"beat the system": Introduction
 

Somewhen in 1990 I did buy a boklet written by GEORGE ALBERT BROWN "THE AIRLINE PASSENGER'S GEURILLA HANDBOOK" "STRATEGIES & TACTICS FOR BEATING THE AIR TRAVEL SYSTEM", The Blakes Publishing Group, Washington DC, ISBN 0-924022-04-3, 1989, and on my following flights back to Switzerland I did read it trough like I do it now with John Grisham's books, without closing my eyes = 396 pages.

It deals with everything a flyer could possibly think of. Even with topics I will never try out (I promise) like "the ethics of getting your extra bags on the plane", "how to deal with Hare Krishnas at airports", "smuggling a garment bag past the gate", "what to do when you get caught sneaking your extra bag on", "how to ride to the plane on a transporter", "how to pick up sex objects on the plane", "the best ways to make love in an airplane", "tricks on an Inveterate Casual Smuggler", "taking advantage of the Psychology of the Average Customs Officer", "how you or your estate can collect big bucks through the loopholes in the airline's limitation on liability", "a possible way to double the abolute liability limit", etc, etc, ...

The book may/will be outdated under many aspects, and I didn't look into it for more than 6 years now.

But if you want, I will go trough this book and give you on a daily basis a tip out of it (I hope not to get into conflict with any copy-rights that way).

This book sounds great, and your offer to give us a piece of it on a regular basis is also great.

Amazon's answer on my search today: Availability: This title is out of print. Although it is no longer available from the publisher, we'll query our network of used bookstores for you and send an update within one to two weeks.

I did ask them to search for some "used" books - and some of you may get it as a X-MAS-present (I'll let you know here under "Introduction").

And Catman: thanks for your advice. I just got online the permission for brief quotations.

Rudi, I have to sneak an extra person into the Concorde/First lounge at LHR tomorrow at 2.30pm - three of use are travelling, and I can only have one guest - any tips on how to get past the ever vigulent BA Lounge Police?
I thought about just smiling and being nice, but BA staff are getting hardend to that old ruse. I think they must be on a bonus for everyone they refuse entry too!

I've just realised, if the BA Secret Police read this I will have tipped them off. They will double the patrols, let the dogs out of the kennel, reinforce the barbed-wire. I'm doomed to failure.
Oh well, I'll have to resort top plan B. Enter the Club/Executive Lounge, walk down the connecting corridor where the toilets are and walk in the Concorde/First lounge as if we have just been to 'freshen-up'.
I'm OK to divuldge this trick, as the BA Secret Police only read the first paragraph of each posting before getting bored!
I suppose I could just ask them for access - but that ruins the fun!!
MERRY FLYER

PS: My next posting may be from the BA Boot-Camp!

Enter twice (allow a 3 minutes waiting-time in between).

Your first guest goes to the lounge, yourself to the washroom and out you go again to look for your second guest.

more tips:

at check-in, explain your situation, you might get a supplementary voucher for the
Lounge

In the lounge, (or if their is some quee at the lounge-entrance ask already there) ask
another member (who sits there alone,) to get your second guest in

wear diffent things when you enter twice: first with raincoat, second without etc.

just for Swiss-german-dialect-speaking-persons (but may be it could work with some
cockney too): just deny any "Oxford-"english-knowledge, I sometimes can't speak but
Swiss-german - and may be they give up.

Merry

- don't you have those coveted black luggage labels? Won't the BA staff swoon and do your slightest bidding?

I think the bathroom trick is probably the best way of sneaking them in. Or you could ask. I found, when I was working with BA, that their staff are generally quite helpful but can be firm about rules: don't ask when anyone else is listening, & they may be willing to make an exception for you.

Gatwick is friendlier than Heathrow...

This club room "beat the system" collection of tricks sounds like something out of
James Bond's next advernture "FlyerMAN."

Or a great comedy-drama to be written about
the adventures of the frequent flyer traveler.

I'll have to try a few of these ideas sometime. CATMAN

ok Catman - next time we meet in New York (at the renovated breakfast-room) we start a joint-venture: you'll bring in the journalistic-news-writing-knowhow (and the english-knowhow) and I'll bring in some crazy ff-adventures (a mixture of Jan Fleming's James Bond and "in 89 days around the world").

OK, as I am on a role now, I am going to reveal my favorite tip for getting anything you want out of BA Staff (upgrades are a piece of cake with this trick, ditto Lounge Access, extra baggage etc).

All you do is engage the appropriate member of staff in conversation and mention that Bob Ayling (BA's CEO) is not a very nice man (for legal reasons I will not give you exact examples, but I'm sure you get the message...).

BA staff are so unhappy with his 'virtual airline' scheme that they will furtively look 'round to check the BA Secret Police are not in ear-shot and agree with you, give you a big smile and you are friends for life. Then your made, your wish is their command.

Try it and let me know how you get on!

Another tip: Don't mention the new liveries (Yuck!) they are really sick of hearing about that! But mentioning that the CEO's colour (CATMAN read: color)blindness must be a real hadicap.

Oh, I'm gunna have a ball at Heathrow this afternoon. That is of course assuming I can manouver myself with all disguises Rudi wants me to take.
MERRY FLYER

PS: Don't try this at Moscow airport!!

Thanks for your clever tips, Merry Flyer.
I don't think I would try ANY of these tips
at Moscow or Prague or Budapest or Romania
Or Sofia or especially Beijing (I was harassed by no fewer than 55 cabbies. Although ride cheap, I don't like pressure.)

And in NYC maybe if you try these tips you
will be shipped out immediately. You know,
Mayor Rudy (not RUDI) Giuliani's "quality of
Life" campaign! CATMAN

I'm bringing this topic forward because I was able to obtain a few copies of this book after reding on Flyertalk that folks could not find copies anywhere, so if anyone is interested in obtaining a copy, e-mail me at [email protected] .

some guerilla tip links from this book http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/000125.html

One thing I must agree on is the weird guest limit (unless immediate family).

I have gotten around it so many times with the clubs I go to regurarly... also the leaving and coming back in, especially when they are very busy, works well..

Question for *Alliance members.. does the immediate family rule work in other *Lounges. IE, I am traveling with my wife and 2 fictious (do not exist yet, but hopefully they will) kids. Will they let all 4 of us in.... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Thanks!

I don't think you will have a problem unless it is peak hours (in which case you may not want to be in there anyway). I only have one daughter but both United Red Carpet Clubs and Lufthansa Lounges (even small ones like that in Johannesburg) have allowed all three of us in, even at peak hours.

I never really read the tips before, but I have been reading some of them now and here is what I think:

Tips and tricks are one thing, but some of the tricks seem more like ways to rip people off. When you cost someone else money because you lied, that is really nothing but stealing. Something like: purposely causing your bag to be lost so the airline will deliver it to you...that is theft; maybe no law defines it as so, but it is wrong and unethical.

So I say..try to get that great seat or free upgrade, or whatever else you can get, so long as you don't lie and swindle and especially don't lie and swindle when it will cost someone more money.

I hope everyone agrees with me! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Who put the smiley face on my post? I didn't but was wondering about them anyway? where are they?

Aubie - this : ) automatically gets translated into this http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif by the bulletin board software

[This message has been edited by Darien-l (edited 12-19-1999).]

I found the book using www.bibliofind.com.
$7 seemed like a fair price. I noticed a
few other bookstores had used editions
available too.

-doug

Found it at www.half.com for $5.97. $7.93 with postage. They still have 5 more left.

------------------
Some women are born wise, others achieve wisdom, still others have wisdom thrust upon them as they wonder through the posts of this board. Thanks one and all.

I just bought a copy at www.half.com for $6.85, 3 copies left.

If you haven't bought from them before, you can apply a coupon to get $5.00 off a $10 order. I added 2 cheap paperbacks - free shipping with 3 items. Total for 3 books shipped is $5.95.

Coupon code is AMAZING5
Coupon is good if you haven't bought from them before, or if you have bought using Netscape browser but not IE or vice versa. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

This is the only problem with FlyerTalk: everyone found out about half.com having the book, and in 5 minutes, they were all gone!!!

I am so glad I did that deal with half.com and get 25% of their sales-turnover http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Here's one to go with Rudi's "Swiss-Deutsch" trick;"

Der hund ist lost. Un der katz es en der kellar mit die oma und die opa. Was ist schloss, meine pussy?

Are you LMAO yet?

Weird....I loved that book from a few years ago at the library...someone lost it http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif But I went onto Half.com and ordered it for $4.99 before I even found out about the "craze" on FT. BTW, if you guys don't know about this- you can change your shipping option from Book Rate to Priority Mail if the seller offers that option, and Half.com will still pay for it. And if you don't want to pay a lot over $5 after the discount, get the total as close as you can to $10 by searching either Michael Crichton, John Grisham, etc. the popular, high-volume authors. Where else can you get a copy of Disclosure for $0.09? Good luck http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

This whole thing makes me sick. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mad.gif

Order the book from two different sites. Sumbit the credit card info for both orders. Two days later I got two apologies from the bookstores that someone else got them before me. (It is likely another flytalker from here!)

[This message has been edited by yihao (edited 07-03-2000).]

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Word must be out about the recent popularity of this book. I found two copies, one for 32.00 and one for 43.00 US. Yikes!
http://www.abebooks.com/

and
http://www.alibris.com/cgi-bin/texis/searcher

... I still wait for the credits of my 10% commissions from the bookstores ... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif