Abbie Hoffman's cryptic "fly free" techniques
March 2, 2014 10:34 AM Subscribe
In Steal This Book, Abbie Hoffman states:
We know two foolproof methods to fly free, but unfortunately we feel publishing them would cause the airlines to change their policy.Ever since I read the book as a kid, I've wondered what those methods were. Presumably, they're antiquated and safe to discuss. Anyone have any ideas?
Bereavement fares have never been free, just discounted, and honestly not all that much. There was a WSJ article ~6 years ago about (the then-new) last minute travel sites that were giving better rates.
posted by danny the boy at 11:23 AM on March 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by danny the boy at 11:23 AM on March 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
There was an Ask question ages ago about how people used to be able to pay for a plane ticket when they were on the plane, instead of buying in advance, but I don't know what era that was in. Steal This Book was published in 1971 so maybe it had something to do with that? They can't really kick you off a plane once it's taken off if you can't pay for the ticket.
posted by jabes at 12:26 PM on March 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by jabes at 12:26 PM on March 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
We must also consider the possibility that Hoffman just cold made this up.
posted by thelonius at 1:39 PM on March 2, 2014 [10 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 1:39 PM on March 2, 2014 [10 favorites]
Best answer: A plot point of the 1970 Airport film is Helen Hayes flying for free, by just getting on when nobody's looking and taking an empty seat, later claiming to have 'lost' her boarding pass. Yes, that this was possible in 1968 when Arthur Hailey wrote the novel indicates how different security was back then.
posted by Rash at 1:40 PM on March 2, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by Rash at 1:40 PM on March 2, 2014 [8 favorites]
Best answer: One way is by masquerading as off-duty flight-crew deadheading to their next flight or to get home. This is how the guy who wrote "Catch Me if You Can" used to fly for free.
posted by w0mbat at 2:28 PM on March 2, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by w0mbat at 2:28 PM on March 2, 2014 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Deadheading is (was) totally a thing. A friend of mine used to be an attendant (does training now), and any weekend he was off he'd just deadhead wherever the hell he felt like. He did actually, once, fly to Paris for breakfast just for the hell of it. Walked onto a redeye in his uniform, chilled with the other attendants, had a decadent breakfast, walked onto another plane and came home. Totally ridiculous, but the only thing ever that made me consider trying a flight attendant job.
He did add, though, that it was getting increasingly difficult to get away with post-9/11, except for pilots.
I'd imagine these days a fake US Marshal badge would probably get you on an airplane for free; it seems like one of those things that's so risky to do they don't double check anyone, because who'd be stupid enough.
hold on, idea for a movie. brb.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 3:20 PM on March 2, 2014 [4 favorites]
He did add, though, that it was getting increasingly difficult to get away with post-9/11, except for pilots.
I'd imagine these days a fake US Marshal badge would probably get you on an airplane for free; it seems like one of those things that's so risky to do they don't double check anyone, because who'd be stupid enough.
hold on, idea for a movie. brb.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 3:20 PM on March 2, 2014 [4 favorites]
Someone did recently try to impersonate a sky marshal. Unfortunately for him, there actually was a sky marshal on that flight.
Protip: They typically don't identify themselves.
posted by danny the boy at 5:38 PM on March 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
Protip: They typically don't identify themselves.
posted by danny the boy at 5:38 PM on March 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I'm with Rash on the stowaway idea.
My brother and his friends, circa late 1980s, had a pastime of hanging around ORD and walking onto planes that were parked for cleaning/setup and the jetway door was left open somehow. Their success rate was, um, pretty damned good.
I could totally see walking onto a plane before boarding and faking your way into an unused seat.
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:38 PM on March 2, 2014
My brother and his friends, circa late 1980s, had a pastime of hanging around ORD and walking onto planes that were parked for cleaning/setup and the jetway door was left open somehow. Their success rate was, um, pretty damned good.
I could totally see walking onto a plane before boarding and faking your way into an unused seat.
posted by JoeZydeco at 5:38 PM on March 2, 2014
Huey Lewis claims to have snuck onto a plane and says how he did it here.
posted by Green With You at 6:05 PM on March 2, 2014
posted by Green With You at 6:05 PM on March 2, 2014
Best answer: Molly Shannon tells a story about getting on a plane with her friends when she was 12, which would have been in 1976. The gist was as listed above - they told the gate agent that they wanted to say goodbye to their friend who was on the plane, she let them on, and they just stayed.
I can also confirm that airline employees can just walk right up to the gate, present their badge and get a boarding pass if there is space available. Doesn't need to be in uniform. If you can fake an employee badge, I guess this could work. (We call this "non-revving" or non-revenue travel; dead-heading is specifically for those employees who need to take a flight to get to their scheduled start-city for that day of work or back to their home after completing the day. Dead-headers have priority if there are too many non-revs wanting to get on the same flight.)
A third option: my airline company sells T-shirts in the employee shop that say "Marry Me - Fly Free (space available, of course)". It's supposed to be a meet-cute opportunity, but it's true that not just employees but also their eligible family members can fly free anytime space is available. So, I guess Abbie Hoffman could marry an airline employee and that would count as a free way to fly.
posted by CathyG at 6:10 PM on March 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
I can also confirm that airline employees can just walk right up to the gate, present their badge and get a boarding pass if there is space available. Doesn't need to be in uniform. If you can fake an employee badge, I guess this could work. (We call this "non-revving" or non-revenue travel; dead-heading is specifically for those employees who need to take a flight to get to their scheduled start-city for that day of work or back to their home after completing the day. Dead-headers have priority if there are too many non-revs wanting to get on the same flight.)
A third option: my airline company sells T-shirts in the employee shop that say "Marry Me - Fly Free (space available, of course)". It's supposed to be a meet-cute opportunity, but it's true that not just employees but also their eligible family members can fly free anytime space is available. So, I guess Abbie Hoffman could marry an airline employee and that would count as a free way to fly.
posted by CathyG at 6:10 PM on March 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: It's fairly safe to assume that one or both tactics involve faking your way onto the plane somehow. Deadheading/identity scam seems rather likely, as does some method to get onto the plane un-noticed. The specific details are probably lost.
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:42 AM on March 3, 2014
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:42 AM on March 3, 2014
Yes, that this was possible in 1968 when Arthur Hailey wrote the novel indicates how different security was back then.
Similarly, in Bill Buford's Among the Thugs he tells of a group of Manchester United fans flying to a game in Europe and claims only about half paid and the other half hid under the seats of the paying fans.
posted by yerfatma at 9:26 AM on March 3, 2014
Similarly, in Bill Buford's Among the Thugs he tells of a group of Manchester United fans flying to a game in Europe and claims only about half paid and the other half hid under the seats of the paying fans.
posted by yerfatma at 9:26 AM on March 3, 2014
I know one way.
When I got thrown out of Canada, the mounties drove me down to the pier in a patrol car, and escorted me onto the boat. The mounties--my escort--were civil enough about it, explaining that the handcuffs were just a matter of procedure, and not intended to humiliate me. The asshole that busted me, though, was not so sweet. He didn't like hippies, he told me, and he wasn't about to let me into his country. I appreciated his candor immediately, but it took a few hours for me to appreciate his sincerity.
The captain of the boat was obliged to take me back to America and drop me off at the port of entry--free of charge. I'm pretty sure that if there hadn't been a boat available, the mounties would have had to put me on any commercial American air carrier. The way it was explained to me "...the next commercial American carrier."
I hasten to add that my unhandy exit from Canada, and the night I spent in that damned little cell in Vancouver, were the result of a simple misunderstanding. I just wanted to visit Banff, not live there, for pete's sake.
Anyhow, I ain't like that anymore.
posted by mule98J at 11:22 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]
When I got thrown out of Canada, the mounties drove me down to the pier in a patrol car, and escorted me onto the boat. The mounties--my escort--were civil enough about it, explaining that the handcuffs were just a matter of procedure, and not intended to humiliate me. The asshole that busted me, though, was not so sweet. He didn't like hippies, he told me, and he wasn't about to let me into his country. I appreciated his candor immediately, but it took a few hours for me to appreciate his sincerity.
The captain of the boat was obliged to take me back to America and drop me off at the port of entry--free of charge. I'm pretty sure that if there hadn't been a boat available, the mounties would have had to put me on any commercial American air carrier. The way it was explained to me "...the next commercial American carrier."
I hasten to add that my unhandy exit from Canada, and the night I spent in that damned little cell in Vancouver, were the result of a simple misunderstanding. I just wanted to visit Banff, not live there, for pete's sake.
Anyhow, I ain't like that anymore.
posted by mule98J at 11:22 AM on March 3, 2014 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by muddgirl at 10:48 AM on March 2, 2014