Airline booking ploys

Airline booking ploys are tactics used by travelers in commercial aviation to lower the costs of flying to a desired destination. These tactics work around the airline's fare system. Several such tactics exist.

Hidden City Ticketing

Hidden city ticketing occurs when a passenger disembarks an indirect flight at the connection node. Flight fares are subject to market forces, and therefore do not necessarily correlate to the distance flown. As a result, a flight between point A to point C, with a connection node at point B, might be cheaper than a flight between point A and point B. It is then possible to purchase a flight ticket from point A to point C, disembark at the connection node and discard the remaining coupons.

Using the hidden city tactic is usually possible only for one-way trips, as the airlines often cancel the subsequent parts of the trip once a traveller has disembarked. Also, it requires that the traveler have carry-on luggage only, as any checked baggage items will be unloaded only at the flight's final destination. Exceptions to this requirement are when re-entering a country where luggage must be processed by customs agents or when changing airports or train travel is involved in the flight ticket. This allows for a traveler to reclaim their luggage but before rechecking for their final destination, the traveler can simply leave the airport.

Throwaway Ticketing

Throwaway ticketing is the practice of purchasing a ticket with the intent to use only a portion of the included travel. This situation may arise when a passenger only wants to travel one way, but where the discounted round-trip excursion fare is cheaper than a one-way ticket. This can happen on mainline carriers where all one-way tickets are full price. For instance a passenger only intending to fly from Los Angeles to New York may find the one-way ticket costs $800, but that the round-trip fare is $500. The passenger therefore purchases the round trip from Los Angeles to New York and back to Los Angeles, boards the flight to New York, but stays in New York and "throws away" the second half of the ticket by not showing up for the return flight. It is advised that passengers throw away the second half, because throwing away the first half by not showing up for the outbound trip will often lead to the airline cancelling the entire ticket. [1]

Back-to-Back Ticketing

In back-to-back ticketing, a traveler wants to make two round trips midweek. Airlines typically charge more for midweek round trips than trips that involved a Saturday night stay. This ploy allows the traveler to book two round-trip tickets with Saturday stays even though the actual travel is all midweek. If a business traveler wanted to make two round trips from New York to Los Angeles in two consecutive weeks, the traveler could book a round trip leaving New York Monday of week 1 and returning to New York Friday of week 2. Then the traveler could book a second round trip ticket in the opposite direction, leaving Los Angeles on Friday of week 1 and return to Los Angeles Monday of week 2. In week 1, the traveler flies the first leg of the first ticket, then returns home on the first leg of the second ticket. The following week the traveler flies from New York to Los Angeles again, this time on the second leg of the second ticket, and finally returns to New York on the second leg of the first ticket.

Legal status

Airlines are strongly opposed to booking ploys for financial reasons. Many airlines have established means of apprehending travelers who take advantage of such tactics, most notably through their Frequent flyer programs. [2]

When a traveler is shown to have practiced such methods, airlines may respond by confiscating tickets, cancelling frequent flier status and billing travel agents for the fare difference.

Airlines contend that booking ploys are an illegal practice. However, even though booking ploys might be a breach of contract and against airline rules, the illegality of such endeavours has been disputed by legal experts. [3]

Resources

• http://www.travelterminal.com/resfaq.shtml
• Hidden City Risk

References

• Air fare loopholes - The Ultimate Airline Bluff? The Travel Insider, August 9, 2002, updated May 8, 2006.
• Frequent Liars
• Travel Secrets

External links

• IATA