Aug 13, 2018, 2:39 pm
Last edit by: WineCountryUA
from Wikipedia's Airline booking ploys
Consolidated "Hidden City Ticketing Questions"
Throwaway ticketing is purchasing a ticket with the intent to use only a portion of the included travel. This situation may arise when a passenger wants to travel only one way, but where the discounted round-trip excursion fare is cheaper than a one-way ticket
Hidden city ticketing (HCT) is a variant of throwaway ticketing. The passenger books a ticket to a fictitious destination (the "hidden" city) with a connection at the intended destination, walks away at the connection node, and discards the remaining segment.
Throwaway Tickets , such as book RT but only use OW - any issues with UA?
Jan 8, 2012, 6:06 pm
#17
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As there is no LAX-IAH segment on your ticket they would know what you are doing if you call and say can't do the LAX flight. Then there is the chance they will adjust your fare to the 600 you are trying to avoid paying or even higher if that fare is not available anymore.
Jan 8, 2012, 6:17 pm
#19
Join Date: Jan 2009
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I'm a little surprised you're unable to book MEX-IAH-LAX, and then a separate ticket IAH-MEX. Are you sure the fares you're buying have round-trip requirements?
Jan 8, 2012, 6:22 pm
#20
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 5,814
+1. Your best and safest bet is to call and ask what the fare difference would be if you dropped the last segment. It gets real messy and possibly really costly as you may end up paying for a Y ticket for your return ticket back.
Even if you claim medical issues -- they probably say you are out of luck unless if you purchased trip insurance (even then, i'm not 100% sure what they cover) -- trip insurance requires proof as well.
Even if you claim medical issues -- they probably say you are out of luck unless if you purchased trip insurance (even then, i'm not 100% sure what they cover) -- trip insurance requires proof as well.
Jan 8, 2012, 6:22 pm
#21
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Sometimes they are even over stingy about this. Been posts about people who were actually on a flight but for some reason the BP reader didn't register them and the rest of their itinerary got canceled then they had to fight to get it restored.
Jan 8, 2012, 6:26 pm
#22
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 167
If I book them separately it will cost me a lot more.
If I did happen to travel and they cancel my trip my only excuse would be that I had to stay at Houston for medical reasons (my actual trip is for medical reasons) and that I had a flight with another airline from L.A. to Houston but lost it.
If I did happen to travel and they cancel my trip my only excuse would be that I had to stay at Houston for medical reasons (my actual trip is for medical reasons) and that I had a flight with another airline from L.A. to Houston but lost it.
Jan 8, 2012, 6:32 pm
#23
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If I book them separately it will cost me a lot more.
If I did happen to travel and they cancel my trip my only excuse would be that I had to stay at Houston for medical reasons (my actual trip is for medical reasons) and that I had a flight with another airline from L.A. to Houston but lost it.
If I did happen to travel and they cancel my trip my only excuse would be that I had to stay at Houston for medical reasons (my actual trip is for medical reasons) and that I had a flight with another airline from L.A. to Houston but lost it.
Which is still a violation of the fare rules and may or may not elicit the sympathy you're seeking.
Another way of trying it is insisting you flew to LAX and acting like they're crazy.
But with the distance between IAH and LAX, it seems quite suspect and may raise an eyebrow or two, as people don't typically drive between LAX and IAH.
Have you looked at flying MEX-IAH-LAX-IAH? That may be cheaper than MEX-IAH.
There are other markets with cheap MEX fares as well (SFO, SMF, etc. can often be inexpensive). If you have the time, you may want to combine something that works for you price-wise and adds a bunch of miles.
Jan 8, 2012, 7:08 pm
#25
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Jan 8, 2012, 7:11 pm
#26
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Jan 8, 2012, 7:12 pm
#27
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 167
Jan 8, 2012, 7:16 pm
#28
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: NYC
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It would be surprising to see the cost of MEX-LAX + LAX-IAH being substantially cheaper than just buying the MEX-IAH flight and being satisfied that one isn't spending most of a day on planes to save a few bucks.
Jan 8, 2012, 7:24 pm
#30
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Try other routings like MEX-LAX-IAH-LAX-MEX or some other connecting city. Sometimes doing a connection saves money over a non-stop. Other than that I don't there is anything else we can help you with. If nothing saves the money you want you just may have to take the non-*A flight and give up on the miles if it is the cost that is prohibitive for you.