The cheapest distance between two points

February 24, 2009 6:21 AM

Let's say that traveler X would like to fly from city A to city B on American Airlines. The cost to fly from A to B is $500. X notices that a flight from A to C costs $300, and includes a layover in B. What, if any, are the negative consequences to X if he purchases the A to C itinerary, carries his bags on the flight, and leaves the airport after arriving at B, never to complete the B - C leg?

For purposes of this question, please set aside abstract moral consequences, such as "eternity in hell" or "a permanent dark spot in the soul" and focus on more tangible, earthly problems.

posted by Pater Aletheias to travel & transportation (13 comments total)

I can't find where I read this, but I vaguely recall someone reporting that if you do not use the B-C ticket, the airline may cancel your return tickets. (B-C, B-A)
posted by Comrade_robot at 6:23 AM on February 24

Nothing, as long as you don't have a round trip ticket. They will cancel all remaining legs of your itinerary after you don't show up for the B - C leg.
posted by jshort at 6:24 AM on February 24

In this hypothetical, it's a one-way flight.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:24 AM on February 24

You may even be able to call the airline once you arrive at B, and cancel the B-C portion resulting in a partial credit for a future flight depending on the airline policy.

These questions are best asked on flyertalk.com. That's where the experts for this sort of thing hang out.
posted by xotis at 6:31 AM on February 24 [1 favorite has favorites]

Then you'll be fine. Just make sure your bag fits under the seat (and you're not in a bulkhead row) and/or that you board early enough that there is still room in the overhead. Otherwise, you might get stuck checking the bag at the gate and it will be waiting for you in C.
posted by jshort at 6:35 AM on February 24

I did this on a round-trip ticket when my B-to-C flight was delayed so late that it was faster to rent a car and drive. I told them what I was up to before I left the B airport, and still had to call the airline to check in on my return trip (my tickets were in some sort of limbo state), but there were no adverse consequences.
posted by magicbus at 6:47 AM on February 24

This is called hidden cities ticketing. In the past, at least, airlines have tried to penalize travelers (or their travel agents) for doing this.
posted by katemonster at 7:02 AM on February 24

For your Googling convenience, this is usually called a "hidden city" fare. American Airlines doesn't like it, of course, but there's not much they can really do to punish the individual traveler other than cancel the remainder of the itinerary and bluster about it.
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:06 AM on February 24

If you only do it once, and you do not use a travel agent, then it is vanishingly unlikely that AA will do anything about it. If you did it many times you might start worrying about AA zeroing out your frequent flier account (although that is rare as well).

Delta used to have a Revenue Protection Unit that would look for repeat offenders of their terms. They'd invoice them for the difference between what Delta said they should have paid, and remove their frequent flier miles. I think they gave up on this stupid idea.
posted by grouse at 7:21 AM on February 24

I did this a couple of years ago, and as far as I can tell there were no consequences
posted by mjcon at 7:39 AM on February 24

There is the chance that they decide to layover at a different place for some reason at the last minute, and then you have no recourse since it's not technically your paid-for destination.
posted by Jupiter Jones at 7:44 AM on February 24 [1 favorite has favorites]

A friend of mine did this when we traveled back from Paris. He wanted to go to NY, but found it cheaper to fly to DC through NY. However, he couldn't carry on his bags and had to call and have the bags transfered to NY, for a nominal fee ($50). They weren't too upset, really, but this was an international flight...
posted by stratastar at 8:50 AM on February 24

On a one-way you can probably get away with it. On a round-trip/back-to-back version of this it's more dangerous - they can and will de-plane you if they detect it and charge you the full fare you should have paid. This happened to my boss about two years ago.
posted by Thistledown at 5:50 PM on February 24