Throw-Away Ticketing, Hidden City Ticketing, and Skipping Legs: The Definitive Thread
Jul 21, 2019, 10:37 pm
#781
Join Date: Feb 2019
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The best way to avoid gate checks is to pack less stuff and not use a rollaboard.
Jul 21, 2019, 10:41 pm
#782
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Jul 21, 2019, 11:01 pm
#783
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I don't want to spill unnecessary personal details here, but one of my colleagues who often joins me on business trips travels with medication that needs to be kept cool at all times, and is often difficult to procure at our work sites. Connections almost never an issue for us because there are nonstop flights from Shanghai to pretty much everywhere on our circuit, but he simply refuses to check a bag on connecting itineraries, and will never back down. It's not like tagging a bag to ATL is any more difficult than BOS via ATL.
Jul 22, 2019, 12:13 am
#784
Join Date: Mar 2004
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yeah, true...
I suppose I could have been more specific, but I was actually looking for cases where pax were chased down for some sort of redress, not logistical difficulties.
There are a few examples, but it seems so rare as to be very unlikely.
Useful discussion I guess for those interested in logistics.
thanks for this...
I mean... my friend thanks you....
There are a few examples, but it seems so rare as to be very unlikely.
Useful discussion I guess for those interested in logistics.
thanks for this...
Jul 22, 2019, 1:54 am
#785
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The issue is "something with availability" lining up with your schedule. Doing hidden city via ATL is probably less of an issue because ATL tends to have the most daily options from most cities. But other hubs don't. If for example, you book BOS-LAX-SAN to do hidden-city on BOS-LAX, well, BOS-LAX runs early in the morning and then not again until mid-afternoon. Now, DL can easily get you to SAN via ATL, MSP, DTW, SLC, JFK, etc but you may not be able to wait until mid-afternoon for the next BOS-LAX nonstop, assuming it even has availability. Now on the opposite side of the coin, DL is usually pretty flexible with IROPS. You might be able to ask for BOS-HUB-LAX, as in that situation it's not unreasonable for someone to say "my final destination is as close to LAX as it is to SAN - it doesn't matter where you get me to" when the alternate option is reasonable. Point is hidden city is all still a gamble. In many cases, it probably works out without any issues but there is the potential of things going horribly wrong that people should be aware of if they're even considering it and it's not up to the airline to figure out how to fix it.
If they ask any questions about wanting to connect in same airport, simply tell them you need to hand something off at there.
Also when IRROPS happens DL will get your bag to you. In this case it's a separated passenger bag, not cargo as in my post earlier in thread. They may or may not deliver from the airport, but they'll get it to the airport you're at.
BTW it wasnt clear earlier. DL will only short check if connection is over 6 hours. It does not require an overnight connection. Anything over 12hrs, excluding certain hub airports (AMS,CDG, etc), will always result in short checking. However if they ask you to gate check, you can always ask that it be short checked.
Last edited by flyerCO; Jul 22, 2019 at 5:28 am
Jul 22, 2019, 4:51 am
#786
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Jul 22, 2019, 7:05 am
#787
Join Date: May 2010
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Several years ago our corporate Travel department got a notice from DL on a guy who had been doing this consistently, I am not sure what the threat was to the travel department but I am pretty sure the guy doing it was told that continuing to do this would result in closure of his skymiles account. If there was any payment issue it probably was raised with the travel department and I have no idea what it might have been. Travel refused to book his creative flights any longer and since we had to use them to get reimbursed the game was over. I think he had been doing it 2 x a month for about 6 months when they caught on. (I can't recall where he was flying from, but he was getting off the plane in Atlanta every time and thought he had been creative by booking different "end cities" )
Jul 22, 2019, 7:17 am
#788
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It’s up to the person engaging in hidden city to determine the risk-reward and cost-benefit analysis. And there are “smarter ways” to do it to significantly reduce that risk. But nonetheless, there are risks. And if someone gets bitten while playing the game they have no one to blame but themselves.
Jul 22, 2019, 7:49 am
#789
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Well I doubt too many are connecting in SAT or AUS. But while the BOS-LAX-SAN example is one where you would likely be able to swing LAX in IROPS, there are plenty of city pairs and hidden city tricks where it may be more difficult to swing. Say you do LAX-CVG-DCA to do hidden city on LAX-CVG. While DCA, IAD, BWI, and even MDT, RIC, and possibly even PHL may not be seen as too odd for being rebooked into in IROPS, being rebooked on a later LAX-CVG routing may be more difficult given that there are only a couple daily flights and plenty of other more frequent options to DCA and the DC area via other hubs.
It’s up to the person engaging in hidden city to determine the risk-reward and cost-benefit analysis. And there are “smarter ways” to do it to significantly reduce that risk. But nonetheless, there are risks. And if someone gets bitten while playing the game they have no one to blame but themselves.
Jul 22, 2019, 7:50 am
#790
Join Date: May 2010
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The problem is that is impossible to predict what flights will be available problems hit your origin or intended destisnation, or even if it is a busy travel day and everything is overbooked.
Jul 22, 2019, 8:10 am
#791
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As others have mentioned upthread, you can rebook your flights yourself on the app. Nothing difficult or odd about it. Of course there actually needs to be a flight in existence to rebook onto, but it can be the next day, and you never need to convince an agent why the more logical-seeming options don't work.
Jul 22, 2019, 8:11 am
#792
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I think the E175 and E170 aircraft do not valet check bags. They have larger overhead bins, and your bag will be gate checked to final destination if there is no space.
Jul 22, 2019, 8:23 am
#793
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Well I doubt too many are connecting in SAT or AUS. But while the BOS-LAX-SAN example is one where you would likely be able to swing LAX in IROPS, there are plenty of city pairs and hidden city tricks where it may be more difficult to swing. Say you do LAX-CVG-DCA to do hidden city on LAX-CVG. While DCA, IAD, BWI, and even MDT, RIC, and possibly even PHL may not be seen as too odd for being rebooked into in IROPS, being rebooked on a later LAX-CVG routing may be more difficult given that there are only a couple daily flights and plenty of other more frequent options to DCA and the DC area via other hubs.
It’s up to the person engaging in hidden city to determine the risk-reward and cost-benefit analysis. And there are “smarter ways” to do it to significantly reduce that risk. But nonetheless, there are risks. And if someone gets bitten while playing the game they have no one to blame but themselves.
Jul 22, 2019, 10:02 am
#794
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In your effort to just be “more right” you missed that my posted example was BOS-LAX-SAN, not JFK-LAX-SAN. Reason I specifically used BOS-LAX over JFK-LAX was because of there being far less frequency on BOS-LAX than say a route like JFK-LAX, which I was tying in both with my point about “reasonable alternates” as well as understanding the risks associated with hidden city when it comes to availability and schedules, particularly on routes with less frequency, to get to the city you’re using as your “hidden city.” In the BOS-LAX-SAN example, it’s likely that DL allow one to rebook BOS-HUB-LAX instead of SAN, given that in IROPS it’s a reasonable alternate. But they may not be able to get on the next BOS-LAX nonstop specifically, either because of their own schedule or lack of availability on that flight. *That* is a risk one takes with hidden city. Again, less of an issue if you’re going XXX-LAX-SAN given the proximity of LAX and SAN. If you’re trying to do hidden city with a destination that is several hundred miles from the city you plan to get off in, you may run into issues just trying to rebook, which is what I gave with the LAX-CVG-DCA example. DL can easily get you to the DC area. But getting you through CVG in IROPS May be more difficult pending availability and the not-so-frequent schedule into CVG unless you can find something through the app or find an agent who will Force LAX-HUB-CVG-DC so you can then still use CVG for hidden city.
Jul 22, 2019, 10:29 am
#795
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In your effort to just be “more right” you missed that my posted example was BOS-LAX-SAN, not JFK-LAX-SAN. Reason I specifically used BOS-LAX over JFK-LAX was because of there being far less frequency on BOS-LAX than say a route like JFK-LAX, which I was tying in both with my point about “reasonable alternates” as well as understanding the risks associated with hidden city when it comes to availability and schedules, particularly on routes with less frequency, to get to the city you’re using as your “hidden city.” In the BOS-LAX-SAN example, it’s likely that DL allow one to rebook BOS-HUB-LAX instead of SAN, given that in IROPS it’s a reasonable alternate. But they may not be able to get on the next BOS-LAX nonstop specifically, either because of their own schedule or lack of availability on that flight. *That* is a risk one takes with hidden city. Again, less of an issue if you’re going XXX-LAX-SAN given the proximity of LAX and SAN. If you’re trying to do hidden city with a destination that is several hundred miles from the city you plan to get off in, you may run into issues just trying to rebook, which is what I gave with the LAX-CVG-DCA example. DL can easily get you to the DC area. But getting you through CVG in IROPS May be more difficult pending availability and the not-so-frequent schedule into CVG unless you can find something through the app or find an agent who will Force LAX-HUB-CVG-DC so you can then still use CVG for hidden city.