usvi-on-line
Can someone please explain this to me?
And these airline executives sit in their board rooms every day complaining that they can't make any money and don't know why. 
I have been studying air fares for more than 10 years. I have noticed several things. The first is that Liamsaunt is right. They will cancel your entire trip if you miss a segment. Travel agents have been able to make "hidden city" tickets work in years gone by. They would book a passenger from Chicago to Orlando through Atlanta for $300. Then, after the ticket was issued, they go into the record and cancel the trips to and from Orlando leaving only the ORD-ATL & ATL-ORD segments. Then the passenger flies for the $300 fare insead of the $700 a direct flight would have cost.
The risk was that the airline could go after the passenger for the $400 difference, refuse to transport the passenger or go after the TA's ability to sell tickets because of fraud. 
There were several other methods including "back-to-back" tickets and "throw-away" tickets.
The airlines recognize that most people prefer a non-stop flight rather than a connection. They find that it is justified to charge more for such a ticket. That runs counter to most people's instinct because they charge less for a connection flight where they carry you further and accomodate you in a third airport than they charge for a shorter route using less fuel.
The idea of a round trip costing less than a one-way trip is equally astounding. Southwest Airlines figured all of this out. Perhaps that is the reason that they are the only proffitable one.
JIM
I have been studying air fares for more than 10 years. I have noticed several things. The first is that Liamsaunt is right. They will cancel your entire trip if you miss a segment. Travel agents have been able to make "hidden city" tickets work in years gone by. They would book a passenger from Chicago to Orlando through Atlanta for $300. Then, after the ticket was issued, they go into the record and cancel the trips to and from Orlando leaving only the ORD-ATL & ATL-ORD segments. Then the passenger flies for the $300 fare insead of the $700 a direct flight would have cost.
The risk was that the airline could go after the passenger for the $400 difference, refuse to transport the passenger or go after the TA's ability to sell tickets because of fraud. There were several other methods including "back-to-back" tickets and "throw-away" tickets.
The airlines recognize that most people prefer a non-stop flight rather than a connection. They find that it is justified to charge more for such a ticket. That runs counter to most people's instinct because they charge less for a connection flight where they carry you further and accomodate you in a third airport than they charge for a shorter route using less fuel.
The idea of a round trip costing less than a one-way trip is equally astounding. Southwest Airlines figured all of this out. Perhaps that is the reason that they are the only proffitable one.
JIM
Man it's like some dream we live down here....
