What's best loop hole you have found and exploited to your own advantage?

c4cat · 17-01-2010 09:59PM #1

About 20 yrs ago when I was living in Japan, North-West airlines ran a promotion whereby if one refered ones friends to join their frequent flyer milage club, and they actually fly one round trip international flight, they awarded 5000 miles for every friend introduced. All one had to do was get a friend to fill in an application form which already had the freq flyer number pre allocated on the form to use, for 10 friends at a time. One could get as many of these forms as one had friends, there was no limit to the number of friends one could introduce.

So I thought 'where can I find these people' The Airport!!!! queing at North West gate to check in. So off to the airport I went and sure enough all these Japanese tourist waiting to check in with their suitcase which had lables hanging on them with their name and address on display. I Jotted down the info, went to the phone and called Northwest reservations. Most of these people were not members of their freq flyer club, and I just asked the reservation clerk to imput the freq flyer number I had for each person and got 5000 miles on my freq flyer a/c for each one I introduced that flew one RT int flight. I did this almost every day. If I tried it today, security would come down on me like a ton of bricks

When I got my North West airlines milage statement each month, I just contacted a frequent flyer Milage Broker in the USA who got them converted into first Class tickets for his clients. I was getting about US$6-7000 each month for about 8 months. I was minted then as that would be about 10-1500 euros per month in todays spending power. I blew it all on cars, and women and drink.
Also when ever I flew with Northwest, because of the number of miles I had collected I was always bumpt up to business or first class.

I was young then and my only regret was I did not save the money and buy a house in Ireland, cos today 20 yrs later and compared to then I am poor and skint.....but finding that loophole gave me the best months of my life. Well I Hope you enjoyed the read anyway, cheers

oppenheimer1 · 17-01-2010 10:07PM

c4cat wrote: »

About 20 yrs ago when I was living in Japan, North-West airlines ran a promotion whereby if one refered ones friends to join their frequent flyer milage club, and they actually fly one round trip international flight, they awarded 5000 miles for every friend introduced. All one had to do was get a friend to fill in an application form which already had the freq flyer number pre allocated on the form to use, for 10 friends at a time. One could get as many of these forms as one had friends, there was no limit to the number of friends one could introduce.

So I thought 'where can I find these people' The Airport!!!! queing at North West gate to check in. So off to the airport I went and sure enough all these Japanese tourist waiting to check in with their suitcase which had lables hanging on them with their name and address on display. I Jotted down the info, went to the phone and called Northwest reservations. Most of these people were not members of their freq flyer club, and I just asked the reservation clerk to imput the freq flyer number I had for each person and got 5000 miles on my freq flyer a/c for each one I introduced that flew one RT int flight. I did this almost every day. If I tried it today, security would come down on me like a ton of bricks

When I got my North West airlines milage statement each month, I just contacted a frequent flyer Milage Broker in the USA who got them converted into first Class tickets for his clients. I was getting about US$6-7000 each month for about 8 months. I was minted then as that would be about 10-1500 euros per month in todays spending power. I blew it all on cars, and women and drink.
Also when ever I flew with Northwest, because of the number of miles I had collected I was always bumpt up to business or first class.

I was young then and my only regret was I did not save the money and buy a house in Ireland, cos today 20 yrs later and compared to then I am poor and skint.....but finding that loophole gave me the best months of my life. Well I Hope you enjoyed the read anyway, cheers

I could see someone getting away with that for a few days... but 8 months? Did the staff at the airport not recognise you/cop your plan?

liah · 17-01-2010 10:10PM

For some reason I immediately thought of Punch Drunk Love.

Closest I've come myself to exploiting a loophole was getting a year's worth of paid subscriber status to Last.fm.. came about by accident, really. I charged the subscription to my paypal account which I thought had the required 3 euro in it. It didn't (short by like, 30 cent), but it gave me subscriber status anyway. It charged my empty paypal account every month, but for some reason never copped on that it wasn't getting money out of it.

Unfortunately, they figured it out a few months ago, and I've had to pay ever since.

Not that I mind. It's a brilliant service, so it's money well spent.

BluesBerry · 17-01-2010 10:15PM

Last year with Littlewoods your first order you got 15 euro off so I ordered items for 15 euro friends and family got delivery over the next few weeks in the name of ben dover, max payne etc all good stuff too I had seen it on here i got some great stuff mugs, bags make up

aDeener · 17-01-2010 10:16PM

Not so much a loop hole, but for years I'd dress up as a Pan Am pilot and trick the staff into letting me fly for free in the cockpit.

c4cat · 17-01-2010 10:17PM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

I could see someone getting away with that for a few days... but 8 months? Did the staff at the airport not recognise you/cop your plan?

In those days no one was so security minded as they are today, I was in and out of the airport within 20 mins. The que for flights on Jumbo jets were pretty long in a small airport as Osaka Itami was, I never needed to go anywhere near the front of the que

brummytom · 17-01-2010 10:19PM

"It is legal for an Englishman to kill a Welshman on the walls of Chester, at 2am, with a bow and arrow"

Came in handy a few times

Red_Marauder · 17-01-2010 10:23PM

If you're no longer a student in UCD you can still call into the travelcard issuing desk and get a student travelcard which doubles as a student card for general stuff. You also get to reinvent yourself in whatever name you choose.

Currently, according to my card, my middle name is "Danger".

Pete O phile · 17-01-2010 10:33PM

Lolicon

MaybeLogic · 17-01-2010 10:40PM

I can tell you're going to be around for a while.

CrazyRabbit · 17-01-2010 10:42PM

The speed you get on a cable modem is controlled by firmware inside the modem.
For a time, it was possible to pay for the cheapest package, but install a modified version of the firmware that gave you the highest available speed (sometimes greater than the top speed the ISP was selling).

Dun laoire · 17-01-2010 10:43PM

When i was unemployed i got a discount at the local gym if you provided your dole card. Not much of a difference mind, maybe two euro?. I'm now back working and have used my dole card to trick them. I would reckon, in the last six months i have saved myself two euro.

The Express · 17-01-2010 10:52PM

Laminated piece of paper with 'Midwife on Call' on the dashboard.

No parking tickets (yet). Sweeeet :cool:

Bugnug · 17-01-2010 10:56PM

c4cat wrote: »

About 20 yrs ago when I was living in Japan, North-West airlines ran a promotion whereby if one refered ones friends to join their frequent flyer milage club, and they actually fly one round trip international flight, they awarded 5000 miles for every friend introduced. All one had to do was get a friend to fill in an application form which already had the freq flyer number pre allocated on the form to use, for 10 friends at a time. One could get as many of these forms as one had friends, there was no limit to the number of friends one could introduce.

So I thought 'where can I find these people' The Airport!!!! queing at North West gate to check in. So off to the airport I went and sure enough all these Japanese tourist waiting to check in with their suitcase which had lables hanging on them with their name and address on display. I Jotted down the info, went to the phone and called Northwest reservations. Most of these people were not members of their freq flyer club, and I just asked the reservation clerk to imput the freq flyer number I had for each person and got 5000 miles on my freq flyer a/c for each one I introduced that flew one RT int flight. I did this almost every day. If I tried it today, security would come down on me like a ton of bricks

When I got my North West airlines milage statement each month, I just contacted a frequent flyer Milage Broker in the USA who got them converted into first Class tickets for his clients. I was getting about US$6-7000 each month for about 8 months. I was minted then as that would be about 10-1500 euros per month in todays spending power. I blew it all on cars, and women and drink.
Also when ever I flew with Northwest, because of the number of miles I had collected I was always bumpt up to business or first class.

I was young then and my only regret was I did not save the money and buy a house in Ireland, cos today 20 yrs later and compared to then I am poor and skint.....but finding that loophole gave me the best months of my life. Well I Hope you enjoyed the read anyway, cheers

I love those kind of dreams. Or the one where I won the lotto, thats great.

Biggins · 17-01-2010 10:59PM

aDeener wrote: »

Not so much a loop hole, but for years I'd dress up as a Pan Am pilot and trick the staff into letting me fly for free in the cockpit.

You read it too? Great book.

Dj Stiggie · 17-01-2010 11:05PM

Biggins wrote: »

You read it too? Great book.

I'd say it was the film, which was also great

Beasty · 17-01-2010 11:20PM

Not really a loophole, simply incompetence on behalf of a bank

I got a credit card nearly 6 years ago - they gave an interest free period, and forgot to switch it back on after 6 months - have had an average interest free balance of over 10 grand since:)

Biggins · 17-01-2010 11:45PM

Dj Stiggie wrote: »

I'd say it was the film, which was also great

Good film but as most cases, the book was even better.
Hell of a lot more detail, showed the film up for absolute inaccuracies, and the motivations of the main people behind it all (to say the least).
The stuff that he got away with in the film is nothing to what he got away with in real life - and its all on record!

As with the OP, North-West Airways had a lot to answer for. They were taken advantage of so so, so many ways.
I guess the main airline industry learned from their minor and major mistakes.

stepbar · 18-01-2010 12:20AM

Beasty wrote: »

Not really a loophole, simply incompetence on behalf of a bank

I got a credit card nearly 6 years ago - they gave an interest free period, and forgot to switch it back on after 6 months - have had an average interest free balance of over 10 grand since:)

I take you don't ring them up much!

m@cc@ · 18-01-2010 12:23AM

Coming from Norn Iron, I am able to have a Irish passport and so get less hassle than someone with a British passport. But being a 'UK citizen', I can get free healthcare here in Australia. Best of both worlds.

stepbar · 18-01-2010 12:26AM

My cousin has an American and Irish passport. He was born in America and lived there for about 5yrs. Best loop hole ever ( well it's not really but pretty handy to have)

oppenheimer1 · 18-01-2010 12:31AM

stepbar wrote: »

My cousin has an American and Irish passport. He was born in America and lived there for about 5yrs. Best loop hole ever ( well it's not really but pretty handy to have)

But he has to pay american taxes on his worldwide income as well...

JohnCleary · 18-01-2010 12:33AM

Not really a loophole but....

I sanded down the year on my (expired) student card. I then laquered and polished the card so it doesn't look like it's been tampered with.

Saving myself a fortune. Only one person has questined the lack of date on it so far, I just say that there's no year on the student cards anymore as we now only get one student card throughout our stay in college because of cutbacks, and it's saving the college 40k a year (Which is true for UCD, that's where I got the idea from)

DazMarz · 18-01-2010 12:34AM

The best one I've seen (but never actually used) is this one:

Say you receive a bill from ESB/Bord Gáis/Eircom/whoever €XXX. Now, instead of paying €XXX in full, bring your bill down to your local post office and pay a small amount (a small amount to you, whatever you could very easily afford; say €10/€15/€20 etc.) off the bill.

Do this maybe once a week. Ignore all incoming bills from this company and keep your consistent paying of the small amount weekly up. You will never be cut off, will never receive warnings from the company, nothing.

You could receive a bill for €2,000 and yet, because you can be seen to be making (not much of an) 'effort' to pay said bill, no recourse/action can be taken against you.

I see this being done dozens of times each week, and these people get away with it. You will never come close to paying what you owe, but nothing can be done about it.

If your company starts making noises, point out you are paying ''all you can afford at the moment'' off the bill weekly. If they refuse this excuse, you will have a legal right to bring them to court as they are ''refusing to take payment'' off you.

I swear to God all of the above is true, I shít you not. Maybe I don't have it perfectly explained, but you can get the gist of it and go from there.

Thank you, and goodnight...

thesandeman · 18-01-2010 12:40AM

If I told you Id have to kill you...............................Oops maybe Ive said too much!

marko91 · 18-01-2010 12:49AM

Pete O phile wrote: »

Lolicon

i thanked you for your username not your post.

newmills · 18-01-2010 12:49AM

When i lived in sydney i used to press the student/apprentice button on the train ticket machine which took 50%of the price of your rail ticket (handy half price weekly ticket).
Got my ticket checked once...woman says "it says you're an apprentice"...me "yeah"..... her "apprentice what".....me "carpenter".....her "where are you from?".......me "ireland"......her (winking) "best of luck"

You could also press the OAP button and get unlimited travel anywhere all day for a dollar.....yes the mean cork whores i worked with all did it until.....ticket inspector gets on..."jesus lads you're fine looking men to be over 65!!!!!" 100 dollar fine for each of them....they were that stupid that they all gave their proper names and addresses in sydney and paid the fine when it came!!:o

marko91 · 18-01-2010 12:58AM

newmills wrote: »

When i lived in sydney i used to press the student/apprentice button on the train ticket machine which took 50%of the price of your rail ticket (handy half price weekly ticket).
Got my ticket checked once...woman says "it says you're an apprentice"...me "yeah"..... her "apprentice what".....me "carpenter".....her "where are you from?".......me "ireland"......her (winking) "best of luck"

You could also press the OAP button and get unlimited travel anywhere all day for a dollar.....yes the mean cork whores i worked with all did it until.....ticket inspector gets on..."jesus lads you're fine looking men to be over 65!!!!!" 100 dollar fine for each of them....they were that stupid that they all gave their proper names and addresses in sydney and paid the fine when it came!!:o

yes my name is johnny bravo and i live on cardboard box lane....retards giving their real info:eek:

dubtom · 18-01-2010 12:58AM

DazMarz wrote: »

The best one I've seen (but never actually used) is this one:

Say you receive a bill from ESB/Bord Gáis/Eircom/whoever €XXX. Now, instead of paying €XXX in full, bring your bill down to your local post office and pay a small amount (a small amount to you, whatever you could very easily afford; say €10/€15/€20 etc.) off the bill.

Do this maybe once a week. Ignore all incoming bills from this company and keep your consistent paying of the small amount weekly up. You will never be cut off, will never receive warnings from the company, nothing.

You could receive a bill for €2,000 and yet, because you can be seen to be making (not much of an) 'effort' to pay said bill, no recourse/action can be taken against you.

I see this being done dozens of times each week, and these people get away with it. You will never come close to paying what you owe, but nothing can be done about it.

If your company starts making noises, point out you are paying ''all you can afford at the moment'' off the bill weekly. If they refuse this excuse, you will have a legal right to bring them to court as they are ''refusing to take payment'' off you.

I swear to God all of the above is true, I shít you not. Maybe I don't have it perfectly explained, but you can get the gist of it and go from there.

Thank you, and goodnight...

If anyone could come up with a way to pay a 'bit' off my mortgage each month and not lose the gaff I'd appreciate it. The above post probably explains why they only accept DD for the full amount.

stepbar · 18-01-2010 12:59AM

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

But he has to pay american taxes on his worldwide income as well...

Well considering he's on the dole I doubt he'll have any tax to pay...

You might back up your comment by linking the evidence.........

InkSlinger67 · 18-01-2010 12:59AM

I've found a loophole in the security of bank ATMs - to get more money than you actually have in your account simply walk into your local council's unsecured garage and pick up a JCB (keys are usually under the floor mat). Drive the JCB at full speed into the side of your chosen bank and help yourself.

What's best loop hole you have found and exploited to your own advantage?

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