Hypothetical Question [Switch travellers between segments]
 

I buy a cheap ticket from A to B that connects through hub city. I really want to go to hub city but direct flights are more expensive. Person X wants to go from hub city to city B.

X and me both travel with no checked baggage.

Could X buy a refundable ticket, get through security, cancel refundable ticket and get a refund, meet me and get my boarding pass for flight from hub to B?

Thoughts?

The scheme will work.

The problem is that it is illegal from a TSA point of view and wildly against airline rules. The likelihood of getting caught is slim, but I believe that you are breaking federal law here.

Illegal?
 

While I am SURE it is totally against airline rules I am not sure where the illegality comes in.

Hypothetical Question [Switch travellers between segments]
 

rare, but don't they sometimes check Id's at the gate?

Hypothetical Question [Switch travellers between segments]
 

can't remember the last time I've had id checked at the gate on domestic. It's been quite some time ago.

and if there was any irrops, there would be a problem.

You could handle all the rebooking stuff over the telephone or online, so that's not a problem. If a flight is cancelled and you're offered a hotel it gets complicated. Then you have to go through the trouble of buying another refundable ticket and canceling.

The chances of this working are very high, but I don't understand how it would be worth the hassle. If you do it constantly you will get caught, if you do it once you don't save all that much.

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It comes in if you are in a jurisdiction where it is illegal to use a ticket for carriage in violation of its terms and conditions, or if that jurisdiction's law applies to your travel for any other reason. If you want to look for such jurisdictions, I am told by a lawyer that you can start with California.

It really shouldn't matter who flies on a ticket as long as it's paid for. But airlines have no common sense.

There are a number of ways this could go wrong. But if none of them happen, then it will work.

Unless you're in one of the stupid countries where airport security theatre demands matching ID to boarding pass at security, there is not even a requirement for the refundable ticket, nor for the people to meet, assuming OLCI is a thing.

Agreed!

Meanwhile, in other situations today, people are yelling about the lack of ID checking.

We'll propably see more ID/passport checks after the MH flight that went missing, as they discovered two pax who evidently travelled on stolen passports, both bought tix for this flight in BKK