MRs and Ethics of flying for mileage
 

If this has already been covered ad naseaum please forgive me. I did a search. Nothing.

OK. I am not a convicted felon. But I have been know to cut some corners when it comes to Award Programs. For example. I was short one segment to attain a certain level by a certain time. I couldn't get time off for work. So here's what I did: I bought a 98$ r/t LAX-LAS ticket. Went to the airport. Boarded the flight, then got off...

You get the picture. I never actually flew the leg. Stayed in town at my job. Got the credit for the one segment.

Even if it was not illegal, it probably would not be looked on kindly by airlines and perhaps even the FAA. This was before 9/11.

Would I do this again? Absolutely not. Times have changed.

My point: It was a way of gaming the system. Getting something that I didn't deserve in a way that was unethical. Using a flight boarding pass in a way that was certainly not the intent of the corporation that issued it.

OK. I was clearly in the wrong ethically.

Now don't flame me too hard for this, but....

Is it possible that MRs are in a bit of an ethical grey area?

OK, OK. Probably not. But it strikes me that many MRs go against the intent of the corporation issuing the ticket. They're expexctation is that you fly from point A to B. For business, for fun. Not just to rack up miles. Instead, we go from A-C-D and then to B in an effort to "game" the system and garner more EQMs.

Often people will not use the last leg of a ticket. I do this myself.

Am I the only one having these thoughts about MRs? Yes. Probably. I already regret writing this. Sorry. Nevermind.

I can understand why there could be an issue with purchasing a ticket and not flying the segments (though that, too, is debatable!)

But why would a mileage run, where a customer purchases a ticket and proceeeds to fly the leg, be unethical? You are purchasing a ticket and carrying through with the trip. The airline gets its money for the flight and the seat is filled. I my opinion, no, there is nothing unethical about a MR (I have never done it and don't have elite status).

As for skipping the last leg, it may be against the "rules" of the ticket, but airline pricing structre makes zero sense to me, so I won't go into that.

fuzz

If you truly regret writing it, your edit button is right down there.

They get to make the rules of the game. Then we get to play the game within their rules. Anything that's allowable is, IMHO, fair.

Airlines' attitudes toward mileage runners varies. Delta's RPU (Revenue Protection Unit) and its clampdown on anything they perceive as bending the rules is legendary.

AA, however, is much more tolerant. At one point, booking a flight from Boston to London, their phone agent asked me "Would you like to route that via Chicago for the miles?" (I had flown Boston-Paris via Chicago a bit earlier - to pick up a colleague who lived in Grand Rapids, but the agent didn't know that and assumed I just wanted the miles.) On another occasion a promo, I forget which, was announced with a big banner behind the check-in stations at BOS which read in part "Mileage Runners Rejoice!"

As for not flying the last leg of an itinerary: a lot of us have done that, I have, but it has nothing to do with mileage runs, everything to do with absurd one-way fares.

Good point. I should have deleted it. Or at least posted it in the correct place!

If a customer purchases a ticket and flies the leg from A-B. Totally ethical.

If a customer purchases a ticket tof fly A-B, but instead flies A-C-D-E then to B, not convinced that is not taking advantage of the system.

Look. The airlines have never treated me particularly well, so maybe this goes under the category of 'Stickin' it to the man'.

I am a bit of a scofflaw by nature so I am the last one to be any kind of authority on this. Maybe someone that took ethics at harvard bussiness school could enlighten.

Flying is fun... so if I want to spend $200 to fly across country with five stops, eat lunch and turn around, SO BE IT.

I pay, they fly me. Nothing wrong with that.

Agree completely. They make the rules, we purchase a ticket within the rules, fly the route, done deal.

Don't need to go to Harvard Business school and study ethics to know that when a website can spit out the fare, it's a go. They sold it - they're allowing it - I don't feel bad about it.

I mean, that's what the airline is charging for the services. So what if I go SAN-LAX-SFO-IAD-PHL? An airline may price that out at $300 RT or $3000 RT, it's what I'm willing to pay to fly what they are saying I should, or I want. They don't have to charge me $300 but $500. Will I fly it then? maybe... depends, depends on what the market bears.

It's all about routing and fare rules. Some airlines are tighter than others... but then again, 99.99% of all flyers want to go A-B and the .01 are psychos like myself. :D

All's fair in love and miles :D

The OP should address himself with his question to Randy Cohen, who has an "ethics" column in the Sunday New York Times. This is very much Mr. Cohen's sort of question, and whatever he opines, you can safely ignore it. His responses are so silly that when I read him it is only to go over it with my daughter and mock what he has to say.

I'm not sure what you mean by "illegal" here.

Statutes and torts aren't the same thing. What you've commited above *may* be closer to breach of contract (fraudulently obtaining FF miles) than violation of a criminal or civil statute.

Well, I guess that flying A-C-D-E-B is taking advantage of the system, but I'm not sure that I see what is wrong with that. If airlines wanted to change the system and only give you credit from A-B, they could do so easily. All it takes is one press release stating, "We have enhanced our Frequent Flyer program! Now, you will automatically receive the miles as the crow flies between your origin and destination! No more worrying about trying to add up segment miles or figuring out your routing." Airline passengers, regardless of the routing, add significant variable revenue above and beyond the variable cost of flying that passenger. In other words, if your butt is in a seat, the airline is probably making money off you.

Two other things worth nothing: First, if you do consider mileage runs to be ethically-challenged, then saying, "I'm gonna screw the airline because they screwed me" is not ethically acceptable, either. Two wrongs don't make a right even though, as somebody's signature correctly points out, we would not have mileage runs without two Wrights making an airplane. Second, I went to business school, and let me be the first to assure you, ethics as they are taught (or at least learned) at business school are often very different than what society may deem ethical.

Mike

I saw take advantage while it lasts. I don't envision this system being in place forever.

So true! For a long time I thought Randy Cohen was a humor column, like Shouts and Murmurs in The New Yorker.

Expedia once booked me on a flight that was very roundabout for the route I was flying (FAY, NC to ABE, PA). There is a direct flight from CLT to ABE, but for some reason, Expedia found a cheaper fare that was FAY-CLT-Dayton-PIT-ABE. I don't know how or why they booked me that route, but in the end it was 5 segments and 500 miles/per segment (2,500 miles) for an approx. 600 mile flight. So it is often the airline or travel agent who offers these weirdo routes.

I took the miles with no complaint, and it helped me to get silver on US.