Live data from Hacker News

Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud

nbcnews.com

41–50 of 161 posts

Re: Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud

#41
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might be banned from flying that airline again if you don't get on the flight back without letting them know with a valid reason. Of course that's probably the least of your worries if you're fleeing your own country because of fraud.

This is idiotic. No airline has ever permanently banned a passenger for missing a flight. The most that can happen is if you miss the first leg they will automatically cancel the second one.

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/13/694352593/lufthansa-airlines-...

Re: Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud

#42
post #3

Pro tip: Always buy a round-trip ticket when you plan to flee fraud. It looks better in court and in newspapers, and nobody will force you to take the trip back.

I'm going to go ahead and guess that any international travel plans – whether round trip or not – made by a convicted felon awaiting sentencing is going to raise flags and will be blocked by the government.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud

#43
post #34
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If anything, wouldn't airlines be happy if you already paid for the flight and miss it? Especially if they overbook.

Internationally it is common for a roundtrip to be cheaper than a one-way. No, not cheaper than two one-ways. Cheaper than one one-way.

This is a result of a strange pricing algorithm mistakes, right? Surely this doesn't maximize profit.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud

#44
post #36

She could have bought the next day round trip ticket (which would still be stupid, but at least not as much). She could have flown to San Diego and drove over (and flew local airlines to some rural spot, preferably in a country with no extradition treaty). This is pretty ridiculous.

Not sure what the ridiculous part is? The prosecution is trying to argue that she is a flight risk. Her own behavior has made that pretty obvious.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud

#45
post #34
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If anything, wouldn't airlines be happy if you already paid for the flight and miss it? Especially if they overbook.

Internationally it is common for a roundtrip to be cheaper than a one-way. No, not cheaper than two one-ways. Cheaper than one one-way.

I've had the situation where two round trips are cheaper than one.

Especially if you are doing like a two day trip that looks like it might be business. E.g. LHR to JFK Mon to Wednesday.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not when you're abusing a pricing quirk to drastically reduce your flight's price. https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190226-the-travel-tri...

Why link to a news article about it when the actual site is just https://skiplagged.com/ ?

That site is named after the practice, not the other way around, and the article is far more informative on how it all works (as well as the steps airlines take to combat it).

Re: Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud

#47

As the article notes, US and Mex have bilateral extradition so it’s doubtful she intended to stay there to escape prison. She was likely going on to another country after that.

Wouldn't it be easier to charter a boat from Puerto Rico to Venezuela?

Re: Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud

#48
post #3

Pro tip: Always buy a round-trip ticket when you plan to flee fraud. It looks better in court and in newspapers, and nobody will force you to take the trip back.

This falls into the category of “cheap and dumb criminals.”

Similar to the first World Trade Center bombers that tried to get their deposit back on the rental truck they blew up.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud

#49
post #26
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do have to worry if you have to miss the first leg of a trip for some reason. They'll void the second leg as well if you don't call to straighten everything out.

This is because sometimes the airliner sell a flight connecting through your departure airport for less than a flight departing from it. Let's say you want to fly from Vegas to New york, it might be cheaper to buy SFO to new york, and hop on the Vegas->Mew York leg. They essentially make this option less viable, and can price each market differently.

That makes sense. For me, what happened was I was scheduled to fly to a destination city but wound up flying there from a different departure city, earlier, due to a funeral. I was shocked to find out that they would have cancelled my return trip as well if I didn't call in to grovel.

Re: Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud

#50
post #43
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Internationally it is common for a roundtrip to be cheaper than a one-way. No, not cheaper than two one-ways. Cheaper than one one-way.

This is a result of a strange pricing algorithm mistakes, right? Surely this doesn't maximize profit.

The average leisure traveler typically isn’t taking a two-day international trip. Airlines see an opportunity to extract more profit from business travelers who may not know their return date. A significant example is Lufthansa (and co) — multiple thousands of dollars to book a one way to Europe, under 800 for round trip.
Post reply on HN