Passenger tried to outsmart the airline and save $900, but ended up overpaying

A United passenger shared an unfortunate experience of how she tried to cheat the airline and save money, but ended up overpaying. The traveler, who had booked a connecting flight, decided to skip the first flight and board a second plane, but she failed.

When the woman did not board her first flight, all her reservations were canceled. The story of the unsuccessful attempt to deceive the airline was told to Insider.

The passenger booked a flight from Cleveland to Madrid with a short stopover in Newark, New Jersey. However, she later changed her plans, so the tourist decided to fly to Madrid from Boston, where her husband was at the time.

United wanted to charge her $900 for the rebooking, so she came up with a cunning plan to avoid the fee.

"I tried to book a flight from Boston to Newark for $60. I would just skip the first half of the flight and transfer to a flight from Newark to Madrid from my original ticket. But United immediately notified me via email that they had canceled that flight due to a duplicate booking," the passenger recalled.

The message from the company didn't stop her, so she stuck to her plan until she was informed in Newark that the first ticket was invalid because she hadn't boarded the plane in Cleveland.

According to the airport staff, the only correct decision would be to rebook the tickets with a $900 surcharge. The tourist failed to get to Spain, but a week after the incident, she received a $439 voucher to fly to Paris.