timezone_trooper

I'm trying to pull off a unique date idea for a fellow travel enthusiast and wanted to take her to the airport in AUS to hang out for a bit and do some people watching and hang out and grab a couple drinks in the UC. From my understanding, gate passes are a no go without a UM/disabled/elderly person, so the plan was to buy a Y fare, get into the terminal and then offload and cancel the ticket. Is there anything in particular that I need to know? Is there a best practice in pulling this off? I'm punching above my weight with this particular lady so any tips are much appreciated

mahasamatman

Just that it's a violation of the Contract of Carriage, and the TSA also deeply frowns on people fraudulently passing through "security".

Finally, this has nothing at all to do with United, so a moderator should find a more appropriate forum for this thread.

timezone_trooper

Disagree it has nothing to do with United, since I'm specifically asking about the process of offloading/canceling on United. Also, with regard to the Contract of Carriage, while not explicitly stated, I'm guessing this falls under Rule 6.J.5 which seems to be a bit of a catch all.

I also don't get how presenting a valid ID and boarding pass and submitting to the TSA screening process constitutes any kind of fraudulent behavior; I've had to cancel flights in-terminal in the past, albeit for different reasons, and frankly this is no different.

fastair

onthesam

Don't worry about intent. We all cancel for one reason or another from time to time. Though yes, if folk caught on to your scheme (and it's likely nobody cares) questions might be asked. In reality, large chance is it will be NBD.

How about instead of a UC/Salt Lick date you consider flying to a nearby locale for steaks?

EDIT: these guys are right its technically against COC but again, reality is a different animal.

timezone_trooper

It is, thank you. Although, practically, I don't how United would ever discern that I have no intention of flying; no pattern of this type of behavior so they'd be guessing at best.

fastair

timezone_trooper

Fair play, can't argue with anything you've said. I frankly couldn't care less about injury to the TSA, but I do understand the impacts to United. Very low rating on my personal immorality barometer, but perhaps I'll pack a picnic basket and sit under the approach path.

WineCountryUA

Some small/private aircraft airports have a restaurant (and some have pretty decent food) with a good view of the runaways without any access issues.

findark

It's generally recommended to do this on a carrier that you do not fly regularly. If you are a UC member, you don't need to be flying UA to access the club. If you're trying to use ticket-based lounge access, this actually is something that can get flagged as abuse even if only done once.

princeville

I think a fellow travel enthusiast wouldn't be very impressed by this date. It's a bit of a tease to take her to an airport and not get on a plane, and she will probably also recognize that buying a ticket for access and then cancelling isn't allowed (I guess some people would be more bothered by this than others).

I would be on the lookout for an inexpensive, short flight to another city for dinner or lunch and then fly back home the same day. I don't know what fares in your area are like, but there are regularly fares from LAX to SFO or LAS (both less than an hour actual flight time) for $40-50 one-way. Not a cheap date but doable for most and I know I would be far more impressed if actual flying was involved. If that's out of the budget, I do think a picnic under the flight path would be a better way to go. Good luck!

LondonElite

Let me see if I understand properly...

You want to impress a girl/travel enthusiast by taking her to the Austin airport concourse and UC? I'm not going to judge, but I'm sure there are more interesting aviation dates to dream up. I mean, it's not like you're going to watch Concorde take off. To me personally, the shorter the airport experience, the better. Are you sure this girl is going to be impressed with this idea? Or could it backfire cringingly?

Also, and I don't mean to defend UA's terms at all, but it would be pretty obvious to anyone looking that buying two fully-refundable tickets that are then, miraculously, refunded the same day, does not fit into your typical buying pattern (which, if you are a 1K, must be a bit).

Kacee

Agree 1000%. I would never do anything like this using a UA ticket. Too much to lose.
WN would be a good ticket to buy for this purpose, you don't even have to refund it since there are no change fees.

FlyerTalker70

I'm assuming you don't have a UC Membership because who one when they already get access for free as a 1K >

My recommendation would be to do a cheap international milage run with her. Nothing says romance than flying Y on UA Metal as an elite and playing the upgrade lottery... whose CPU will clear first? Will you need to use an upgrade instrument? What was the ToD upgrade offer? Not only will you have UC access, but as a 1K you'll get a free snack and drink to share with your date to boot! Then of course there's the excitement of going to that "international" destination (I hear YYC is lively this time of year)...and certainly last but not least having something to show for it at the end (i.e. the accumulated BIS you'll use to eventually get off the hamster wheel that is the annual re-qualification period). To top it all off perhaps you'll be able to get a cheap fare to LAX which is world famous for the In-N-Out run. Nothing says romance than seeing A380s taxi down the runway while having a double-double and milk shake!

If she doesn't mind all of this, I'd say she's a keeper

Safe Travels,

James

Miles Ahead

Count me in for upvoting the fly-to-somewhere idea. I suggest somewhere on a CRJ-200. On that aircraft, snuggling with your seatmate is not only possible, it's practically mandatory!