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Pro tip: Always buy a round-trip ticket when you plan to flee fraud. It looks better in court and in newspapers, and nobody will force you to take the trip back
by sys32768 4y ago
Pro tip: Always buy a round-trip ticket when you plan to flee fraud. It looks better in court and in newspapers, and nobody will force you to take the trip back.
- rockostrich 4y agoYou might be banned from flying that airline again if you don't get on the flight back without letting them know with a valid reason. Of course that's probably the least of your worries if you're fleeing your own country because of fraud.
- scotty79 4y agoSeriously? That's Orwellian.
- bloodyplonker22 4y agoAirlines also do it to prevent people from "gaming" the system. People buy multi leg tickets and miss parts of the flights purposely in order to get higher airline status and points, or just to get to one city cheaper. Sometimes, they take roundtrip flights on the same day back and forth to gain points and airline flyer club status.
- doctor_eval 4y agoI used to take same day round trip flights all the time. Isn’t it normal for business travel? I could leave home at 7am, fly to stinky Sydney, meet my customers, and be home again by 7pm.
- pxx 4y agoYeah I don't think anybody would ever get on your case about tight turns that were possible. The problem only occurs when you book flights with segments that directly conflict with each other. Or depart within minutes of each other despite their origins being thousands of miles apart.
- ghaff 4y agoI've also been in cases where I've changed my itinerary and it was cheaper to just be a no-show--and rebook a one-way on possibly a different airline.
- scotty79 4y agoBut they do pay for the return journey they didn't make, right? So where's the gain?
- pxx 4y agoInternationally it is common for a roundtrip to be cheaper than a one-way. No, not cheaper than two one-ways. Cheaper than one one-way.
- logifail 4y ago> Airlines also do it to prevent people from "gaming" the system. People buy multi leg tickets and miss parts of the flights purposely in order to get higher airline status and points, or just to get to one city cheaper. Sometimes, they take roundtrip flights on the same day back and forth to gain points and airline flyer club status. Late last year I flew aaa-bbb-aaa-bbb-ccc-ddd across Europe, all in one day, for exactly that reason. Five flights across four separate bookings/tickets. The connection at ccc was the tricky bit, not only "connecting" on a different ticket (so not really a connection), but a different airline alliance. They design the system, you follow the rules. Unintended consequences aren't really your problem.
- jobs_throwaway 4y agoPeople miss flights all the time. You have to get really unlucky for a one-off flight miss to result in a ban
- uh_uh 4y agoIf anything, wouldn't airlines be happy if you already paid for the flight and miss it? Especially if they overbook.
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- ceejayoz 4y agoNot when you're abusing a pricing quirk to drastically reduce your flight's price. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190226-the-travel-trick-that-airlines-hate https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190226-the-travel-tri...
- fragmede 4y agoWhy link to a news article about it when the actual site is just https://skiplagged.com/ https://skiplagged.com/ ?
- ceejayoz 4y agoThat site is named after the practice, not the other way around, and the article is far more informative on how it all works (as well as the steps airlines take to combat it).
- pxx 4y agoInternationally it is common for a roundtrip to be cheaper than a one-way. No, not cheaper than two one-ways. Cheaper than one one-way.
- NickNameNick 4y agoI think that's more of an issue with 'hidden city ticketing'/deliberately missing connections, because it's cheaper than buying a ticket to the layover location.
- jaywalk 4y agoYeah, airlines don't like that at all. Doing it once is highly unlikely to result in any action, but you're playing with fire either way.
- SilasX 4y agoRight. It’s an issue when you buy a ticket from A to C with an A-B and B-C leg, and you get off in B. The ticket might be cheaper (than A-B) because the airline is competing with a direct A-C flight. But if it’s just A-B and B-A and you don’t take the return flight, no one cares. (I’ve even gotten flack for notifying the airline as a courtesy…)
- pxx 4y agoFor one-way markets what you have is true. For round-trip markets, typically internationally, what you have is not. E.g. LAX-NRT on 3/2 on UA 32 is $966 right now. Add a return flight on 3/9 and the flight _drops_ to $893. I'd be surprised any airline gave you flak for telling them you were missing a segment. They might try to charge you more (!).
- dwaite 4y ago> I'd be surprised any airline gave you flak for telling them you were missing a segment. They might try to charge you more (!). They do indeed, including trip change fees. For myself, I luckily got an agent who was nice enough to ignore what I had told her.
- hef19898 4y agoYou don't travel much, do you? Worst case, you loose the money spend on the ticket and you have to buy a new one. Unless, of course, you planned for a pretty long vacation anyway.
- havblue 4y agoYou do have to worry if you have to miss the first leg of a trip for some reason. They'll void the second leg as well if you don't call to straighten everything out.
- jaywalk 4y agoWell if you miss the first leg, it'll be pretty difficult to use subsequent legs anyway.
- ceejayoz 4y agoNo, people used to do this a lot deliberately because of airline pricing oddities. You'd book from your home airport --> your destination --> Tiny Airport X, then skip the second flight, because the price would often be much cheaper that way. Called "skiplagging": https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190226-the-travel-trick-that-airlines-hate https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190226-the-travel-tri...
- bialpio 4y agoBut that's not skipping the _first_ leg.
- dwaite 4y agoI had a family trip where it was suddenly required I show up two hours earlier, and the original airline didn't have a flight that would get me there. I booked a one way ticket on another to make it work, then was surprised when I tried to return home that I no longer had a valid ticket for the first. Of course, they'll helpfully offer to let you buy a one-way ticket at the counter, 90 minutes before departure, at maximal pricing.
- dangerboysteve 4y agoAirplane seats are oversold, so airlines don't care.
- kube-system 4y agoDepends on the airline, not all overbook.
- dylan604 4y agoName please. I want to fly that airline. If you say "my broter Steve's a pilot, and he's never overbooked," I'm going to be very upset
- kube-system 4y agoSouthwest and JetBlue don't overbook. https://www.southwest.com/help/changes-and-cancellations/overbooking https://www.southwest.com/help/changes-and-cancellations/ove... https://www.jetblue.com/legal/notices-to-customers https://www.jetblue.com/legal/notices-to-customers However, this isn't a guarantee you won't get bumped. This just means that the maximum number of tickets sold to customers equals the number of seats on the plane. If the plane changes, so do the number of available seats. And not all passengers are customers. Some may be crew deadheading to another location. More generally, it is less common for low cost carriers to overbook flights because their passengers tend to be cost-conscious vacationers who paid for the flight out of their own pocket and aren't about to forfeit the fare. Usually these passengers show up at a very high rate. So there usually isn't even a reason to want to overbook these flights.
- notatoad 4y agosure, but once you're in mexico it's just a quick courtesy call to the airline to let them know you're an international fugitive from justice and won't be able to catch your return flight.
- dwaite 4y agoThat might even be covered under the optional flight insurance
- dylan604 4y agoWe'll never know because nobody ever has bought that and had a successful claim
- logifail 4y ago> it's just a quick courtesy call to the airline to let them know you're an international fugitive from justice For the return leg, you check in online, download your boarding pass, and ignore it. You "had a flat tyre on the way to the airport", or similar. In these situations, telling the truth doesn't help.
- notatoad 4y agoyeah you could do that, but wouldn't it be more fun to call the airport and tell them you're fleeing from the law?
- rsj_hn 4y agoBack in reality, people miss flights all the time. Not only are you not banned from flying the airline, you often get a credit that you can apply for your next flight.
- logifail 4y agoIt does depend on what kind of ticket you're travelling on, and what restrictions apply to it. Full disclosure: I have a bit of a history of flying on what some call "mistake fares". Back in 2013 I flew "from Europe to Hong Kong and back", except it was routed via Australia(!) both on the inbound and the outbound. Was convinced I was going to be denied boarding at every single stop on the itinerary ... I was also younger and fitter then :)
- rsj_hn 4y agoBut were you actually denied boarding, or just worried about it? The restrictions may affect what kind of credit you get for missing a flight, but you will never be banned from flying the airline - that's absurd.
- logifail 4y agoAirlines don't have to honour mistake fares, and this was definitely one of those. FWIW, I got away with it. If you miss a flight and the airline determines you booked it (typically as a return or hidden city leg) without ever intending to fly it, they will very definitely try to make life difficult for you. Try short-checking a bag to LON on a NYC-LON-Europe booking with AA or BA, they will refuse. They're worried you booked to Europe for a lower price but intended all along to leave in LON. There are ways round this "rule", too. If you know what you're doing.
- paxys 4y agoThis is idiotic. No airline has ever permanently banned a passenger for missing a flight. The most that can happen is if you miss the first leg they will automatically cancel the second one.
- pxx 4y agohttps://www.npr.org/2019/02/13/694352593/lufthansa-airlines-sues-customer-who-skipped-part-of-his-return-flight https://www.npr.org/2019/02/13/694352593/lufthansa-airlines-...
- paxys 4y agoNot sure what this has to do with what we are discussing? Even otherwise, as the article says the court dismissed the case.
- pxx 4y agoIt's pretty clear that LH is not going to ferry this passenger without further payment.
- unsupp0rted 4y ago> The court ruled that Lufthansa's contract terms lack transparency and can't be used to recalculate airfare in a case such as this. By contrast, the court said, the airline's method of calculating its initial price is "completely intransparent."
- bombolo 4y agoAirlines aren't your parents.
- paxys 4y agoI'm going to go ahead and guess that any international travel plans – whether round trip or not – made by a convicted felon awaiting sentencing is going to raise flags and will be blocked by the government.
- bee_rider 4y agoThe only possible redeeming feature of the round trip plan is that, when the government inevitably finds out about it, at least you have a slightly easier time explaining that you’d planned on coming back. I mean it is the thinnest probably-electroplated silver lining in the sense that they probably won’t believe you but at least there’s some minuscule evidence in your favor.
- prepend 4y agoThis falls into the category of “cheap and dumb criminals.” Similar to the first World Trade Center bombers that tried to get their deposit back on the rental truck they blew up.
- dylan604 4y agoThis is actually the first time I've heard that. Is this urban legend (it is funny as hell), or did it actually happen? "Two of these pieces bore a vehicle identification number (VIN) that the FBI traced to a rental agency in Jersey City, N.J. The man who rented the truck, Mohammed Salameh, had reported it stolen. Seeking a refund of his $400 deposit, Salameh repeatedly returned to the Jersey City rental agency where he rented the Ryder van. Working with the rental office personnel, FBI agents arrested Salameh." [0] So, yes, it really did happen. At least he reported it stolen first. I cannot believe that did not eliminate him as a suspect as that was such a well thought out alibi. Besides, how much was that $400 refund in comparison to the money that Osama surely must have paid him to carry out the deed. [0]https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/1993-world-trade-center-bombing-investigation https://www.911memorial.org/connect/blog/1993-world-trade-ce...
- anigbrowl 4y agoI suspect it was less about the $400 than following through on the alibi and hoping to slow the investigation down a little. I'm more surprised they didn't just buy a cheap truck in New Jersey.
- logifail 4y ago> Pro tip: Always buy a round-trip ticket when you plan to flee fraud. It looks better in court Another pro tip: round-trip tickets are often cheaper than one-way tickets, even if you don't plan to return! The "return" can be a long, long way in the future, too.
- Invictus0 4y agoI challenge you to find a roundtrip ticket from anywhere to anywhere that is cheaper than the one way.
- hk__2 4y agoHere you go: https://twitter.com/bfontn/status/1456536089963995148 https://twitter.com/bfontn/status/1456536089963995148
- Scoundreller 4y agoHappens all the time on Air Canada and Air France between Toronto and Paris. Round-trip: $800 One-way: $2000 (or $4k for two one-ways to make up a round-trip) I don’t know why anyone would ever book a one-way. It’s insanity. It’s a real pain, and makes it harder to create your own open-jaw when the airline doesn’t serve all 3 cities. What ends up happening is I book through other airlines entirely that don’t pull these shenanigans.
- gymbeaux 4y agoThis is true for domestic flights, but international round trip tends to be cheaper
- pxx 4y agoI posted this down thread: E.g. LAX-NRT on 3/2 on UA 32 is $966 right now. Add a return flight on 3/9 and the flight _drops_ to $893.
- radicaldreamer 4y agoAirlines really hate accounting for one way passenger flow. This is actually an interesting problem in the crypto space as well with things like remittances.
- JumpinJack_Cash 4y agoPro Pro tip: Don't buy anything, America as a landmass can be crossed from the Southern tip to Alaska with a simple car (however a LandCruiser or a Jeep would be better to face the offroad and/or the snow)
- dylan604 4y agoare you suggesting it would be better to be on the lamb in remote parts right under the noses of the gov't attempting to be avoided? how well did that work out for Ted Kaczynski or Eric Rudolf and these were guys that loved the idea of living in the wilderness. how well do you think little ms pampered would make in a cabin in the woods?
- JumpinJack_Cash 4y agoShe only had to make the uncomfortable car trip once. From San Francisco to Mexico City. There are thousands of metropolis outside the US, hundreds in Latin America and about 20 just South of the US border in Mexico. Persons of interest who are not Osama Bin Laden or Escobar or Chapo Guzman they are only captured because they use airports like they were regular civilians
- kadoban 4y ago> how well did that work out for Ted Kaczynski or Eric Rudolf and these were guys that loved the idea of living in the wilderness. Kaczynski lived in the woods for like 2 full decades, right? I'm not sure I get the point.
- dylan604 4y agoWhere is Kaczynski now? Whether you run to a far off country living a decent maybe modest life before ultimately getting caught vs living like it's the 1800s in not very comfy lifestyle before getting caught, you still got caught. Do you really think ms iAmSomebodySpecial is going to live like the unibomber for 20 years? so the point is why would someone recommend that a poshSpice type of person live like a mountain man? hell, even Heisenberg couldn't live in the woods by himself before escaping back to his home to his eventual capture.
- paulpauper 4y agopro-tip 2: don't fly. everything is recorded pro-tip 3: book flight before federal investigation
- dylan604 4y agopro-tip 4: be a better criminal and avoid federal investigation
- Scoundreller 4y agoEspecially when you’re in California and Mexico is next door. You can just drive there. Which helps the story that it wasn’t an escape plan because they couldn’t be that stupid, could they?
- Scoundreller 4y agoDepending on the airline, you might be able to get the taxes back on the flight you didn’t take too.