Rommie2k6

Not here to debate the ethics of using refundable tickets to get lounge access.

But has there been any documented adverse action of doing it? If yes, what happened and how did they find out?

Taoyuan

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel...-1226811109390

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...suspended.html

Rommie2k6

I'm not doing 1st class flights/lounges....

Doc Savage

You may get away with it a few times.

You risk losing all of your FF miles if they catch you.

Good luck!

mikew99

If you occasionally buy a refundable ticket just to get past security (in lieu of asking for a gate pass) so that you can use the lounge access you've already bought a membership for, then I don't know that anybody will notice/care.

Can you elaborate on what you're trying to accomplish?

ksu

Probably buying a ticket having lounge access included (e.g. international business class ticket), while not having a lounge membership card.

nux

Why not just go to a restaurant and after the meal leave without paying the bill?

See also OPs other thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/pract...l#post26827769

Efrem

Did it once at SYD. There was a FlyerTalk Do there (one of the early OzFests) and we met up at one of the Qantas Clubs after an airport tour. I bought a refundable round trip to MEL to get in as AA Executive (at the time) Platinum.

Results:

1. A good time was had by all until we were kicked out as a group for abusing the access policy and general rowdiness.

2. I lost about $2 on USD-AUD exchange rate fluctuations between when I bought the ticket and when my refund went through.

Nothing else.

Around the same time, I was told by an AA EP desk agent I was dating about a well-known FTer, also EP, who regularly flew around the country in paid F. When he had to spend time at an airport with a Flagship Lounge (there were more of them then) he wasn't allowed to because he wasn't on an international itinerary. So, he'd buy refundable tickets to continue from wherever he was going to somewhere else overseas. He'd use them to get into the FL and then get his money back. AA was totally onto what he was doing, discussed it internally with management, and decided to let him keep doing it because his business was so profitable. I don't think he knew they knew, but thought he was really putting one over on them.

moondog

Since this thread topic clearly has ethical dimensions, why would you attempt to ban debate about such?

There was a thread here several months ago in which a person with a PAiD lounge membership wanted to meet a client in an airport lounge. A gate pass would have gotten him access, but he purchased a refundable ticket instead. My initial assessment was that he was unfairly gaming the system, but I revised my opinion to "neutral" upon further thinking.

However, based upon my understanding of your post, I'm inclined to place it in the "extremely unethical" column.

With respect to your question about airlines disciplining persons with such nefarious intentions, both Lufthansa and China Eastern have hit back hard, and they surely aren't alone.

Have you considered asking your company to reimburse you for a lounge membership?

FatnLoud

Perhaps because it has been done to death in many other threads...

LondonElite

Note also that many airlines will take six to eight weeks to process your refund. If you are ok with carrying a balance of several thousand dollars for a refundable international business class ticket through a full credit card cycle, then I suggest maybe spending a little time on Economics 101 to figure out how much effective interest you are paying for this lounge access. Usually buying Priority Pass is cheaper.

ProleOnParole

There doesn't have to be any interest if the credit card is repaid in full at the end of the cycle (which is how I think most people have it set up). If by interest you mean the opportunity cost of not being able to keep the equivalent amount in your savings account then assuming ticket price of $4,000 and 1% interest p.a. on the savings that would be about $3 if the ticket is refunded sometime in the second month. Realistically, it would be even less than that, as most people maintain a non-zero balance in their zero interest-yielding current accounts anyway.

In any case, unless I missed something, the cost seems negligible -- unless there is currency conversion involved, and then it's a different story altogether.

LondonElite

I'm not suggesting crying a balance on the credit card, I'm assuming that there is an opportunity cost to tying up say $4,000 for a couple of months (and it isn't about leaving it in your 0.05% bank account). If a person genuinely thinks that it's a good idea to lock away $4,000 in order to access a lounge, then they really shouldn't have that much money in the first place. There are plenty of better ways to put it to use.

Rebelyell

You may not be here to discuss the "ethics" of doing this, but unless your question is purely academic, which you don't make clear, may of us are appalled. It's like asking about the best way to rob a bank.

weero

If you use your exact name spelling and your favourite FFP ... then yes that could happen.

If you go as a GM with a typo on the ticket, maybe a ticket from an alliance partner, you should be covered.