# Airline question - going one way **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2002, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-question-going-one-way/102679 "2002-04-09T15:44:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-question-going-one-way/102679/21 "2002-04-11T01:20:56Z")
The feds won’t come after you. Chronus is incorrect with the security assumption. It is far too easy for a terrorist to simply pay extra for a one way ticket. Cost wasn’t an issue in 9/11. Here is what you do. Buy the round trip. Fly after you complete your flight call your credit card in as missing / stolen. The airline will see you didn’t return and bill you credit card for the difference. Boom they can’t it will come up declined. In fact my boss would fly USAir from Chicago to DC with a stop in Pittsburg and just get off in Pittsburg as it was cheaper than non stop from Chicago to Pittsburg I’ve dealt with airlines for years. In fact I was ops manager(an independent company not owned by the airlines) and what we did was find discount day of rooms for people stranded by airlines. Airlines without exception care little for passengers. They know people will get upset but they have to fly. I myself took Amtrak to NYC. I have never been so miserable. Sure you’re miserable on a plane too but only for 2 hours not 24 like on a train. In fact Wendy Lauber the Customer Service Director in NWA MSP told me that customers may chose another airline but eventually if they fly to Minneapolis they always return to NWA. Airlines make money buy overbooking. I will give you a run down of what some paid these are the lowest rates the airlines paid for a hotel room. (these are what the hotel costs when the airlines pay. If they give you a “Discount Coupon” the cost is at least double. But still less than you’d pay on your own) United - Chicago 29.00 NW - Minneapolis 23.00 NW - Detroit 19.99 United - SF - 69.00 NW - Boston - 79.00 United Denver - 25.00 Delta Salt Lake - 31.00 United LA - 22.50 So you can see why it pays to bump. It only adds to their cost slighty United used to add $5.00 per person per meal for pax and 100.00 per person per meal for first class. Same (100.00) for ALL international flights regardless of class In fact many times United would divert a flight from SFO to LA simply to save cost on hotel rooms. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-question-going-one-way/102679/22 "2002-04-11T03:01:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Markxxx \* > **In fact my boss would fly USAir from Chicago to DC with a stop in Pittsburg and just get off in Pittsburg as it was cheaper than non stop from Chicago to Pittsburg** This is what the airlines call Point Beyond ticketing, and it’s surprising how often things like this can be arranged. The major problem is…he can’t check any bags because, although he may get off in PIT, his bags are going to be checked through all the way to WAS. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-question-going-one-way/102679/23 "2002-04-11T05:13:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dilbert \* > **I guess more people must not show up than the number of people they need to give vouchers to, or else they would stop the practice.** My wife is a flight attendant. One evening, I planned to fly on one of her flights, spend the night and come back. The gate attendant said “Oh, you’ll never get on that flight, it is oversold by 14.” So I went back to my wife’s apartment. Next day, she came in and said “You could’ve gone, there was room on the flight.” This is on a plane that seats 33. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-question-going-one-way/102679/24 "2002-04-11T13:30:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kniz \* > **If you had any idea of how many “no-shows” there are you would better understand why airlines overbook. “No-shows” may seem to you to simply relieve the oversold condition. The truth is that they are the reason for the overbooking practice. If airlines stopped booking tickets when the plane was full, they would rarely have a completely full plane.** I disagree. If the reason for overbooking is no-shows, then the reason for no-shows is refundable tickets. When people choose not to get on a flight, they do so because they know that the ticket can still be used for another flight. Even on a so-called “non-refundable” ticket, just pay a nominal charge, and fly some other time. If you want a refundable ticket, pay extra for it. But the vast majority of people who fight for cheap tickets, they should be in the “use it or lose it” category. Then you’ll see a dramatic drop in the no-shows, and the airlines will be able to operate more efficiently because they’ll **know** how many people will be on each flight, and they’ll get paid even for the ones who don’t show up. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2002, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-question-going-one-way/102679/25 "2002-04-11T14:26:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hail Ants \* > \*\*Are you saying that it’s against airline policy to deliberately travel to and/or from slightly different airports in order to get a lower fare?! Sites like Travelocity and Expedia suggest this automatically when looking up flights! \*\* No. They’re talking about a situation like this-the details are hazy, but my parents were in this situation once. They were flying from Orlando, FL to Chicago, IL. They found, on investigation, that the flight they were going to book was considerably more expensive than a flight from, um, some other city in Florida to Chicago, which had a plane change _in Orlando to the plane they were going to book_! So it would be cheaper for them to book the flight from the other city, then use just the second set of boarding passes to get on the second leg out of Orlando, which was where they were, than to just buy tickets for that second leg direct from Orlando. Airlines don’t like this, for some reason. 🙂 What they actually did was _drive_ to the other city, in their rental car, to take the first leg of the cheaper flight, flying back to Orlando and then on to Chicago. The mileage charge on the rental was less than the money they’d save by taking the other flight … ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2002, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-question-going-one-way/102679/26 "2002-04-12T00:08:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SCSimmons \* > **They found, on investigation, that the flight they were going to book was considerably more expensive than a flight from, um, some other city in Florida to Chicago, which had a plane change _in Orlando to the plane they were going to book_! So it would be cheaper for them to book the flight from the other city, then use just the second set of boarding passes to get on the second leg out of Orlando, which was where they were, than to just buy tickets for that second leg direct from Orlando.** It’s a good thing they did what you state below, because if they did what you just suggested, they would’ve lost all of their money _and_ their seats as well. You see, when someone no-shows the first leg of a connection, the airlines send a cancel message to all of the downline legs. What that means is…your folk would’ve shown up at the counter, their space would’ve been cancelled, and when they tried to explain what they did, the airline would’ve been within their rights to say, “Tough luck. Have a nice day. Buh-bye.” \*\* > [@](#): > > What they actually did was _drive_ to the other city, in their rental car, to take the first leg of the cheaper flight, flying back to Orlando and then on to Chicago. The mileage charge on the rental was less than the money they’d save by taking the other flight … \*\* Isn’t “yield management” wonderful? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airline-question-going-one-way/102679.md?page=1)