this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2026
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Rumor has it this is the case, but I haven't found any tangible "I used this service and was punished for it" stories.
....uh, WHICH IS TERRIBLE, BIG AIRLINES' RIGHTS ARE BEING INFRINGED. THIS IS A MATTER OF FREEDOM TO AVOID THIS SERVICE.
What they do is cancel your entire trip. So if you don't have flights with the same airline on the way back....eh
Yep, and if you have a rewards or membership number, they just will ban you. If it happens once not a big deal, couple times even, start doing it regularly though, you will get caught.
What kind of idiot would have a rewards or membership account in 2026?
Depends, the free bags, the upgrades, everything else on it can be worth it if you travel or fly enough, but obviously a lot of people don't think about it and are just spending extra for something they can't fully utilize.
most people that fly with their jobs because it can give you a "free" vacation flight fairly often.
Not limiting this statement to airlines.
I haven't paid for a plane ticket since 2012. Made a huge hobby of credit card churning. Probably flew 200k miles on them. Otherwise I'd be skiplagging as the next best option.
Ive heard of people making this happen, but I literally don't know how y'all achieve more than like a single flight or hotel stay per year without already having 200k+ income (i.e. could pay for the trip on your own, just don't want to pay for it).
I’m pretty sure they’re also making more money for the airlines than if they just bought the plane tickets, but it’s slightly procedurally obfuscated, so people are like “omg free tickets”
The airlines do fine; they sell miles/points to banks who actually have money. Almost all US carriers are worth little or negative but their rewards programs have large valuations.
If you pay your bills in full and don't pay interest you are beating the system, and it is "OMG free flights"/hotels/cash. You do give away tons of purchase info but you're giving that away anyway unless you're using cash.