It's one of the oldest tricks used by business travelers who frequently travel to the same destination. Airlines have banned it and some have even sworn to go after travelers who practices back-to-back ticketing and yet, to date, some still get away with it.
Here's a short Back-to-back Ticketing Lesson:
See, many airlines regularly offer discounted fares. You can only avail of these ultra-low fares if you stay a minimum of 7 days or stay 1 weekend day.
BUT, some need to visit certain destinations often but only for a few days. Which means that you need to pay more for your ticket since you are definitely NOT entitled to that discounted fare.
So... what business travelers often do is to buy 2 RT discounted tickets with overlapping dates to circumvent the minimum stay requirements.
Say, I need to go from Frankfurt to Barcelona for a 2 week seminar. But, my parenting duties (not to mention, conscience and work-life balance) dictate that I go home for the weekend.
What I will do is buy 2 tickets:
Ticket 1: FRA-BCN-FRA dep 3Sept - return 14Sept
Ticket 2: FRA-BCN-FRA dep 7Sept - return 10 Sept
With the first ticket, I will be complying with the minimum number of days stay. With the second ticket, I will be following the weekend stay restriction.
BUT, I will cheat (yes, that is the right word!). Instead of flying as above, I will mix it up and travel like this instead so that I could spend the weekend (the 8th and the 9th of September) back in Frankfurt:
Ticket 1: FRA-BCN-FRA dep 3Sept - return 7Sept
Ticket 2: FRA-BCN-FRA dep 10Sept - return 14 Sept
See what I mean?!
Obviously, if you do back-to-back ticketing, you would be cheating the airlines. And well, after all these years, they are actually a lot wiser and have even started way back in 2002 to go after people who practice this.
When you get caught, the airline will charge you the difference of the real amount of the ticket combinations you used. And if you are a member of their frequent flyer program, they may confiscate your points and ban you.
So... what about you? What do you think of this scheme? Would you risk it?
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flickr photo source: plane ticket
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