due to competition in an entirely different market).

Yes, the airline policies here are stupid, but they are clear and understandable (albeit not "understandable" - I am not defending them, they are insane and unfair in my opinion, but they are what they are, and accordingly you violate it at your own risk). When you enter an entirely different destination, you know that you are not simply buying something "on sale".

inyourvillages

I don't even understand what this argument is about.

Clearly the airlines can and do have this policy.

People can choose to try and get around it.

There are potential consequences if they get caught.

What is the argument?

djk7

Actually, the OP asked a question which very few posters on this thread have responded to directly:

inyourvillages

There is no doubt, if the anecdotes are to be believed, that some people get caught and face rather dire consequences (being charged for the difference in fare, losing all their miles).

There is also no doubt that some people don't get caught, particularly if the tickets are booked on different carriers. People generally wouldn't come and brag about it though.