Abusing fully refundable tickets
 

Does anyone know about or has anyone tried the following? Purchase a full-fare ticket for a (hopefully) overbooked flight, offer to give up your seat, collect vouchers, let the plane you were *supposed * to be on leave, return to ticket counter, have ticket refunded. Does this work? Is this ethical? I've got a weekend to kill, and I thought it might be fun to pick up a few hundred dollars worth of vouchers. THanks!

it used to be real popular and i even tesitfied in court about a high profile case involving this from a few years back. Ethical? Well, the courts didn't think so and the guy was sent to jail for a few years. Intersting because the guy was a member of President Nixon's staff many years ago. The diffiultly for anyone is "intent" and a check of refunds would likely sink anyone's best efforts. Still, it can be done, just are you feeling lucky.

I've wondered about the same thing. But I thought that if you checked in for your flight that it would be too late for you to get a refund.

What was the crime that he was convicted of?

Yes, I was afraid that already having checked in would void any chance of refunding the ticket. A travel agent friend of mine said she thought that was the case, so I chickened out. I actually had a ticket purchased, too, which I was (of course) able to have refunded.

But isn't it possible that a businessman might be sitting at the gate with boarding pass in hand, ready to fly to JFK, and his boss calls and says he needs to go to Chicago instead. Wouldn't that businessman head straight to the counter, get a refund, then buy the next full fare ticket to ORD? You guys are the experts. Any thoughts?

What happens if the flight is not oversold? You could end up going on a very expensive trip, or being in a very awkward position.

I agree that "intent" is the key here. Randy, can you provide more details about the case you refer to?

I would imagine that in the situation of the original poster, where they did this once, there would be no possible way of the airline proving that there was an intent to defraud, let alone even suspecting it, unless the person was exceedingly stupid in how they did it.

I think it's similar to the situation of a frequent flyer having the occasional throw-away or back-to-back flight posted to their account. There are any number of legitimate reasons why this might happen, not the least of which is actual flown segments not posting to the account due to the airline's fault. As such, most airlines won't think twice when this happens occasionally. But when a pattern of behavior becomes evident, then someone might look into the circumstances in more detail.

I would imagine that the same would hold true for the "false booking with intent of receiving involuntary denied boarding compensation" situation. I would be very surprised if someone did this once and the airline made an issue of it. After all, who's to say that after accepting the bump compensation and rescheduling on a later flight, the passenger discovers that the delay will negate the purpose of the trip, or the reasons for the trip change? That's one of the reasons that you might buy an unrestricted ticket in the first place - your plans are highly subject to change, and you want to remain flexible.

I don't mean to recommend or condone doing this, but I remain skeptical that doing it once (or twice) would raise any flags, especially if you are otherwise a regular customer of the airline in question.

I don't know the circumstances of the case where Randy testified. If I had to speculate, I'd guess that the defendant's actions were "over the top" such that there was no question as to what they were trying to do.

I think it would be easier to go back to the ticket desk and get them to exchange it for an MCO...valid 12 months for further travel, if the next ticket you want is less value, they just issue you with another one, and so on.

Compensation for being bumped is one of the few times where you (the passenger) can have your cake and eat it too.

It is unethical to volunteer, get the compensation, and then return the ticket for a refund.

But if the bump is involuntary, I think the passenger has the right to take the compensation and also get a refund for the ticket.

After all, he may miss the engagement at the destination and taking a later flight would be of no use to him. The airline industry has a term for this: "futile flight".

Travel tips:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/travel.htm

There is an old saying that goes something like, "If you are going to take a bribe, make sure that its big enough to support you for the rest of your life."

i.e. If your a cop, don't take a $20 bribe that will cost you your job. Make sure that its big enough so that if you lose your job you're ok.

The same applies here.

Being checked in just means it's very likely you'll actually be on the flight, and that helps the airline determine how many standby passengers can board or how many volunteers are needed. Your ticket isn't consumed until you actually get off the plane at your destination.

I agree. However, involuntary bumps are so rare, aiming for that is not worth your time. You would be better off investing the purchase amount over the weekend.

how about this scenario.

i was on a dl flight ont-slc at 7am. they came on board and offered $750 voucher each for 2 people. they would book you the next day as all 4 flights that day were oversold.

i had a refundable ticket ($900). if i had volunteered, could i have taken the voucher, refunded my ticket and walked over to ua and purchased a ticket for $450 on their next flight which had openings?

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Absolutely. I have done this once or twice. Nobody can fault you for making your best effort to get to your destination as soon as possible after being bumped. The original question was about people who never intended to fly the route they booked.