Need quick air travel advice!

[KBCraig]

I need some real quick answers here, gang... thanks in advance!

We're fairly ignorant of the intricacies of getting cheap airline tickets. We need to fly our daughter home from Atlanta sooner than expected. Atlanta to DFW is kind of silly expensive on short notice. Atlanta to Houston is a hundred bucks cheaper... but the AA flight is the same flight from ATL to DFW, then a connecting flight to QHO.

She's flying carry-on only, no checked baggage. Is there any reason we can't buy the ticket to Houston, but she gets off the plane in Dallas and then just doesn't get on the connecting flight? I know people do things like this, but are there any pitfalls? Credit card surcharges for not making the connect? Stuff like that?

Thanks. I'd like to save the hundred bucks, but I don't want to drive an extra 3-4 hours if I could have the best of both.

[error]

Sounds good to me. Have her get off the plane, and if the airline complains, tell them to shove it.

[Spencer]

When I compared a July 5 AA flight from ATL to DFW, it came up at $284 (one-way), while the flight to Houston came up at $234.  Are these the flights you're looking at?

Good luck.

[KBCraig]

When I compared a July 5 AA flight from ATL to DFW, it came up at $284 (one-way), while the flight to Houston came up at $234.  Are these the flights you're looking at?

Good luck.

Travelocity for Saturday 7/7, AA one way from ATL to QHO (change planes in DFW) is $172 total. That's AA-1209 to DFW, then AA-2284 to Houston.

But if you schedule the same exact airplane (AA-1209) from ATL to DFW, it's $286 without the connecting flight to Houston.

Our son is flying in from California on the 19th. In the same exact strange twist, he's saving over a hundred bucks by connecting all the way to Texarkana (20 minutes away), versus DFW (3+ hours away).

I'd just buy the Houston ticket, but I'm afraid that buried in those indecipherable rules would be a cancellation clause, where they whack my card for the difference if she doesn't get on the connecting flight.

[error]

Eh, buy the ticket. Then call them for a refund of the unused portion.

[Spencer]

I did some digging over at AA.com, and your suspicions appear to be valid, Kevin.  Considering the customer service attitudes of most of the major airlines these days, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't rip you off and then add you and your family to the no fly list.

Check this out:

American specifically prohibits the practices commonly known as:

***

Hidden City/Point Beyond Ticketing: Purchase of a fare from a point before the passenger's actual origin or to a point beyond the passenger's actual destination.

Where a ticket is invalidated as the result of the passenger's non-compliance with any term or condition of sale, American has the right in its sole discretion to:

a. Cancel any remaining portion of the passenger's itinerary,
b. Confiscate unused flight coupons,
c. Refuse to board the passenger or check the passenger's luggage, or
d. Assess the passenger for the reasonable remaining value of the ticket, which shall be no less than the difference between the fare actually paid and the lowest fare applicable to the passenger's actual itinerary

http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?p=/customerService/customerCommitment/conditionsOfCarriage.jsp#TicketCompliance

[Spencer]

After further digging, here's AA's whiny letter justifying charging more for less:

Dear,

Let me take the opportunity to clarify American Airlines position on hidden city or point beyond ticketing. Purchasing a ticket to a point beyond the actual destination and getting off the aircraft at the connecting point is unethical. It is tantamount to switching price tags to obtain a lower price on goods sold at department stores. Passengers who attempt to use hidden city tickets may be denied boarding, have the remainder of their ticket confiscated and may be assessed the difference between the fare paid and the lowest applicable fare.

Because we compete with other airlines with different route structures, we sometimes find it necessary to give a traveler who is traveling beyond a connecting point a better price than travelers who are just traveling to the connecting point. For example, a passenger who is traveling to Austin, Texas from Los Angeles can go on one airline via Phoenix for a price that is lower than the cost of traveling on American between Los Angeles and Dallas. If we want to offer the same price to Austin as the other airline, but the only way we can get travelers there is via Dallas, we find ourselves charging the Austin passengers less than the Dallas passengers.

Although the issuance and usage of hidden city tickets is not illegal in the sense that one could be fined or sent to jail by the government, it is unethical and a breach of a passengers contract with AA. Both tariff rule 100AA and American's Condition of Carriage, which are incorporated into every ticket sold by American as part of our agreement to carry the passenger named on the ticket, bar hidden city ticketing. In addition, it violates the agencys' contract to act as an agent for American Airlines.

If American Airlines continues to lose revenue as a result of hidden city transactions, the fares we charge must inevitably rise.

Sincerely,

http://www.aa.com/content/agency/Booking_Ticketing/Ticketing/hidden_city_ltr.jhtml

I love the categorization of it as switching price tags at the department store; it is more like taking one beer off of the six-pack and offering to pay for the cost of the six-pack (but not the can deposit for the five cans that you're not taking).

[error]

You could maybe find someone else to use the connecting ticket.

[Kat Kanning]

Try southwest.com

[Dreepa]

I love how they call it unethical....
Have I ever mentioned that airlines suck?

[Russell Kanning]

people forget that you don't get southwest when you go through those other sites....

dallas is expensive because of AA and their control of rep. Wright

[Russell Kanning]

I also fly with companies that don't fly their planes into buildings.

[Tom Sawyer]

Hey Russell how'd the debriefing go?

[Lloyd Danforth]

OK............everybody!..........Back away from your computer...........go out and shoot off a firecracker!.......Hurry!

[JonM]

Southwest doesn't fly from Georgia or South Carolina.  As Delta's hub, prices to fly out of Atlanta are insane compared with flying THROUGH Atlanda.

If you're concerned primarily with price, go for priceline.com.  They offer name your own price on round trip travel, one way and you're on your own.

Your trip will start between 6am and 10pm on your travel dates. Although we always look for non-stop flights first, Priceline flights may make up to one connection each way. Your exact flights and times will be shown to you once your purchase is complete. We will issue convenient electronic tickets.

I've done hotels with them and been satisfied.  A non free-stater friend of mine has done flights with them.  If you don't care too much when you leave or arrive, it can work for you.  And you get to decide just how much you will spend.  When my girlfriend put in an insanely low bid for a hotel in waltham ma, after the 3rd re-bid the system said they'd get back to her.  10 minutes later it was accepted.  I think someone at priceline started making phone calls, not much else explains that.