By Christopher Elliott Christopher Elliott Email Bio Follow Columnist May 22 Travel hackers are thought to be some of the world’s smartest travelers. But they may not be as smart as they think.
Hidden city ticketing, where you get off the plane at a stopover instead of flying to your designated final destination, takes advantage of a quirk in airline ticket pricing. Sometimes, counterintuitively, it costs more to fly to the stopover city than to the final destination. But getting sued isn’t your only worry when you try to use hidden city ticketing, says Sean Messier, an analyst with Credit Card Insider, a website that encourages the responsible, strategic use of credit cards. Passengers who use this tactic with affinity credit cards linked to their airline loyalty programs could also run the risk of having their accounts terminated, he says.
When a points purchase goes south, “it is horrid for both the seller and buyer,” says Randi Winter, a Virtuoso travel agent for Passionate Travel in Vancouver, B.C. “You can lose your payment if the points are confiscated by the airline or hotel. There is no insurance for illegal activities.” Playing the mileage game also requires that you turn a blind eye to an unavoidable truth: Loyalty programs always benefit the company more than the customer. No matter how well you play, the house always wins.
Why are you encouraging people to fly in airplanes and spew high octane jet fuel all over the troposphere? HAVENT YOU HEARD WE ONLY HAVE 12 YEARS TO SAVE THE PLANET YOU MONSTERS
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