Let me start by saying I know this is wrong. Second, I would like to point out that this is not my first flyertalk post. So we can all dispense with the Welcome to Flyertalks. My question here is not whether it is wrong, but would you do it?

If you had access to someone's frequent flier account and all of the following were true, would you use their miles.

Assumptions:

1. The miles expire in a few months.
2. The owner does not plan on flying the airline in question or in any way earning miles or using the miles before they expire.
3. The owner is oblivious to the status of their account or even if or how many miles they have.
4. You are not related to the owner of the miles.
5. If you bring the frequent flier miles to their attention the owner will still not use them, nor will they gift them to anyone (not just you) - in other words the miles will go to waste if not used.

Given the above, would you use their miles for your own benefit?

Let the discussion commence...

Airlines assume a certain percentage of potential awards will go unclaimed. Therefore, this is not a "victimless" act. It's wrong.

Signed,

Randy Cohen's Alter Ego

Ethically I wouldn't do it, since I wouldn't want anyone to access my personal accounts.

I would make a monetary offer to this person to see if they would do it on my behalf. If they don't then they are just flushing money down the toilet.

SacFitz

No. It's wrong. Just outright wrong.

If you know this person personally, I would ask to buy all there miles at a discount.

Of course not.... I would never STEAL from someone I know... that is so wrong.

So, what is the ethical part of the question?

I don't see how you could use someone else's miles w/o stealing their identity.

I'm racking my brain, and I can't come up with a situation when I'd say this is ethically okay.

What if you found out that the same person also had a dormant bank account? For whatever reason, you have their password, you know the person has forgotten about the account, and there are a few bucks in there that the bank will eventually take in the way of fees if the money isn't withdrawn. Would you withdraw it for yourself and think that was okay?

Can I ask...were you once related to this person? Not that it changes anything...

Most of the ethical questions posted here are in the "gray area" where I see both sides. I can't see any other angle on this one...

I'd make them an offer. If they refused the offer (and didn't bargain any further), then I'd do nothing else and let the miles expire.

So, is this a duplicate account you created

Why not use your regular one

The member posting this thread has received a permanent timeout, as they've admitted explicitly that the username is a duplicate - a violation of the terms of service of Flyertalk.

Please let's not focus on the member asking the question anymore.

If you wish, feel free to comment on the question which I read as: is it ok to steal miles that will otherwise expire unused? If folks want to discuss this substantively, we can leave the thread open -- but let's not go off-topic to discuss the member initiating the post any further.

Thanks!
Gary
aka gleff
MilesBuzz and Delta moderator

I guess I'm confused here. . .person who is no longer allowed to post on FT is posting and asking us for our opinions about stealing somebody else's miles. . .

Ethics? This thread (OP question) has none imo.

No. Just because it's not being used doesn't make it OK to take it. That said, I would do whatever I could to talk the person into making use of the miles. Perhaps they can gift it to me, or the person can donate it to a non-profit. If I had a car that wasn't running, and I wasn't planning on getting it fixed, but I kept it in my garage, I will be extremely upset if someone came and stole my car. Yes, even if I wasn't planning on getting it fixed. My response if that happens, would be, "Why didn't you just ASK me? I would have given it to you for free, or bartered for something. Instead, you took something that wasn't yours to take."

No. It's wrong. You know it. So why would you do it.

Ethical answer:

No way. This is stealing. You know that it's wrong. If you were honestly wondering whether or not it was, you wouldn't have been concerned about posting anonymously, so you answered your own question already. Try to get the miles the honest way - by offering an exchange, guilt-tripping them, or annoying them about it until they give them to you to shut you up. The fact that you have their account info leads me to believe that you are or were related to said mielage waster. If so, that'll probably come back to bite you in the a$$ at some point.

Pragmatic answer in case you opt for the miles-stealing anyway:

OK - so lets say you have a really good reason to hate this person and are just out to get them - I'm not sanctioning it, but we've all probably opted for petty vigilantism at some point or another. Objectively, I don't think that it is pragmatic to grab the miles. To use them on an award for yourself, you would be entering your name and personal information into the records at some point. That means that if they ever did find out, they can trace it back to you. So ethics aside, I think you'd get caught at some point. (Unless of course there is someone else you also hate and you get the ticket in their name unbeknowst to the first person and then tell the person whose miles they were that the second person you hate stole them and thereby pit them against eachother. They can't trace this back to you since you had the foresight to book online from a internet cafe PC where they can't trace the IP or login back to you. Then that's workable. But still really wrong. Beautifully wrong.)

peace,
~Ben~

<<<Disclaimer: This opinions expressed in this message are my own. My scruples stepped out of the room after the first paragraph and my Jiminy Cricket does not approve of or acknowledge the contents herein. I do not encourage others to bend or break the law since nobody ever wants to get sued or sent to the pokey. No warranties expressed or implied. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball. Happy Fun Ball may cause vertigo.>>>