I think this is about the fourth time I've seen this story on HN.
... and the fourth time I've rolled my eyes at the idea international day trips by air were "integral to his being" or whatever the exact wording of that legal stretch-of-the-imagination was.
Yeah it’s hard to sympathize with someone whose “entire persona was shifted by this event”. He abused the service and they found reason to terminate the contract, or sucks but if he didn’t ghost ticket or abuse the companion rule they would have had no recourse.
I feel it’s very hard to game these sort of benefits these days because they will have some legalise in the contract that will put a limit or reserve right to revoke the benefit for any reason. Is there anything similar today that one can purchase and get life time benefits like this? I feel the life of companies are so short that “life time” actually means less than 10 years.
I was surprised to learn that "lifetime warranty" nowadays means that the warranty is valid for the expected lifetime of the product, not the owner. So the company arbitrarily decides that e.g. a pair of headphones should last 5 years, they specify that somewhere in the fine print and just call it "lifetime".
Its definitely a first-world problem. But I noted, he never made his own reservation on a computer, ever. He used the same booking agent his whole life. So all his tickets were arranged by AA themselves, with full knowledge. How can it be fraud, when they were full partners in the deal?
Fraud in the inducement. If you lie to get someone to do something they wouldn't normally do, that's bad. If you give someone a fake name to get a ticket they wouldn't normally give you, that's bad.
Its definitely a first-world problem. But I noted, he never made his own reservation on a computer, ever. He used the same booking agent his whole life. So all his tickets were arranged by AA themselves, with full knowledge. How can it be fraud, when they were full partners in the deal?
Fraud in the inducement. If you lie to get someone to do something they wouldn't normally do, that's bad. If you give someone a fake name to get a ticket they wouldn't normally give you, that's bad.
If you ask, do you mind if I borrow your car, then they say yeah sure, here are the keys. Then they call the police and tell them you stole their car. I would call that a little disingenuous...and not fraud.
They helped him book his seat and buy the one next to him using the ticket unlimited miles they sold him and their booking service. I think I would at least call AA a party to the fraud they were accusing him of. So, if they were defrauding themselves as agents of themselves, shouldn't they be mad at themselves. If you call BestBuy and order a widget and the BestBuy employee gives you 10% off a $100 item, should they be able to sue you for stealing $10?
I’d reiterate that he paid $150k for the right to have an empty seat next to him, give it away, etc. This guy is my age. I knew a number of guys like this in college; operators, business majors at MIT in high stakes poker games in the cafeteria, people who use their brains for an edge in zero sum games, rather than other things. I would not have been this guys friend; I have a strong distaste for this sort of person.…
"...welsh on the deal."? I imagine you aren't aware, but in the future you may wish to pick a different word. The root of this phrase is the ethnic stereotype that the Welsh -- people of Wales -- are not to be trusted.
Its definitely a first-world problem. But I noted, he never made his own reservation on a computer, ever. He used the same booking agent his whole life. So all his tickets were arranged by AA themselves, with full knowledge. How can it be fraud, when they were full partners in the deal?
Fraud in the inducement. If you lie to get someone to do something they wouldn't normally do, that's bad. If you give someone a fake name to get a ticket they wouldn't normally give you, that's bad.
I understood they told him to just use his kid's name or whatever. To reserve a seat for his papers.
Probably outside the rules of the agreement. But is it fraud?
I think this is about the fourth time I've seen this story on HN.
... and the fourth time I've rolled my eyes at the idea international day trips by air were "integral to his being" or whatever the exact wording of that legal stretch-of-the-imagination was.
People attach a lot of self-worth and self-identity to aspects of their behavior. For some it’s where they go hiking, or where they live, or a hobby. It’s not hard at all for me to imagine that someone attached themselves to this idea.
I’d reiterate that he paid $150k for the right to have an empty seat next to him, give it away, etc. This guy is my age. I knew a number of guys like this in college; operators, business majors at MIT in high stakes poker games in the cafeteria, people who use their brains for an edge in zero sum games, rather than other things. I would not have been this guys friend; I have a strong distaste for this sort of person.…
"...welsh on the deal."? I imagine you aren't aware, but in the future you may wish to pick a different word. The root of this phrase is the ethnic stereotype that the Welsh -- people of Wales -- are not to be trusted.
I absolutely apologize. The slur I used is pretty ingrained.