Loophole or Loopey?

[mdricks]

I was booking a one way flight back from Orlando and the following caught my eye. How do they keep me from doing this?????

A direct flight from MCO to STL is $300, leaves at 11:00

A one-stop flight to Vegas is $200, leaves at 11:00

You guessed it, the first leg of the Vegas Flight is STL.

How do they keep me from buying the Vegas ticket and just getting off the plane?

Thanks!

[mdricks]

NEVERMIND!! got my answer.

In short, dont do it if you ever want to fly with them again.

[brivers222]

NEVERMIND!! got my answer.

In short, dont do it if you ever want to fly with them again.

LOL!!!! that made me chuckle

[brian2000boston]

Did you call them? Why would they care if you decided not to take the second leg of the trip???

[mdricks]

Got a pm from someone else. He described it thusly.....

Its like counting cards in vegas, not illegal but if they catch you, you will never do it again.

[lovinmesomedisney]

They just had $80 each way from St. Louis to Orlando and vice versa on Southwest. I definitely took advantage of it for September.

[TiggeRia]

I've thought about doing that before, but the biggest problem I foresee is checked luggage traveling on without you....

[DVC2004]

Yeah, don't do it. The checked baggage, probably there would be no show or cancellation fees for the missed leg of the flight. The airlines are real funny about that sort of thing.

[rwdavis2]

I have a question. Assuming you are flying Southwest (no assigned seats) how do they know which specific person got off the plane at the midway point? They may know that there are not the expected number of people on the plane wen it takes off again but not who got off, correct?

You could just grab your carry-on luggage and go as if you meant to get off there in the first place. This also assume you are not changing planes but just making a stop to drop off and pick up.

What am I missing?

[Dulcee]

I'm not sure I see why its a problem either.. If you only have carry on it makes sense. Not for nothing but most flights are overbooked due to airlines counting on no shows and missed flights.

[ThanxForNoticin]

I have a question. Assuming you are flying Southwest (no assigned seats) how do they know which specific person got off the plane at the midway point? They may know that there are not the expected number of people on the plane wen it takes off again but not who got off, correct?

You could just grab your carry-on luggage and go as if you meant to get off there in the first place. This also assume you are not changing planes but just making a stop to drop off and pick up.

What am I missing?

For the people staying on the same plane for the next destination, they know the number of passengers expected to continue traveling. If that number doesn't match the actual people on the plane, they'll find out who is missing by asking for names. If you are scheduled to change planes, you need a second boarding pass to get on the new plane. If you don't show, they'll know in their records that you made the first flight and not the second.

I'm sure it will kick off some sort of security alert - probably not worth it right now with all the concerns around security. I do agree 100% with you, though. It seems so stupid to have a situation like that, and it is tempting to try it. But it's not wise to do it.

[darthmacho]

I have a question. Assuming you are flying Southwest (no assigned seats) how do they know which specific person got off the plane at the midway point? They may know that there are not the expected number of people on the plane wen it takes off again but not who got off, correct?

You could just grab your carry-on luggage and go as if you meant to get off there in the first place. This also assume you are not changing planes but just making a stop to drop off and pick up.

What am I missing?

I wouldn't get off the flight at the mid-way point if I were you, it's a long way down...

Seriously, I wouldn't bother trying to manipulate the system. If they figure it out, who knows, you may end up on the do-not-fly list or something.

[mdricks]

That's the reason I brought it up. How will they know? Obviously this would only work one-way no checked luggage so it can't be that ubiquitous.

Let's say counts off pre flight. Would soeone have the presence of mind to check the flight registry for any frequent fliers who live in stl? Or cross reference the flight registry for anyone flying out of stl in the last week?

"Paging mr mdricks, would mr mdricks please come to the ticket counter at A 14."

Problem is they can do all kinds of nasty things to a frequent business and pleasure traveller. Cancell your ff miles? Ban you from SWA?

Lots of potential problems I would rather not find out about.