Booking overlapping flights - breaking rules?
 

Am I breaking any Delta rules if I do the following?

Book 2 roundtrips as follows.

Trip 1 MSP-MEM on Monday 5/9 returning on Friday 5/20
Trip 2 MEM-MSP on Friday 5/13 returning on Monday 5/16

I will fly all the flights as booked.

It's a couple hundred dollars cheaper for each ticket as opposed to booking 2 M-F MSP-MEM trips.

That is back to back ticketing. And yes, Delta prohibits it. You will no doubt find people on this board who will tell you do it anyway/Delta doesn't care that much/don't enter your SkyMiles number and you'll be fine/etc.

http://www.delta.com/planning_reserv...jsp#prohibited

something similar
 

I do a variation on that. I just don't go back to the originating city.
While you are traveling if you hear a loud horn blow you will know they have caught you. It is the perp walk I would hate.

Yes, you are breaking DL rules and risk potential termination of your SkyMiles account. It is prohibited mainly to keep people from circumventing minimum stay requirements.

This is insane. So I book my scheduled Thurs-Monday travel to JAX to visit family which is booked well in advance because that schedule is set. Then maybe a week before we decide to make a trip to Chicago to visit friends for Friday-Sunday. This isn't allowed?

Did you start, on Thursday, from Chicago? If so, yes, it is against Delta's rules.

If not (as in you started from BTR or elsewhere) then you are fine.

I think that you can potentially get around this by booking one-way travel for some of the segments... For example, book:

MSP-MEM (ticket 1)
MEM-MSP-MEM (ticket 2)
MEM-MSP (ticket 3)

From the link above:

I'm combining multiple overlapping RT tickets...

No, that would be "allowed". But what you would not be allowed to do, per the logical (:rolleyes:) rules of the legacy carriers, is return to BTR (assuming that was your POO) on DL (assuming that was your originating carrier).

I think that should be fine, since it is arguable that the time between the bookings is relatively far apart - unforseen circumstances. The issue arises when the booking times are very close to one another. All bets are off if there is a distinct pattern of non-conformance.

You could always fly another airline on the other ticket if comparable in price and routing. No rules against that (which I know of).

I find it interesting that DL would be opposed to this. Another option for the OP would be to book one of the RT fares on another airline, which would cost DL business. This rule is almost punishing those who remain loyal to DL...

This is the best solution. And if not possible due to cost of ticket #1, why not book ticket #1 MSP-MEM with FL connecting in ATL? Seems like a good price to me, albeit a connection en route.

I swear I read the OP as trip #2 being JAX-Chicago-JAX ! I must be going blind.

Why is that interesting? Many tickets, particularly international ones, have Saturday/minimum stay requirements. Back-to-Back ticketing provides a mechanism for getting around those requirements, costing DL $$.

it was allowed until you admitted doing it for the reasons you described.